tunity to see and enjoy the varied forms of birds, mammals, and other wildlife 

 in many regions in the greatest possible variety. 



Land well adapted for wildlife should produce or harbour a permanent 

 population of interesting species and an annual crop of game with no adverse 

 eflfeot on farming or forestry practices. The control of harmful species and the 

 maintenance of all other animal populations at a desirable level is a natural 

 branch of good land use. 



Many of the Conservation Authorities have set up fish and wildlife advisory 

 boards. These are composed of members of the Authority, local district biologists, 

 and invited competent members of the general public. The wide scope of 

 Conservation Authorities programs provide many opportunities for fish and 

 wildlife management projects. 



A major project in several Conservation Authorities is the acquisition of 

 flood plain lands. Such properties make stretches of streams available for fisher- 

 men. These purchases have contained both warm water fish and trout habitat. 

 In those areas where fishing pressure occurs, arrangements have been made with 

 the Department of Lands and Forests to stock yearling trout annually. Severe 

 flooding, characteristic of this particular type of purchase, prohibits conventional 

 stream improvement measures in many cases. However, as a substitute, several 

 removable dams have been constructed. 



Purchases of land by several Conservation Authorities for conservation 

 purposes have included properties with lakes or ponds. Many Authorities have 

 developed such properties for fishing as well as swimming and picnicking. The 

 Heart Lake Conservation Area within the Metropolitan Toronto and Region 

 Conservation Authority is one example of such a property. In this lake, the 

 coarse fish were eradicated and a combination of large-mouth bass and Kamloops 

 trout stocked. Many of the 2,500 farm p^onds which the Conservation Authorities 

 have helped to build are now used for fishing or for wildlife production. "Put 

 and take" management may accommodate large numbers of anglers. At the 

 Glen Haffy Conservation Area in the Metropolitan Region Authority, two public 

 fishing ponds were stocked at frequent intervals throughout the fishing season. 

 About 7,000 anglers visit the ponds each year and harvest close to 3,000 speckled 

 trout. 



Authorities are now being encouraged to draw plans for fish and wildlife 

 programs along with their preliminary engineering for flood control structures. 

 Authorities are beginning to appreciate the value of tail-water fishing (particularly 

 where a bottom discharge can provide trout habitat) and, therefore, to plan 

 below a reservoir as well as above. An example is the rainbow trout fishing now 

 available below Bellwood Lake in the Grand watershed. The excellent waterfowl 

 hunting at the Luther Reservoir is a by-product of the flood control program of 

 the Grand River Conservation Commission. 



The Authorities are also being encouraged to introduce some variety of "edge" 

 into the forest plantations which are now common to our landscape. With new 

 changes in reforestation procedure and with an added investment in stream 

 improvement, ponds and shrub plantings, these tracts can now lend themselves 

 to low-intensity public use. In fact, two Conservation Authorities produce shrubs 

 for wildlife habitat improvement, and most of these shrubs find their way to 

 reforestation plantings in the conservation areas. Many are used in stream bank 

 and gully plantings. The Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation 

 Authority and the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority have such 

 nurseries. 



Several lakes, formerly ditched and drained, now have controlled levels 



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