About the Frontenac Stewardship Council

Frontenac County is an amazingly diverse county full of history, culture and natural beauty. About 145,000 people make their home here, where world class theatre and art co-exist with parks and natural areas of incomparable quality. The Frontenac Axis, a segment of Canadian Shield granite that links the Algonquin Highlands with the Adirondack mountains of central New York, forms the eastern boundary of the county, while the Napanee limestone plain bounds it to the west. The shoreline and islands of Lake Ontario lie to the south. Rich agricultural lands in the south support a variety of livestock and produce farms, while tourism, logging, hunting and fishing support many northern residents in our famous Land O’Lakes Tourism Region.

Council Objectives
• Identify stewardship challenges and gaps through coordinated discussions with communities, agencies,
groups and individuals and through observation

• Develop strong, lasting stewardship partnerships across our area of interest to help strategically carry out
dynamic initiatives based upon the most current expertise to tackle identified challenges and gaps

• Provide landowners with ongoing access to current environment-related information products such as
extension notes, booklets, workshops, guest speakers etc.

• Continually monitor, measure and recognize the success of implemented stewardship initiatives

2009/2010 Stewardship Council Members:
People Making a Difference

The Frontenac Stewardship Council was formed in 1996 and is run by volunteers that currently reside in Frontenac County. Council members drive many miles and volunteer many hours to help ensure the success of the annual partnership stewardship initiatives and do not receive any financial compensation. They are truly dedicated to making Frontenac County a greener and healthier landscape for this and future generations.

Dr. Gray Merriam is a retired ecologist who did research, trained graduate students and taught for about 40 years. He was President of the International Assoc. of Landscape Ecologists and received awards for his scholarship and research. In retirement, he has tried to apply some of what he learned on the land by engaging in several land stewardship projects. He is President of the Friends of the Salmon River and is Chair of the Frontenac Stewardship Council. Gray lives with his wife Aileen, an artist and Lake Steward, on the Salmon River near Arden.	Bret Colman grew up in southwest Ontario on a farm. He holds a degree in biology from the University of Guelph, and has worked for Ducks Unlimited, various Conservation Authorities, and the Ministry of Natural Resources. In 2003 he moved to Frontenac County, and two years later bought Desert Lake Resort. He has been involved with the FSC since 2004, as Coordinator for a time and now as a council member. When he is not busy running Desert Lake Resort in Verona he is involved with the Land o’ Lakes Tourism Assoc. and the Frontenac Stewardship Foundation.
Richard Emery owns 25 acres of woodlot, which he manages through the Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program. A retired school teacher, Richard grew up in Windsor but spent his childhood summers in the Ompah area. He has owned his property in Plevna for 10 years, and is a fisherman. Richard joined the Council in early 2010.	Jeff Green is the owner and editor of the Frontenac News, Frontenac County’s most widely distributed community newspaper. Jeff moved to Frontenac with his family in 1990, and started with the Frontenac News in 2000. He is fully informed and involved in the community and local politics, and has been with the FSC for five years.
Dr. James Day is a professor and head of the division of allergy & immunology in the department of Medicine at Queen’s University and the Kingston General Hospital. Jim owns property in various parts of Frontenac County, including in the northern parts of the County as well as on Wolfe Island, where he has been actively involved in habitat restoration and preservation. Jim has been with the FSC for four years.	Gord Rodgers joined the FSC in 2005. He holds a Masters degree in Environmental Studies, and has been involved in many environmental planning projects, as well as 30 years with the Ministry of Natural Resources. In 2000, Gord moved to South Frontenac, where he and his wife built a timber frame home on Fourteen Island Lake. In addition to his involvement on the Council, Gord volunteers with the Frontenac Stewardship Foundation, the Fisheries Advisory Council, Zone 18, and the Fourteen Island Lake Association.
Angela Tooley attended Fleming College for fish and wildlife and has a natural interest in the out-of-doors. She grew up in Lanark County and has now lived in Plevna for three years. She spent six months as an intern with the FSC working as a Lake Association coordinator, and afterwards came on as a council member. She currently works at the White Lake Fish Hatchery, and loves the natural beauty of Frontenac County.	Kevin Kennedy grew up in Frontenac County and has lived in Harrowsmith for the past 15 years. Kevin’s family has been in the area for many decades. His father was involved with the FSC, and Kevin has been with the council for four years. He is an avid hunter and fisherman and manages his parents’ 148-acre woodlot with the Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program.
Jocelyne Steeves is a retired teacher and outdoor enthusiast. She moved to Sharbot Lake 20 years ago from northern Ontario, and has been with the FSC for almost three years. She and her husband were attracted to Frontenac by the many lakes in the area and the clean air and pristine environment. Through the FSC Jocelyne has helped introduce environmental education programs into area schools.	Ken Waller has been involved with the FSC since April 2009. He takes great interest in his community and local politics, attending most Central Frontenac Council meetings and providing ideas for better lake stewardship. Ken has been part of the Sharbot Lake Property Owners’ Association since 2001, and the president for the last two years. Ken is a retired Air Force engineer, and he runs a wood turning business out of his home on the shores of Sharbot Lake.
George Conboy is a farmer who currently produces beef and maple syrup on his family’s 600-acre farm near Sharbot Lake. George grew up in Frontenac County and has farmed his whole life there, raising his family and successfully carrying on farming full time to become one of the County’s agricultural success stories. He has been a member of the FSC for three years and brings an agricultural perspective to the Council’s discussions and projects.	David Roberts has been involved with the FSC for the past four years. He resides in Ompah, where he manages his family’s 130-acre woodlot through the Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program (MFTIP), a forest property that has been in his family for 50 years and managed for 43 of those years. David works for the Federal Government in Ottawa, but has fond memories of childhood days spent in Ompah, where his family dates back to the 1880s.