Members of the club have been busy with several LWI activities over the summer. One of the major events was the Volunteer for Nature day held at Port Franks on June 14. John Bellar and Peter Banks, helped by other club members, organized the event which saw about 14 volunteers from out of town arrive to work on our Port Franks properties. For the complete story please see Peter's article in this issue. This was a large undertaking for LWI. Many thanks to everyone who participated. We've also been telling our story to the local community by putting up our display at various events in the county. Many thanks to those members who made this possible.

It's a glorious time of year to be outdoors. Check the Outdoor Program and come to our fall outdoor events-the Fungi Foray led by mushroom expert Peter Banks; the Hawk Cliff Outing and the Kettle Point Birding Outing, both led by our expert birder Alf Rider. .

A group in Port Franks is in the planning stages of acquiring property behind the Lambton Heritage Museum, where the swans stop over in the spring. Their plans are to recreate a small lake and marsh similar to what existed in the area in the 1950s. This undertaking is extremely worthwhile and I support it completely. It does bring to mind, however, the fact that we should be doing everything we can to preserve the special natural areas that still exist. It is so much easier to save what we have rather than to try to recreate a natural environment that has been lost. .

The Bert Miller Nature Club in Fort Erie has had a small victory in this vein. They have been trying to save Marcy's Woods, a 115 hectare piece of old-growth Carolinian forest. Although the property was sold to a developer, environmentalists have convinced the Ontario government to issue a rare zoning order halting development of the site for one year, and they have directed the Nature Conservancy of Canada to produce a long-term plan for the woodlot. I hope this property will be preserved in its natural state and finally ends up in public ownership. .

I hope to see many of you at our first monthly meeting on Monday Sept 29. Paul Pratt is an outstanding naturalist and his presentation would interest everyone. Janet Bremner, Indoor Chair, has organized an exciting program for the 2003-4 year. Mark your calendar for the last Monday of each .

Diane: