Friends of the Tay Watershed Association

P.O. Box 2065 57 Foster Street Perth, ON K7H 3M9 E-mail: info@tayriver.org Web: www.tayriver.org

Environmental Awards for 2006

Press Release – December 5, 2006
‘Friends of the Tay’ Announce Environmental Awards for 2006

The ‘Friends of the Tay Watershed’ have announced the recipients of their annual environmental awards for 2006 – and the selected winners are respected in the community as major contributors to the watershed and the environment. The recipients of the three awards this year are: Cameron MacLeod, of Perth, in the category of “Contribution to the Tay Watershed”; ‘ecoPerth’, for “Contribution to the General Environment”; and the ‘MAPLE’ organization, for their “Contribution to Water Resources, at the Provincial, National or International Levels".

The award to Cameron MacLeod recognized his substantial contribution to the Tay watershed over the past eight years, in the development of the Tay Watershed Management Plan and, later, the Friends of the Tay Watershed Association. Amongst many other watershed activities, Cameron was instrumental in gaining acceptance of the concept of lake and sub-watershed management planning in this area.

The award to ‘MAPLE’ – the Mutual Association for the Protection of Lake Environment in Ontario – accepted by Brian Stapledon of Farren Lake, recognized their significant work in combining group and individual action for maintaining our community shorelines, in establishing and running the volunteer-based nursery at Christie Lake to provide a supply of indigenous trees for this purpose, and in the production of their shoreline manual.

EcoPerth’s substantial contribution to Perth’s environment has been a model for other communities throughout Ontario, through their leadership and initiative in protecting and improving the community’s environment, through such diverse and creative projects as the urban forest, supply of seedlings, maintenance of the Perth tow path and numerous classroom initiatives. The ecoPerth award was accepted by Bob Argue and Alfred Von Mirbach.

The ‘Friends of the Tay Watershed’ Environmental Awards are presented annually to individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the Tay watershed and/or to the environment.

The Friends of the Tay Watershed is a registered charitable organization that involves landowners, communities, government agencies, business and other interested parties in programs aimed at preserving and improving the health of the Tay River watershed. The Association carries out activities to maintain wildlife habitat, recreation, water quality, water quantity and related resources in the Watershed.