Publications
Lake Protection Workbook: A Self-Assessment Tool for Shoreline Property Owners
Check out our “Lake Protection Workbook: A Self-Assessment Tool for Shoreline Property Owners”. Diagnose any shoreline property problems, and see how you can help your shoreline. You can download an online copy for free, or contact us for a physical copy for $1.50. Printing funded by Watersheds Canada and the Daniel and Susan Gottlieb Foundation.
This Workbook was produced by the Lake Links Planning Committee with collaboration and review from: Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority, Friends of the Tay Watershed Association, Lake Networking Group, Lanark County Stewardship Council, Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, and Watersheds Canada.
Habitat Creation Manual
This manual is intended for landowners wanting to enhance their properties, or create habitat which is essential for fish and wildlife species. Natural Edge – Shoreline Habitat Creation Manual
Wildflower Garden Guide
This guide will help landowners create their very own native wildflower gardens which will benefit our local pollinator species: bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Natural Edge – Wildflower Garden Guide
Native Plant Care Guide
This manual is intended for landowners participating in the Natural Edge Shoreline Naturalization Program. While native vegetation will be largely maintenance-free after two to five years, the first few years will require occasional watering or pruning to help the new vegetation establish. This manual provides landowners with instruction on maintaining their new vegetation to ensure a healthy shoreline buffer for year to come – Restoring the Ribbon of Life! Natural Edge – Native Plant Care Guide
How to Engage Community in a Lake Plan
The process of developing a lake stewardship plan relies on full involvement and participation of the community on and around the lake. The process is community-driven, and the resulting plan is a community plan. Recounting the experience of conducting a lake plan for Mississippi Lake can offer useful insights into how to best engage people in such a process. How to Engage Community in a Lake Plan
Fish Habitat Enhancement Protocols
Before starting your own project you may want to consult our step by step protocol on In-Water Brush Piles, available here: In-Water Brush Bundle Protocols.
It includes everything you will need to know, from planning and developing the project through to carrying it out successfully.
Walleye Spawning Bed Enhancement Protocols
Before starting your own project you may want to consult our step by step protocol on Walleye Spawning Bed Enhancement in Ontario, available here Walleye Spawning Bed Protocols. It includes everything you will need to know, from planning and developing the project through to carrying it out successfully.
BioBlitz Protocols
This manual will provide guidance and suggestions to best maximize the efficiency and value of these events through proper data collection and data sharing. The resources provide include species checklists, data entry forms, registration forms, information for landowners, and media and communications documents. As each BioBlitz is unique in its purpose, goals, challenges, and limitations, the advice and resources used during each event will be dependent on the organizers and participants. A guide for Planning Community BioBlitz Events in Eastern Ontario
Fact Sheets
What is a Watershed?
A watershed is an area of land that catches rain and snow, and allows it to drain into a stream, river, lake or seep into the ground as groundwater. Learn more: What is a Watershed?
Algae
Want to learn more about algae? Check out our Fact Sheet: Algae in Ontario Photo Source: Willem van Aken, January 1989, Science Image, https://www.scienceimage.csiro.au/image/4628
The Benthic Zone
Interested in the life within the substrate? Read our Fact Sheet: The Benthic Zone Photo Source: Macrobenthics, January 2016, Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benthos
The Riparian Zone
Known as the “Ribbon of Life”, the riparian zone is an area between the upland zone and the shoreline. Learn more from Fact Sheet: The Riparian Zone