www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, June 27, 2014 | 6 Halton Region's recent move to adopt 37 hectares of new forest land deserves a big round of applause. Preserving the region's natural heritage is a must for future generations of Halton residents to enjoy as well as for the bene t of local wildlife and the ecosystem -- and it won't happen by itself. The Region announced last week it would commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Halton Regional Forests by acquiring 37 hectares of new forest land. The initiative marks the rst addition to our regional forests in almost 50 years. Obviously, long overdue. However, considering a hectare equals a little under the size of two football elds, that's a signi cant mass of land now being preserved. It's all intended to protect the land for generations, say Regional staff. Since 1939, Halton Regional Forests -- Agreement Forests, rst managed by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and now Halton Region, have acquired more than 665 hectares of land. That is spread over 14 separate forest tracts that range in size from 12 hectares to more than 166 hectares. The new forest lands contain a provincially signi cant wetland (about 14 hectares) and a woodlot (about 23 hectares) and will bring the total size of Halton's Regional forests to 702 hectares -- more than twice the amount of land making up the Toronto Islands (332 hectares). We only hope it doesn't take another 50 years for further action in this regard. As development continues in Halton, forested land must be treated as an integral part of our community. If current plans under Halton's new Biodiversity Strategy for Halton Regional Forests are followed through on, local residents will see additional initiatives over the next decade to protect and increase our local biological diversity. The plans include expanding restoration and enhancement activities, implementing control measures for invasive species and carrying out programs for biodiversity monitoring. A large part of the strategy is also to engage the public in enjoying and enhancing biodiversity resources in the Regional forests tracts. That's where we all can play a part by becoming aware of the importance of biodiversity, treating the forests and their inhabitants with the respect they deserve and making sure the issue of preservation stays on the radar of our elected of cials. "Halton Regional council considers sustainability in all that we do in order to protect and preserve the Region's natural heritage," said Regional Chair Gary Carr. "One way we're preserving our natural environment for future generations is by implementing a biodiversity strategy to help protect our forests and the natural heritage systems that connect wildlife and vegetation across our region." This should remain a priority every day -- right along with our usual hot-button topics such as property taxes, local development, municipal facilities and more -- as we head to the polls in our municipal election this fall. After all, it's Halton's future -- our future. Adding forest green My View to our landscape And the winner is... Jack Natyshak Editorial "Connected to your Community" 447 Speers Road, Oakville ON, L6K 3S4 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Editorial Department: (905) 632-0588 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 52 | Number 77 O akville author Pat Skene holds a creative writing contest every year at St. Matthew Catholic Elementary School for Grades 4, 5 and 6 students. This year's theme was fairy tales, in celebration of Skene's latest effort, A Tale of Two Biddys. The Floating Farms by Jack Natyshak It was warm and sunny. A great day for the three little farmers. One farmer was growing carrots while raising brown cows. The second farmer was growing red, orange and green peppers and collecting eggs from the chickens. The third, and youngest, farmer was growing cucumbers and baking bread. There was only one difference between these farmers and the farms we know. Their farms were oating above the clouds in the sky where nobody could nd them. Below the farms, was a little old town named Bird's Creek. Here lived a young boy (around the age of 10) named Tucker. He was on his way to the market to buy some bread when he saw an old man sleeping on the ground. Tucker approached the man and said, "There are three farms up in that sky. I can see them." Tucker continued on to the market, but instead of buying bread he bought a telescope. When Tucker got home, his mother said, "You numskull!" Now we have nothing to put our jam and peanut butter on!" Tucker told his mother that he could see a farm in the sky through the telescope. "That farm will give us food," he said. "We just have to gure out how to get there." Tucker travelled back to town to nd the old man and ask for his help. He told him that he wanted to go to the farms in the sky to prove to his mother that he was not a numskull, and to bring back food for his family. "Can you help me get to the farms?" asked Tucker. The old man told Tucker that he had an old hot air balloon that might help him. So Tucker dragged the hot air balloon into the centre of town. Tucker launched the balloon into the air. He was on a mission to nd the oating farms. When Tucker arrived at the farms, he was afraid and alone. As he looked around, he saw rows of vegeta- The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. VicePresident and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Halton Region Editor in Chief Advertising Director NEIL OLIVER DAVID HARVEY JILL DAVIS DANIEL BAIRD Managing Editor ANGELA BLACKBURN RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Business Manager Director of Production SANDY PARE MARK DILLS MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Director of Distribution CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager St. Matthew school Grade 5 student Jack Natyshak with author Pat Skene. Natyshak won a writing contest at his school with his fairy tale, The Floating Farms. | submitted photo Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member bles: carrots, peppers and cucumbers. As he walked further, he saw brown cows, chickens laying eggs and bread being baked. Tucker met the farmers. He began to tell them about his life down at Bird's Creek and how his mother didn't believe that there were farms in the sky. The farmers gave Tucker permission to take whatever he wanted to feed his family and to prove the farms were real. Tucker lled his air balloon basket with food and oated back down to town. He brought the old man more food than he would ever need. Tucker's mother told him she was sorry for ever doubting him. Fifteen years later, Tucker invented the rst helicopter to allow citizens of Bird's Creek to y to the oating farms to get food whenever they wanted. So, they all lived the rest of their lives in Bird's Creek, happy and full. The End Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Proud Official Media Sponsor For: The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. 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