Although our field season has just begun, our Natural Edge program has been off to a great start! We have already planted 68 silver maple trees and 1100 willows on a number of properties in Penniac and Durham Bridge, NB, where landowners had been experiencing erosion on their property. For landowners in the Nashwaak watershed with waterfront property, we have a Natural Edge program where we can help landowners with riverbank naturalization. We’d also like to thank summer staff from St. Mary’s First Nation for helping us to plant the silver maple trees and for staking the willows!

Summer 2019 is already off to a good start here at the Nashwaak Watershed Association as we have already hosted two tree planting and live willow staking events at the Marysville Flats as part of the Naahwaak Greenway restoration project.

On May 22, 2019, we planted 120 silver maple trees and staked 400 willow bushes along the riverbank with the help of 40 volunteers, which included volunteers from the Government of New Brunswick.

On May 31, 2019, we hosted our second tree planting event at the Marysville Flats. Volunteers from Siemens Canada, Rise, The Ville Cooperative, The Fredericton North Rotary Club, and from Tree Canada helped to plant 170 silver maple trees.

We’d like to thank all of the volunteers that helped us to plant silver maple trees and willows during these two events. We couldn’t do it without your help!

We’re pleased to announce that this is the fourth year we’ve received funding from the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation (ASCF). Stephen Chase, Executive Director of the ASCF met with Marieka Chaplin for this funding announcement. The ASCF generously gave $34,049 to fund two projects in our watershed.

The funding is for projects that will improve fish habitat in the watershed. Fish require access to a variety of habitats to spawn, feed, and find cool water. One of the predominant causes of habitat fragmentation are watercourse crossings that create barriers and restrict the movement of juvenile and adult fish through a watershed. Our work aims to increase the amount of available upstream aquatic habitat.

For more details visit: Aquatic Connectivity

 

Are you a post-secondary student looking to gain some experience in the environmental field this summer? We are hiring 2-3 project assistants to join our team.

The Project Assistant for the Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc. (NWAI) will be responsible for assisting with educational programming for children and youth in both the public school and summer camp setting with grades 3 and 4 as the primary focus. S/he will assist with the Landowner Conservation Program, report-writing and other documentation as requested. The position will include time spent in the field – assisting with culvert assessments, field trips, restoration projects, work in the tree nursery, and water quality monitoring. S/he will assist in representing the organization at external events, and be active in the planning, development and implementation of NWAI sponsored events. The project assistant will represent the association at special events in rural communities in our watershed e.g. Stanley Fair, Nashwaak Music Festival, Tay Creek Festival and Taymouth Community Market.

The position is for up to 16 weeks between May-September, and you must be returning to full-time studies in the Fall semester.

The application deadline is Friday, April 5th.

Apply directly by following this link

Join us at The Ville Cooperative on Thursday, March 14 (back up date March 21st)  from 6 – 7:30pm for an introduction to rain gardens. Rain gardens capture water that runs off of hard surfaces, such as driveways, rooftops and walkways. The garden is designed, and specific plants are selected to allow water to infiltrate back into the soil and remove pollutants from the runoff. Rain gardens are beautiful, and provide homes for butterflies and pollinators.

Adam Weaver, experienced permaculture practitioner, of The Ville Cooperative will lead us through an immersive introduction to Rain Gardening.