CARP – A crowd of about 40 took in last week’s (April 3) Friends of the Carp Hills (FCH) Annual General Meeting.

West Carleton Online was unable to attend the meeting but followed up with FCH Chair Janet Mason last week.

“We achieved our goal of raising an additional $600 that night for the Carp Barrens Trail Study, which will be starting this spring,” Mason said. “We announced plans for extending the Crazy Horse Trail. We announced a spring event, Spring has Sprung on the Ridge, a guided nature hike with wildlife biologist and Carp Hills resident Rich Russell scheduled for April 27. Rich works for the Canadian Wildlife Service.”

FCH 2018 accomplishments include securing 440 acres next to the village through a partnership with Ducks Unlimited Canada, the FCH considered a “top strategic goal.”

The FCH made sure to encourage responsible access to the Carp hills by hosting several events such as a moonlight snowshoe, guided nature hikes in the spring and fall and two forestry therapy walks.

The FCH expanded their network of boardwalks in wet areas with some funding from the Ottawa Community Foundation. In terms of activism, the FCH hosted a public meeting last June to discuss conservation and human use of the Carp Barrens. More than 75 people attended.

The FCH will continue on various fronts in 2019. A top goal is to continue expansion of the Crazy Horse Trail.

“We will continue to enhance the trail to extend the non-winter hiking season.” Trail coordinator Bernard Proulx said. “We’re also delighted to announce that we’re extending the trail to provide scenic vistas across a large wetland in the southern section of the property.”

The new trail will head from the beaver pond toward the south-west corner of the property.

The FCH will continue to manage the Ducks Unlimited property “for the long-term conservation of the property’s environmental, ecological and biological values, managing for the provision of low impact, recreational uses, where those do not negatively affect the conservation objective.”

The FCH continues to raise money for the Carp Barrens Trail Study which will provide ecological information about the impact of unauthorized trails on the city-owned land. The study will cover three seasons – spring, summer and fall – in 2019. It will map the trail network; document significant rare and uncommon plants; document the wildlife in the vicinity of the trail and the wildlife uses the habitat; document evidence of habitat disruption; identify trail locations that pose a reis to the ecology; provide mitigation recommendations; and provide a report at the end of each season.

The study will be provided to the city for consideration while developing a policy to manage the area.

The FCH needs to raise $6,000 to pay for the study. After raising $600 at the AGM, the FCH has now raised $1,500 towards the project.

Not only did the FCH raise some money for an important project at the meeting, the organization also recruited some new board members.

“New directors Anne Chapman Wong and Janet Campbell were elected, and returning director Chris Busby was elected, to our board,” Mason said. “We now have eight board members.”

For more information on the Friends of the Carp Hills, visit their website here.