We Need Your Help !

The summer is passing us by quickly and there are many aspect of the plan that we need help with. Can you lend a hand?
Here is a list of just a few of the items we can use your help with:

• Photos of places of interest or scenes around the lake (see list of specific photos needed under Links in right-hand column )
• Lists of Animals or Birds you have seen in the area (Blank lists available under Links)
• Any sightings of Algae Blooms (or "Elephant Snot" as it is more colloquially known )  along with a notation of when and where you fond them

You can attach any photos or lists  as a file in an e-mail to us at: Plan Contribution

Or, You can leave us hard copy at Troy Cove Marina addressed to Lake Plan Team

Community Workshop - June 25

Saturday morning at Troy Cove Marina the Lake Plan Steering Committee is hosting a workshop for all cottagers interested in reviewing the results of the recent Skeleton Lake Watershed Property Owners' Survey.  We are hoping to see as many of you as can possibly make it at the session,  because we will be using the survey data to help us build our vision of the Skeleton Lake that the Plan will aim to protect for our children and grandchildren.

The purpose of this workshop is for you to have a chance to review the responses that you and your neighbours have given to the survey questions, and to see how we can begin to interpret this information to formulate a document that we will be calling our Sense of Place (or satement of the things that make Skeleton Lake the special place that we all think it is).  We will be trying to boil down the large amount of raw data collected in the survey into a much smaller group of, say, six to ten more inclusive  "Elements" that must remain unchanged or be improved in the future, if the lake is to retain its  unique character.

Our summer will be spent gathering observations and measurements, plus photos, maps, and other data to describe the present state and  direction of change foreach of these essential "Elements". Additional  Workshops this summer,  and focus groups through the Fall and Winter months will be held to validate the data collected, and to begin to identify: issues, stewardship goals, strategies, and finally a prioritized list of programs that will assure the final Plan's success.

Please come to the Workshop, and get involved in any way you can with the activities going on throughout the summer. See or print a copy of the survey results by clicking on the link in the "Related Links" section to the right on this page
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Survey a big success!

By the closing date of February 15, we had received 233 responses to the Lake Stewardship Plan Survey which we sent out in December to 778 property owners in the Skeleton Lake Watershed area. This is a 30% response rate which is considered to be exceptionally good for a mailed out survey of this type.

 As a thank you, we entered the names of all who responded by the deadline, in a draw for a Nature Clean Gift Basket valued at $100. Donated by MD Marine Ltd. This basket contains products that are environmentally safe and can be used throughout your home or cottage. The draw was made at the Lake Plan Steering Committee meeting after the extended deadline date of January 15 : The Winners were: Brian and Beverly Montgomery of Fonthill Ontario. Congratulations to the Montgomery's and our sincere thanks to all of those who took the time to complete the survey.

 We are now tallying te results of the survey and will be in a position to share them with you later this spring.

Would You Like To Help Plan The Lake's Future?

Summer is almost here, and we are in the process of launching our SLCO Lake Stewardship Plan project. But, we need a lot of volunteers to get it going. If you will be at the Lake this summer and you want a really interesting way to spend some of your time, think about volunteering to do one of the many tasks we have to accomplish before the summer's end.

We are setting up seven volunteer teams to gather information. There are two suport teams and five teams to create content for the major subject matter categories:

• The Adninistrative Support Team
• The Editorial Team
  
• The Physical Geography Team
• The History and Culture Team
• The Natural Environment Team
• The Social and Recreation Team
• The Land Use and Planning Team

If you have skills or knowledge in any of these areas, or even if you don't, and just want to give us a hand, we really need your help. We have openings for team leaders to plan the major subject areas, and for volunteers to work with them to gather the data and create the individual pages of the plan. We will provide all of the training you need, and we have a full set of up-to-date online tools for you to work with.

Come on! Join the biggest, and "funnest" project in Muskoka . Drop us an e-mail and sign on:

mailto:membership@skeletonlake.ca