RESTORE COOTES

Volunteers make the world go around, and these folks get right into making sure the spinning globe has some clean and tidy sections: The Stewards of Cootes do weekly clean ups and invite you to volunteer to make a difference . This session offers a chance to get right in the stream which isn't always an option due to the lifecycle of the fish. Here are the (wet or dry) details of their upcoming session in Cootes: Sunday August 27th from 9:00 am to noon Stewards of Cootes will be meeting  in the back lot on the left side as you face 64 Hatt Street.    Cootes Paradise, photo by Randy Kay Volunteers who wish will be in the streams around Dundas. We will be continuing our sweeps upstream in Spencer, Ancaster and Spring creeks. Due to our short window of opportunity for in water work things are rather urgent as we are trying to finish our stream sweep before fish hatcheries force us back onto the land for the rest of the year.  Gentle Moderate and Rugged Ter...

Stewards of Cootes event:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stewards-of-Cootes-Watershed/428248847210298?fref=ts Spring Clean Up of Felker’s Creek & Cootes Watershed Saturday, March 23 ( 12:30pm - 3:30pm ) & Sunday, March 24 ( 1:00pm - 4:00pm ) Spring is the time of cleaning – inside and outside! Join the Bay Area Restoration Council and Earth Day Hamilton-Burlington in cleaning up  Felker’s Creek  and nearby parks and roadways on  Sat. Mar. 23 from  12:30-3:30pm . Then head over to  Cootes Paradise  on  Sun. Mar. 24 from  1:00-4:00pm  to clean up the Cootes Watershed with the Stewards of Cootes Watershed. Details at  http://earthdayhamilton.ca/ 2011/events/waste-watchers/ community-cleanups/  

A recent successful litter/garbage removal from Cootes Paradise got some nice media in the local daily, but somehow they put Restore Cootes in there as the place to go for more info. That would be wrong, because Stewards of the Cootes Watershed is something we at RC admire and support, but to get them you would need the following info: e-mail -  cooteswatershed@gmail.com   or our facebook page: Stewards of Cootes Watershed http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/851191--cootes-cleanup-culvert-be-gone

Low water level exposes litter in Cootes Paradise Cootes Paradise boosters are looking for last-minute volunteers for a weekend cleanup of years of accumulated trash. Water levels in the fish sanctuary at the west end of the harbour remain at historic lows. That gives volunteers the chance to walk in and root out the equivalent of 100 bags worth of trash that has blown into a corner of the environmentally sensitive area for years, said Alan Hansell, co-ordinator for the Stewards of Cootes Watershed. His group is organizing litter pickups between noon and 4 p.m. this Sunday and Dec. 16. Volunteers will meet at the front gate of the Royal Botanical Gardens arboretum on Old Guelph Road. For more information, call 289-239-7649. The Hamilton Spectator

The McMaster Outdoors Club sponsored a Cootes Paradise Clean-Up today. Part of the litter picking took place in Parking Lot "M" where we collected several bags of trash in two hours (with more remaining) River valley, now parking for McMaster University A large amount of fill used to cover a wetland - Ancaster creek is just to the right (out of photo) Drains point run-off toward Ancaster Creek Rust coloured liquid drains from parking directly into the creek   Contaminated rain water will just wash into the creek. Volunteers from McMaster and the surrounding community took part in litter clean-up Al noticed that parking lots closer to the creek had more litter The University pushes debris from lots toward creek in Lot M Two-hours later in Lot M - other sites were also being cleaned Post clean-up BBQ and campfire courtesy outdoors club with door prizes from MEC

McMaster Litter Clean-Up in Lot M Parking-Ancaster Creek View Litter Clean-Up in a larger map Time Begins at  June 4th 11:00 AM EDT ending on  June 4th 1:00 PM EDT Location Lot M, McMaster Parking (west of Cootes Drive) Organizers opirg McMaster, Restore Cootes Help clean up litter from McMaster's parking lot "M" next to the lovely Ancaster Creek. This large parking area abuts the creek and is in need of some tender loving care. The area on the other side of the creek is home to deer, turtles, beaver, hawks, and coyotes, to name a few residents. We will meet at 11am Saturday, June 4, during World Environment Week, in the parking lots west of Cootes Drive, in Zone "M" Bags and gloves will be provided. The Hamilton Conservation Authority will be supplying beverages and light snacks! Afterward, we can explore the area and uncover the history of how the Royal Botanical Gardens Coldspring Valley Trails became McMaster Parking. For more i...

An excellent turn-out in primo spring weather for the Volunteer Marsh litter clean-up today. A group of Katimavik youth began their clean-up by prying a long-dumped couch out of the soggy banks of the marsh, while McMaster students from the Biodiversity Guild waded into the deeper waters of the marsh to pull out everything from fire-extinguishers (five of them!) to rusted paint cans and more. Families from Dundas also joined the fray, and with the assistance of Steve and Ron with their trucks, moving the long-stashed garbage and recyclables to the end of the lane where city workers will remove to the waste transfer station on Monday was a breeze. Special thanks to Joanna Chapman and the office of Russ Powers for supplying bags and gloves. Random catches: 40 people helped 2 hours Well over 50 bags of garbage removed, plus recycling and household hazardous waste 19 Car tires 5 fire extinguishers 1 microwave 1 pregnancy tester various furniture Photos by Bronwyn Kay

North Bank of Spencer Creek, west of Ogilvie North Bank, east of Ogilvie (Metro Parking Lot) Lower Spencer Creek Trail, east of Dundas Street (Canadian Tire) Plastic caught in branches all along creek, both banks North side of creek near Cootes Drive bridge (near junction of Ancaster Creek and Spencer Creek) - High water levels have spread litter over the banks into surrounding wetlands