Deck the Halls in the Napanee Plain Alvar

Event Details

December 7th, 2019, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Napanee Plain Alvar Nature Reserve, Ontario
Habitat Restoration

Get into the holiday spirit with NCC! Help us conserve globally rare alvar habitat on the Napanee Plain Alvar by removing eastern red-cedar, a native tree that is spreading across the landscape. By removing these trees we will be mimicking natural processes such as fire to improve the habitat for grassland birds. After we’ve finished in the field, we will use the branches to make festive holiday wreaths for you to take home and enjoy!

If you’d like to carpool to the event, please click here, to add your car or join a ride going to the event. Happy carpooling!

Registration is now closed, but if you would like to attend the event tomorrow, please contact Amanda Tracey at Amanda.tracey@natureconservancy.ca or 705.761.6500

Please email the event contact to join the waiting list.

More Information

About Napanee Plain Alvar Nature Reserve

The Napanee Plain Natural Area is a 439,848-acre (178,142-hectare) complex of wetlands, forests, lakes, grasslands and alvars. One of North America’s great limestone plain landscapes, the Napanee Plain is a place where grassland birds thrive within one of the Great Lakes region’s rarest ecosystems. This area also contains outstanding examples of karst formations and is home to the endangered eastern loggerhead shrike.

What you will be doing

We will spend the day on Napanee Plain Alvar Nature Reserve cutting small eastern red-cedar trees and manually pulling smaller seedlings. You can even select one eastern red-cedar to cut and take home as your Christmas tree! Once we finish outside we will take branches from these trees and head indoors to our Napanee office to make festive wreaths! Physical activity will include hiking approximately 1 km over uneven terrain, bending, lopping, sawing, pulling and hauling motions.

Why you will love it

You’ll love learning all about the Napanee Plain Alvar from NCC’s conservation biologist and meeting other volunteers who share your interest in nature. Plus you’ll enjoy flexing your creativity by making a festive eastern red-cedar wreath to take home!

Questions?

Contact Amanda Tracey, Coordinator, Conservation Biology: Amanda.tracey@natureconservancy.ca

Please Note

Additional event details, including directions and parking instructions, will be provided after registration.
No experience is necessary.

Moderate fitness level required
No toilets on site
Carpooling can be arranged
All tools will be provided by NCC
Water and snacks will be provided
Item Checklist

While we do our best to provide you with the tools you need to participate, please bring the following items if you have them:

Clothes
  • Closed-toe sturdy footwear
  • Long pants
  • Long shirt
  • Warm layers of clothing (sweater, coat, possibly long-underwear)
  • Warm hat
  • Rain gear
  • Change of dry clothes (just in case)
  • Warm gloves
Tools
  • Loppers (if you have them)
  • Hand-pruners (if you have them)
  • Hand saws (if you have them)
Miscellaneous
  • 1 Litre of water in a reusable bottle
  • Lunch
  • Any necessary medication