KILLALOE – A presentation was made to Killaloe-Hagarty-Richards Township council by a delegation seeking funding for Shaw Woods Outdoor Education Centre (SWOEC).
The delegation was made up of Lyndsey Mask, education director, and Grant Dobson, president of SWOEC.
Dobson began his presentation by thanking Mayor Janice Visneskie Moore for being Renfrew County’s representative on the SWOEC board of directors.
“She brings a lot of skills to our board and we are really fortunate,” Dobson said.
Dobson said that Shaw Woods was known throughout North America as a prime example of an original Renfrew Valley old growth forest, a northern temperate deciduous forest. SWOEC has 50 hectares of old growth forest, about 190 hectares of wetland and mixed forest, and about 14 kilometres of trail maintained year round by numerous volunteers who donate 5,000 hours of their time each year.
Dobson said SWOEC was founded in 2010 and is different from many outdoor education centres in the province. Usually, they are run by Conservation Authorities who in turn are funded by municipalities.
“We don’t have one [Conservation Authority] here,” said Dobson, “and we really don’t want one here. We think we do it better.”
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