July 2014 Newsletter

Now that summer is with us the many groups across Atlantic Canada and Quebec are in full field season mode, driving out their conservation projects. Our initial 50 percent grant cheques have been sent to help bump-start the work and we’re receiving great feedback and lots of nice photos you’ll see on out Facebook page. This time of the year also gets ASCF staff out into the field doing site visits and meeting the people who perform the conservation work.

Early summer also puts us in full planning and development mode with our wonderful corporate partners, Alcool NB Liquor (ANBL) and the PEI Liquor Control Commission (PEILCC). ANBL will be holding its 3rd “Protect Our Rivers – Protegeons nos Rivieres” sales event to be held starting 25 August for 5 weeks. PEILCC will be holding the 4th “Island Rivers – Worth Protecting” sales event in October. Both events raise thousands of new dollars that ASCF commits 100 percent within the province. There are lots of excellent beer, wine and spirits products, so please plan on supporting these sales events.

Regular readers should now be aware that our total grant pool for 2015 will be $1 million. For 2015 we are raising our maximum grant to $100,000 to accommodate more significant project proposals spanning up to 3 years in duration. And, as noted last month, we will soon issue our first ever call for applied research proposals. Our goal is to support a partnership of Canadian and international research organizations in learning new ways to facilitate “on the ground” conservation activity. This is a new direction for us that’s pretty exciting. As always, we will keep you posted.

Yours in conservation,

Stephen Chase,

Executive Director