by Connie Tabbert
Editor
COBDEN — The Cobden Marsh Interpretive Trail has been vandalized and needs some tender loving care as well as signage to help stop the vandalism.
Kirby Punt from the Ministry of Natural Resources spoke about the trail at the Whitewater Region recreation committee meeting earlier this month.
He reviewed how the trail started and what is planned for its future.
“It’s a provincially significant wetland and it’s about 60 acres in size,” he said.
There are many rare plants and wlidlife including reptiles and amphibians. It’s also a significant spawning habitat for Northern Pike, he noted.
“It’s pretty amzing to see when that wetland is flooded during the spring freshet, how the pike actually congregate in there and it’s just swarming,” he said.
It’s an excellent water filter for Muskrat Lake, he said. Wetlands provide clean drinking water.
In 2008-09 members of the Cobden Civitan Club did some brushing of the old berms that were created in the late 1960s. A road was created from Hwy. 17 to an old berm. What they didn’t realize, was it affected the northern pike habitat and stopped the spawning, he said.
The MNR became involved following concerns from the public and the road was blocked off, he noted.
Over the next few years, the two organizations worked together to create the walking trail that is there today.
The walking trail was one way of helping people who lived at the top of the hill on Foresters Falls Road to walk into town without having to go along Hwy. 17, he said.
“It’s a great opportunity to have that walking trail there,” he said. “We tried to look at the big picture and determine if it would have a lot of validity to expand just the walking trail and try and show the significance of that wetland and how it relates back to water qualtiy, wildlife that live in this type of environment and how can we increase water quality that’s going into Muskrat Lake.”
Karen Stokes, stewardardship co-ordinator for the county, applied for stewardship funding in 2009/10 which was associated with wetlands and displays. They received $7,500 to put up interpretive signs to educate the public, Mr. Punt said.
Eco-tourism across Canada is growing and with Hwy. 17 near the trail, many will stop and take a rest and check out what’s happening in the town, including the trail.
“Understanding the wetlands is a main concern with the general public these days, along with MNR,” he said.
He noted in North America, 80 hectares of wetland disappear every day, which is quite significant.
Along with having the trail there for local people to enjoy, Mr. Punt noted school children, natural history clubs, eco-tourists and tourists would also take advantage of the natural beauty.
“We’ve seen quite a bit of activty on the walking trail over the last three to four years,” he said. “It seems to be growing. People want places where they can actually take a walk with the kids and get a little bit of exercise.
“It’s a challenge when you live in a community that is tight knit but has no where to walk,” he added.
In 2011, a 350-foot boardwalk was created to connect Foresters Falls to the walking trail without stopping wildlife from using Muskrat River or impede fish movement, he explained. The wood was donated by Shaw Lumber.
In 2012, Whitewater Welding fabricated a railing for the boardwalk.
The Ontario Rangers, MNR fire crew and students from the Osprey program at Opeongo High School worked together to put the bridge, cement approaches and railings in over those years.
In February/March 2013, the Osprey students also created a special area for turtles to lay eggs, and it is being used.
To create the turtle area, the students created a floating raft out of cedar and then students carried many buckets of sand to put on top of it.
“This keeps the turtles from nesting on the trail,” Mr. Punt said. “This is a great way to get turtles away from our water crossings.
“It’s a great opportunity for people to see and learn about turtles.”
Mr. Punt noted this trail demonstrates how people and various organizations can work together to create something great for a community.
He noted throughout the creation of this trail, there have been 31 various partners working together. Taking into concideration the money spent as well as the in-kind donations, the total is about $67,000.
To complete Phase One of the trail, two years ago, interpretive signs were made at a cost of $2,500 each. It took about six months to create each one, he said.
“The signs are a good education component,” he said.
Phase Two would be more interpretive signs, but would talk more about individual species and what people would see in this particular wetland, he added.
Mr. Punt said fibrte optic cable still needs to be placed in the ground by NRTCO.
The footbridge needs to be filled in so the water starts going towards Foresters Falls, he said. It’s currently flowing in the wrong direction.
Restoring balance also needs to be done, which means restoring nutrients and stopping the invasive plants, such as the Manitoba Maple.
“We need to get the proper wetland vegetation growing there that will help to reduce the phosphorous and nitrogen and some of the loadings that are coming in,” he said.
Ongoing challenges is getting financial support, Mr. Punt said.
Vandalism this past year has been amazing, he noted.
“We had those signs removed from the ground and one was thrown into the river,” he said. “There is still one sign missing.”
Other unfortunate incidents that are occurring is people are killing the wildlife, Mr. Punt said. As well, people vandalized the signs and vehicles using the trail have damaged the boardwalk and bridge, he added.
“I think we can all work together on these challenges,” he said.
People must realize this is municipal land, and any organization that wants to work on it must get approval, Mr. Punt said.
Phase Two is fixing up the breach to restore the water; getting more interpretive signs and creating a lake along the berm, which is doable, he said.
“That was the plan right from the get-go, to enhance this opportunity,” he said.
The Osprey program at Opeongo High School has done some really good work and would like to continue to do work.
“This is a true model of everybody working together,” Mr. Punt said.
Councillor Dave Mackay questioned if barriers could be placed to stop vehicles from going onto the trail.
Mr. Punt said there is no bylaw to stop vehicles from going on the trail, even though signs are posted.
But, he added, it has to be wheelchair accessible, so placing a barrier must be carefully thought out first.
It was agreed to have a special meeting with the various partners of the trail so the next phase could be discussed.
Councillor Chris Olmstead suggested all of council take a walk along the trail so they are each familiar with it.
Councillor Daryl McLaughlin suggested the Muskrat Lake Landowners Association also be invited to the meeting, because there was quite a bit of money earmarked by that organiztion to work on the trail.
Councillor Charlene Jackson suggested the meeting be held soon, prior to money being spent on the trail that may not be warranted.
Mr. Punt suggested the meeting be after hours or on a Saturday, since he is no longer involved in this trail, but was doing this as a courtesy.
He noted there is money to continue with the improvement of the trail, but not to finish it.
Mr. Punt said this is a sentive area this time of year as birds and turtles are nesting.
“We don’t want to be rooting around in there causing more harm than good,” he said.
August is the better time to do work on the trail, but a visit any time to the trail now to find out what work to be done is fine, he added.
“If you want to see the uniqueness of the wetland, the time to be there is now,” Mr. Punt said. “There’s no reason why we can’t go earlier to see what’s going on and then have the scope to move forward.”
