Credit Valley Conservation (CVC) presented 24 awards in four categories on March 25, at the annual Friends of the Credit conservation awards held in Mississauga.
The awards were presented for: Award of Distinction, Certificate of Merit, Young Conservationist, and Award of Excellence.
For more than 20 years, CVC has presented awards to individuals, landowners, community groups, small businesses, corporations, municipalities, and agencies that have made a significant contribution to managing natural resources in the Credit Valley Watershed.
That watershed include Erin, and there were some local winners.
Through the awards, CVC’s board of directors celebrates work done by individuals and groups across the Credit River Watershed.
To be nominated for an award, projects must meet the following criteria: involve a long-term benefit; contribute to an environmentally-healthy river; or represent cooperation with other agencies and groups. The award winners for 2010 are:
Awards of Excellence winners includes Lynn Bishop, of Hillsburgh. She developed the Sustainable Living Series workshop program, educating more than 3,000 people about environmental health and encouraging them to use that knowledge.
Bishop collaborated on many environmental projects and events including an anti-idling bylaw campaign and helped establish the Climate Change Action Group of Erin.
Jack Imhof, of Georgetown and Halton Hills was another winner.
Dedicated and passionate about the health of the Credit River, Imhof has assisted CVC on many projects for several years, providing staff with constructive and fair scientific advice.
Imhof is an aquatic ecologist for the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) and Trout Unlimited (TU) and is a resident in the Credit River Watershed. He is also well known for his conservation work in Wellington County, having taken part in numerous projects and also doing many presentations to conservation groups.
There were no local winners in the Awards of Distinction.
Certificate of Merit award winners included the Climate Change Action Group, of Erin (CCAGE).
It created and launched Erin’s annual anti-idling campaign, in support of the town’s idling control bylaw, and to educate the community about the hazards of vehicle idling. Erin adopted the bylaw in 2008 and since then CCAGE has seen a difference in attitudes toward idling in the community.
Another winner was Bill Dinwoody, of Erin.
Through WeCARE (West Credit Appreciation, Rehabilitation and Enhancement), Dinwoody actively participated in the Woollen Mills restoration project serving as a liaison between WeCARE, CVC and the Town of Erin. Funding for interpretive signs at McMillan Park was made possible because of his persistence.
There were no local winners in the Young Conservationist awards.
