Watershed Trust Wins NVCA Conservation Champion Group Award
On April 27, the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Association (NVCA) recognized the Blue Mountain Watershed Trust Foundation with the Conservation Champion Group Award at their Evening of Thanks at the Tiffin Centre in Utopia.
Watershed Trust Board members (left to right) Eric Willis, Don Kerr and Blanka Guyatt, share the occasion with Collingwood Councillor Deb Doherty and Glenn Switzer of NVCA
This is the first time that the more than 20-year-old Watershed Trust has qualified for this award. Critical to the NVCA’s decision were three joint Trust-NVCA projects in 2016-2017 that evolved through the Watershed Trust’s Silver Creek Stewardship Initiative, funded in large part by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
The three projects included carrying out ecological studies of Silver Creek; hosting two large-scale public environmental events, ‘See the Salmon Run’ in October 2016, and a Seminar on Environmental Issues in February, 2017; and perhaps most significantly, the efforts of Watershed Trust members Blanka Guyatt and Don Avery in leveraging the NVCA Environmental Education program to create environmental awareness among more than 250 students in five regional schools. One other important contribution is the ongoing local campaign coordinated by Watershed Trust member George Powell, Vice-Chairman of the Watershed Action Group (WAG), against the invasive species Phragmites. 
Evening of Thanks awards are meant to recognize those people and organizations that go above and beyond in helping the environment. Many of the NVCA’s projects, designed to protect and improve our water and land resources, would not be possible without NVCA partners in conservation. (from NVCA press release)