Friends of Hibou Conservation Area – Ontario, Canada
Goal: To enhance the recreational and natural appreciation of Hibou Conservation Area
We are excited about the high water. The Sandy beach looks inviting except for the debris that looks like twigs and sawdust. Can you help? Summer is almost here!
Bring a wheelbarrow, rake, pitchfork and you enthusiasm. Join us Tuesday at 10am at the parking lot at the Hibou beach. We aim to be done by 2:30. Bring water and lunch. Stay as long as you are able. If you have to leave earlier, that is ok.
Let us know if you are coming.
Till then
Bob and Marie
Do you remember how popular the Hibou Beach was in the 80s? The sandy shore line was so filled with families that new parking areas were established. Now that the water level is back up to that level, we are ready to clean up the beach area so people can once again enjoy swimming there.
We need your help.
When: Tuesday June 2nd, 10am till about 2:30 but come when you are able during that time.
What to bring: If you can, bring a wheelbarrow, rake, pitch fork or shovel. GSCA will have a tractor there to assist with removal of the debris that washes up on the beach. Bring water and lunch. The weather forecast looks good at the moment.
We would love to have your help. Let us know if you are planning to join us. friendsofhibou@rogers.com
The new boardwalk trail is ready to be officially opening. Marie Knapp talks about how it was a community that brought the Conservation Area into being, a community that began Friends of Hibou and now a community of volunteers that built the Boardwalk.
The Trail is officially opened when Evelyn Holley who is on the Friends of Hibou Committee, and Susan Tuohy, Bank Manager from TD Canada Trust, the funder of the materials necessary to build the Boardwalk, cut the yellow ribbon.
Bob talks about how the Boardwalk makes an area passable that would otherwise be underwater due to Beaver activity and nature. In spring the wetlands come to life.
The group enjoys walking along the 200 feet of Boardwalk built by volunteers and laid down late fall 2014.
Marie shows Susan where we walked in and how the trail system works. There are maps at all junctures on the trails and each map is placed so the reader is facing North to simplify map reading.
Big Happening to officially open the Hibou Boardwalk Trail tomorrow at 12:30.pm.
Hoping for better weather. If any changes I will post here and on the Face Book page before 11am. Keep watching. Otherwise hope to see you there.
In the Fall of 2014, an enthusiastic group of volunteers built and placed about 200 ft of boardwalk over a wet portion of trail. That trail had been impassible for a good portion of the year. Now we will celebrate by officially opening this new boardwalk.
Come and join us Monday May 11 at 12:30pm for a brief opening ceremony located in the north east section of the park.
Park on the road by the beach entrance and head north towards Leith to the trail entrance. Try to arrive at the Boardwalk for 12:30pm opening which should be very brief. Light refreshments will be served.
Anyone who would like to volunteer for trail work following the opening, bring some clippers or a pruning saw and we’ll be making sure the trails are in good shape.
We have good news. The GSCA has moved the boardwalk out to the area in Hibou where they will be installed. A big thank you to Chris Hachey. There are approximately 24 eight foot sections that we will need to place and attach together with a screw gun using a piece of 2×6. The sections will sit on cement blocks that are at location. The area where they are being placed is dry at this present time, but boots would be good to have while working.Trail work this summer has been delayed due to the unusual weather patterns we have been experiencing. The planned location for the boardwalk is at the back of the acreage to the south and east of the road. The trail into that spot has been very wet, making it impossible to take the constructed boardwalk pieces in. However we are very pleased to say that gravel has been brought in and spread with the use of a backhoe and a skid steer by Elmridge Contracting 
The next step will be to get the boardwalk pieces in to the site where they will be placed. After that a team of volunteers will work with Chris Hatchey to lay them securely. It has been a long wait but will be well worth it when we finally get the boardwalk in place. The grant money we received has all been spent and then some. We are grateful for the contribution from the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority to make this happen. It looks better already.
If you are interested in volunteering to put the boardwalk in place securely, keep watching this web site. We will be posting all the information here when everything is ready for our work. It is exciting to see this all falling into place. We would love to hear from you about how you are using Hibou. Give us some positive feedback as you see progress being made. We really want to see the area being used and appreciated.
Happy Canada Day to everyone!
Unfortunately the trail we were going to work on at Hibou is too wet to take the truck in. We need to transport the blocks and boardwalk into the work site by truck. So we have to postpone the trail work.
We may not be able to do it till later in the summer. We will let you know. Meanwhile enjoy other sections of Hibou.
Marie Knapp
Hi folks,
We are pleased to have 5 people confirmed to help work on laying down the boardwalk at Hibou next Wednesday July 2nd. we would like to have at least 3 more so check your calendars. Even a half day is much appreciated. Email Bob at rmknapp@yahoo.com if you have some time available.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Bob Knapp
Friends of Hibou Conservation Area - Ontario, Canada 