The Nashwaak Watershed

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National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

September 27, 2021

The NWAI acknowledges the traditional landowners and stewards of the Nashwaak watershed. We pay respect to elders past and present of the Wolastoqiyik people. We will be taking time for reflection and education on September 30th, in honour of National day of truth and reconciliation.

Information on how to become an Ally and other educational resources can be found at:

Ally Toolkit

We encourage our members, collaborators and supporters to use this information as a starting point in the journey to reconciliation. This information is provided by the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick. They are a not-for-profit organization that represents the six Wolastoqey Communities in New Brunswick: Matawaskiye (Madawaska), Neqotkuk (Tobique), Pilick (Kingsclear), Sitansisk (Saint Mary’s), Welamukotuk (Oromocto) and Wotstak (Woodstock).

Filed Under: News & Events

UNB students “Dig deep” with NWAI

September 22, 2021

Happy National tree day!

UNB students from the Bachelor of Education were at the Marysville flats completing an Indigenous education module led by local elders on Saturday, September 11th . The group, which consisted of over 100 volunteers (Our largest ever volunteer event!) then came to help NWAI with our revegetation project by planting over 720 trees along the floodplain in the Nashwaak watershed.

Elders talking to UNB Bachelor of Education program at the Marysville flats

With the help of these very enthusiastic volunteers we were able to plant silver maples, butternut, and bur oak in record time. These species will restore the biome of the floodplain by stabilizing the bank, mitigating the impact of seasonal flooding, and encourage wildlife diversity in the watershed.

Students planting trees in our pre-flagged plot on the Marysville flats

The weather was perfect for tree planting and the students were able to learn about the importance of restoring native watershed forests. Thank you to all the volunteers and your hard work!

Learn more about NWAI’s restoration projects here:

Riverbank Stabilization

Filed Under: News & Events

Seed Collection Update – Trees!

August 19, 2021

Did you know that this past May, we collected our own maple tree seeds? After collecting over 220L of seeds, we shipped them off to a tree nursery in Nova Scotia. Scott and Stewart Forestry Consultants Ltd. is a non-industrial forest management firm in St Andrew’s, Nova Scotia – one of the largest in Atlantic Canada. Their operations include many things, including but not limited to operations such as harvesting and land clearing as well as silviculture and tree-growing. Our many litres of seeds were sent to their nursery to grow until next May, when they will be sent back to us to be planted.

A few weeks ago, we took a trip down to the nursery to see how our seedlings were doing. With a predicted survival rate of less than 30%, we were expecting around 15-20,000 seedlings. We were pleasantly surprised by over 60,000 thriving maple trees that were already larger than 30cm in length!

Check out some photos of our own maple seedlings, as well as a few photos of the nursery and their ongoing projects!

  • Many of the silver maple seedlings that are growing at the nursery
  • A close-up of some more tree seedlings
  • Several greenhouses that can be seen from the top of the hill at the nursery
  • Spruce seedlings kept in one of the greenhouses
  • Alder seedlings kept in one of the greenhouses

 

Filed Under: News & Events

NWAI Collects 220 Litres of Tree Seeds

July 19, 2021

It’s no secret that the Nashwaak Watershed Association plants a lot of trees, but this year we found a way to plant a whole lot more! During the spring and fall months, the Nashwaak Watershed has been working to restore silver maple floodplain sites at Neil’s Flats and Marysville Flats (owned by the City of Fredericton). Marysville Flats is the primary location for the Nashwaak Watershed’s planting and restoration projects. This site is a retired hayfield that was originally a silver maple floodplain forest. The Marysville Flats restoration is almost complete, and has employed the planting of over 3000 trees. Neil’s Flats comprises 50.7 hectares of floodplain area owned by the City of Fredericton. Around 70% of this property is abandoned agricultural fields, with the remainder comprising a fragmented silver maple floodplain forest.

By restoring both of these properties, we are achieving many goals, such as preventing riverbank erosion, increasing flood mitigation, and restoring valuable floodplain forest. Silver maple floodplain forests are known for taking up large amounts of water and have the capacity to reduce flood levels. Tree roots will also help to stabilize the soils in these areas as well as increasing carbon uptake and sequestration from the atmosphere with the addition of new trees. Restoring these sites is not only beneficial for our local communities, but also for wildlife. Planting trees helps wildlife by creating habitats and increasing species composition within the watershed. 


Volunteers planting trees during May of 2021. Over 70 volunteers helped out with spring planting this year!

Despite the uncertainties of the pandemic, the NWAI has been able to plant over 1100 willow and dogwood stakes and over 1800 trees, including species such as silver and red maple, bur oak, cherry, and serviceberry. This could not have been achieved without the continued support of our project funders.

Despite planting over 1800 trees this spring, the NWAI has even bigger plans for 2022. As a part of our strategic plan, the extent of floodplain forest is slated to have increased from 21% to 25% by 2030. This means that the area of floodplain forests within the watershed will need to increase by over 70 hectares. In order to increase this area, around 15,000 trees will be planted next year – a big jump from the previous 2000 per year.


Due to the large number of seedlings that will be needed in the upcoming years, rather than sourcing smaller numbers of trees from nurseries in the Fredericton and surrounding area, the NWAI decided to source their own seeds from local silver maples. This consisted of a multi-day seed-collecting project as well as consultation from the National Tree Seed Centre (NTSC) and multiple local arborists.

The first step towards collecting the many litres of seeds that would be needed was to scope out the trees in the area. Local trees were the best option as they would provide valuable genetic material that would be better adapted to the areas in which they are to be planted. For this reason, the majority of the seeds came from trees within the Neil’s Flats restoration site. Over 20 silver maple trees were initially flagged to have their seeds harvested. Once the trees had been chosen, the seeds needed to be extracted from the trees.

Silver maple samaras to be harvested. The above picture shows the perfect condition for harvesting!

Seed collection was done using several different methods. One method involved cutting smaller branches off of the trees and harvesting the seeds from these branches. This method was used for some trees as it allowed more seeds to be collected while still maintaining the health of the tree. The second method involved manually harvesting the seeds from low hanging branches. This method was somewhat useful for lower-hanging branches but not for taller trees. Therefore, a mixture of these methods were used when collecting seeds.

Seed collecting in action! Marieka and Kate harvest seeds from silver maple trees in Hampton, NB.

While some of the work could be done from the ground, the help of several local arborists was also required. The arborists scaled a total of seven trees to collect over 140 litres of seed, while over 80 litres were collected by several people on the ground. A large quantity was also collected from several silver maple trees in Hampton. These trees showed good survival in the current climate and were deemed appropriate for planting next year.

Jacob, a local arborist, going up a tree to collect silver maple seeds. Several arborists completed this process and collected over 140L of seeds!

Once the seeds had all been collected, they were shipped to a nursery in Nova Scotia. Scott and Steward Forestry Consultants Ltd. is a non-industrial forest management firm in St Andrew’s, Nova Scotia – one of the largest in Atlantic Canada. Their operations include many things, including but not limited to operations such as harvesting and land clearing as well as silviculture and tree-growing. Our many litres of seeds were sent to their nursery to grow until next May, when they will be sent back to us to be planted.

Seedlings at the Scott and Stewart Nursery in St Andrews, Nova Scotia. This photo was taken less than one month after the seeds had been harvested.

This exciting project is the first of its kind that the NWAI has completed. The upcoming year will hopefully show success, and the process can be completed many times in the future. Keep a lookout for other news regarding the seed harvesting project!

Filed Under: News & Events

Monarch Butterflies: Take a closer look

July 15, 2021

Upcoming Event!

Join us on July 26th to conduct some citizen science of the monarch life cycle along the Nashwaak River in Fredericton. We will count stems of milkweed and examine them for eggs, caterpillars, chrysalises and adult butterflies. This will be part of the Mission Monarch International Monarch Monitoring Blitz.

Did you know milkweed is the only plant that provides food for the caterpillar of the monarch butterfly?

Keep reading to learn more about monarchs and what you can do to support their habitat!

A patch of common milkweed.

Monarch butterflies are an iconic species at risk in Canada. Each fall, these beautiful butterflies set out on a 4,000-to-5,000 kilometer journey from Southern Canada to their wintering sites in the mountain forests of central Mexico. This is one of the longest insect migrations in the world! Each spring they make their way through the United States and back to Canada. To learn more about this endangered species, check out the WWF page on monarchs.

Milkweed is the only plant that provides food for the caterpillar of the monarch butterfly. Monarch’s lay their eggs on milkweed, and once they have hatched, the juvenile caterpillars feed on milkweed leaves. The caterpillars grow dramatically over 2 weeks, and then forms a chrysalis. After another 2 weeks, the adult butterfly emerges.

Unfortunately, this beautiful and resilient species is threatened by habitat loss. Disruptions to their migration are caused by climate change, and by the loss of native plants (including milkweed species) along their migratory corridors. Deforestation of their overwintering sites also threatens this species. Read more about monarchs and their journey to New Brunswick.

Planting either swamp or common milkweed, the two native species in New Brunswick, helps to provide this butterfly with much-needed habitat. Swamp milkweed is often preferable in a garden setting because it does not spread throughout the site. It requires moist soil to become established, so watering it throughout the first few years is recommended.

How to identify Swamp vs Common Milkweed.

Learn more about how New Brunswick is conserving monarch butterflies, check out this informative video by Nature NB, click here!

Filed Under: News & Events Tagged With: News

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NWAI on Twitter

NWAI is working hard to remove barriers to cold water refugia vital for the survival of Atlantic Salmon. For more info check out our collaborators the Atlantic Salmon Federation. Thank you to our sponsor #ASCF #atlanticsalmonconservation #climatechange #MyNashwaak https://t.co/IRqjP3c6kc

- 12 hours ago

As we enter a beautiful long weekend, it is important to be mindfull of the changes to water quality. We will providing helpful information monthly to make informed decisions. Here is your E. Coli report for June. Happy weekend and we hope to see you out on the Nashwaak! https://t.co/BoCePg2s0p

- 4 days ago

@LivingLakesCA Thanks for the excellent training!

- 7 days ago

1050 trees were lovingly planted along the Nashwaak River by volunteers last week. Volunteering gives so much more than your time and effort! Your support leaves us motivated and inspired. Thank you to all the amazing organizations and volunteers who came out! #MyNashwaak https://t.co/yfCSZPiAxd

- 11 days ago

Today we celebrate the richness and strength of the Indigenous folks across this country and on the unceded territories of the Wabanaki peoples. At the NWAI we have the great privilege to work and learn alongside many change makers and knowledge keepers of the Wolastoqey Nation.

- 13 days ago

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Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc.

Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc.

Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc.

13 hours ago

Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc.
Our water temperatures are heating up! As summer gets into full swing, you will notice the water temperatures increasing. While this weather is great for people, it can cause extreme stress to a variety of animals, including species-at-risk Atlantic salmon. NWAI is working hard to remove barriers to vital cold water refugia that are essential to these animals for species survival. For more information on Salmon and thermal refuge, check out information from our collaborators at the Atlantic Salmon Federation . Much of our water quality monitoring work is funded, in part, by the Government of New Brunswick and NB Wildlife Trust Fund. www.asf.ca/news-and-magazine/in-the-field/cold-water-enhancement#atlanticsalmonconservation #climatechange #watershed #wolastoq #conservation #protection #ASF #ASCF ... See MoreSee Less

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Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc.

3 days ago

Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc.
STAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT! Our team has been working hard to mark our restoration sites at Neill's Flats these past weeks. We have marked our planting rows with hundreds of stakes to make for easy location of our plants each spring! ... See MoreSee Less

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Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc. is at Nashwaak River.

4 days ago

Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc.
As we enter into the beautiful long weekend, it is important to be mindfull of the warm weather. While we throughly encourage you to get out and enjoy all that the Nashwaak Watershed has to offer, conditions can change quickly! Here is our June E.Coli results from earlier in the month. We will update these at the beginning of every month so that you can make the best, informed choices when using the Nashwaak for recreation. Happy Weekend! #watershed #MyNashwaak #eauNBwater #watersafety #conservation #wolastoq #safe #canadaday #longweekendfun ... See MoreSee Less

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Contact Us

Mail:
Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc.
P.O. Box 314, Station “A”
Fredericton, NB
E3B 4Y2

Office:
181 Westmorland Street
Fredericton, NB
E3B 3L6
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Phone: 506 261-4664
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