I am very interested in current environmental issues and try to follow as many issues as I can. It sometimes seems like the natural environment is constantly under attack and our small efforts, such as sending letters and E-mails are not having an effect. However I am of the opinion that we do make a difference and we must continue to do what we can to protect the natural environment.

I was impressed by the efforts of Denise Van de Weer of the Sydenham Field Naturalists. She was driving the back roads around Bickford Oak Woods several weeks ago and saw some huge machinery being used to clear a mature woodlot adjacent to BOW. She put in a lot of effort to see if these activities were legal and if the uprooting of huge trees could be stopped. She contacted Rob Minielly, the Lambton County official responsible for enforcing the tree-cutting by-law. Rob and an MNR official visited the site and at this time it is not clear if anything can be done in this case, but I applaud Denise's efforts. I have talked to Rob and he is planning to introduce a new tree cutting by-law with more teeth. I have told him that LWI strongly supports his efforts to strengthen his authority under the by-law. For example, currently he can't issue a stop-work order even if he finds someone is cutting illegally.

Our group took the back roads home from the Down River Duck Trip on Feb 2 and it was shocking to see the number of trees that had been cut recently. We got out of the car to look at a beautiful Red Shouldered Hawk and we heard a chain-saw. Larry Cornelis' comment was "From the Amazon to Lambton County, the sounds of chain-saws working". Less than 10 percent of Southern Lambton County is wooded areas. Perhaps a new by-law will help us protect the trees that still remain.

The days are getting longer. Spring is just around the corner. This means that the Indoor chair and the Outdoor committee are busy planning the programs and outings for 2003-2004. You can look for the new brochure to appear sometime before the Annual General Meeting in April.

Diane