Public asked to comment on plan for Morrison Dam Conservation Area

The Morrison Dam Conservation Area has become the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority’s most visited conservation area.

By John Miner

The Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority is asking for the public’s input into management of what has turned out to be the authority’s most heavily used conservation area.

Cellphone data collected by Huron County indicates that the South Huron trail, running through the Morrison Dam Conservation Area and connecting to McNaughton Park in Exeter, was visited 91,064 times in 2024, with an average visit duration of 30.3 minutes.

The trail hosted 20,877 unique visitors that year, according to the data that was captured through a platform called Propulso.

Nathan Schoelier, the authority’s stewardship, land and education manager, said the numbers should be looked at as a minimum number as some people visiting the trail don’t carry cellphones and wouldn’t be included in the data.

Before being provided with the numbers, the impression was that Rock Glen Conservation Area was the most heavily visited, Schoelier said.

The conservation authority’s board of directors at its July meeting approved a draft master plan to guide the management of the 108-acre conservation area over the next decade, replacing the master plan adopted in 2004.

People are invited to provide written comments on the draft master plan in an online survey that is posted on the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority website: www.abca.ca/post/?ID=1685.

The survey is open until late August.

“We strongly encourage people who value this conservation area to submit their feedback and be heard. We really want to work with the community to shape the future of these conservation areas because that is who uses them,” Schoelier said in an interview.

Included in the draft plan are a series of recommendations that include:

- Collaborating with the Municipality of South Huron to establish pedestrian crossings where the trail intersects with Morrison Line.

- Establishing an accessible access point to the trail from the parking lot of the Morrison Dam Conservation Area administration centre.

- Implementing natural playground features adjacent to the trail to enhance youth activities and experiences.

- Establish partnerships with local secondary schools to promote youth involvement in the Friends of the South Huron Trail Volunteer group.

- Collaborate with the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Foundation, Friends of the South Huron Trail and other community partners to encourage and diversify the fundraising efforts to maintain and enhance the trail.

The draft plan drops an objective set out in the 2004 plan to acquire land, or establish easement agreements, to expand the trail further east of the reservoir on the north and south sides of the river to McTaggart Line.

Trail use data does not support the investment that would be required, Schoelier said.

The draft plan notes that there are a number of species-at-risk in the Morrison Dam Conservation Area. To safeguard the species from potential threats, detailed information is not included in the plan.

“Sometimes there is poaching associated with plants and animals and that might be the reason they are at risk. We don’t want to encourage any sort of harvest of any species at risk,” Schoelier said.