Ontario

But she didn’t see just one — as the boat rounded a series of square cliffs towering about calm waters, the noise of the boat stirred up a group of seven bald eagles perched on the cliff wall, soaking in the sun.

Such sightings, while rare for most city dwellers, are not uncommon along the north shore of Lake Superior, where rugged ridges, cliffs and mesas offer extreme south and north-facing microclimates. This unique landscape is a key area for Great Lakes biodiversity as well as part of the Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area.

In January 2014, NCC announced the conservation of the 399-acre (161-hectare) Powder Islands. The two islands, 299-acre (121-hectare) Anguros Island and a 100-acre (40-hectare) unnamed island to the west, are located less than one kilometre off the coast of Lake Superior near Rossport. They are almost completely forested, supporting bald eagles and rare Great Lakes coastal wetlands.

Among the rare species documented here is a small purple wildflower called Franklin’s scorpion-weed.

The shallow waters around these islands provide spawning habitat for lake trout and lake whitefish, and stop-over habitat for migrating waterfowl.

NCC has had a longstanding partnership with the Pays Plat First Nations, who will be involved in the long-term management of the property. NCC has been working in the area for 15 years, and continues to build on connections with Pays Plat, other First Nations and forestry, mining and energy sectors in the area.

The project was made possible thanks to generous funding support from the TD Bank Group (TD) through its TD Forests Program.

Burns sponsored by the Rice Lake Plains Joint Initiative partners were managed by trained professionals from NCC, Ministry of Natural Resources and Lands & Forests Consulting, an independent prescribed burn consulting firm.

This is likely NCC’s largest burn season yet in Ontario (Manitoba and BC also have burn programs) and is one of the most extensive tall grass prescribed burn operations in the province. The burns are part of a long-term program to restore tall grass prairie and oak savannah to the area, which is Canada’s easternmost prairie landscape.

In Ontario, the Rice Lake Plains contain excellent prairie remnants that can be restored with prescribed burns. One of the NCC projects on the Rice Lake Plains, the Hazel Bird Nature Reserve, hosts a rich mix mix of forests, grasslands and globally rare black oak savannah.