 | | SAM's West Coast Conservation Biologist Natalie Parsons and the Springdale Junior Explorer's Camp |
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2024 Fall Regional Meetings |
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SAM Staff and the volunteer Board of Directors are very much looking forward to connecting with our members at the upcoming Fall Regional Meetings. This year, we are inviting SAM members to attend a half-day regional meeting of their choice in the beautiful towns of Whitbourne (September 27th), Stephenville Crossing (October 2nd), Gambo (October 3rd), and Flowers Cove (October 18th). Each meeting will focus on local initiatives and efforts in the region that have supported conservation of important wildlife habitat. This meeting is more informal than our Spring AGM and encourages discussion on your environmental interests and the interests of the town. Each SAM Member Municipality is encouraged to send a Representative to the meeting (this can be the Mayor, Town Councillor, Staff, or an interested committee member/passionate individual designated by the Town). |
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A Message from SAM's Board of Directors Chair - Heidi Kolodniski: "As councillor for the Town of Bauline, I first started to participate in SAM in the Fall of 2022. I later joined the Board of Directors in the Spring of 2024 and passionately took on the role of Chair. I was excited about the opportunity to support a growing and important organization, with a mission statement that is vital to the future of our communities. As municipal representatives, it is our responsibility to guide the future of our municipality, and I see SAM as a great organization to support this role. |
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SAM meetings are a great way to feel connected, in a multitude of ways. We connect with other municipalities, with an opportunity to learn about both their past successes and their hopes and dreams of the future. We connect with the local leaders who are achieving success in their communities. We can share ideas and connect these ideas together over time to steward our own communities. Connecting in-person at these meetings allows us to feel a sense of community, that we may not otherwise get to experience. We connect with the land, and see the beautiful province we live in, from coast to coast to coast. We connect with the SAM staff, who are implementing important on the ground projects. Come, share and enjoy the discussion of passionate and environmentally conscious municipal leaders - we hope that you leave with a renewed sense of stewardship and a mind full of new ideas!" |
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Awarding the 2024 SAM Environmental Stewardship Award Student Scholarship |
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SAM's Staff have had a very busy summer, lets catch up with them... |
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 | | SAM Staff: Executive Director Zach Burrows, Outreach Coordinator Karleena Squires, East Coast Biologist Willem Peters and West Coast Biologist Natalie Parsons, pictured before participating in some team-building! |
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Catching up with SAM's West Coast Conservation Biologist Natalie Parsons... |
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Natalie has hit the ground running following the AGM in Grand Falls-Windsor. She has been involved in a range of projects across the province that blend hands-on conservation efforts with community outreach. One of her first initiatives was collaborating with Intervale Associates on migratory shorebird surveys along the Southwest Coast and Northern Peninsula. They focused on Piping plover surveys in Port aux Basques and Codroy Valley, and Bank swallow counts in these areas, as well as in Portland Creek and Parsons Pond. Additional shorebird surveys were conducted in Anchor Point, Flower’s Cove, and Eddies Cove, where they documented various species, even a Curlew sandpiper! |
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 | | Natalie spotting the Curlew Sandpiper in Eddies Cove during a shorebird survey (Image Credit: Tina Randell) |
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Natalie has also been busy delivering Outreach - she had the opportunity to attend the Bay St. George Powwow - an incredibly unique way of connecting with the community, she organized a scavenger hunt along the Indian River Wetland Trail for the Junior Explorer’s Camp in Springdale, celebrating World Ocean's Day in the City of Corner Brook, and she teamed up with Mac Turner and Megan Holdfast to organize a Family Fun Day at the Pasadena Ski and Nature Park, filled with nature exploration and interactive games. The turnout exceeded everyone's expectations, and with so many families engaging with nature and learning about the importance of conservation in a fun way! |
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Memories Inspiring Action |
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Catching up with SAM's East Coast Conservation Biologist Willem Peters... |
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Before Willem's first summer as the East Coast Conservation Biologist, he thought back on his summers as a child, getting in a car with his parents and brother and driving to some far-flung locale in the province - whether it would be their yearly trip to the Port aux Basques ferry, or their bi-annual trip to his grandmother’s birthplace in Bonavista Bay. He has no shortage of fond memories or formative experiences while traveling around our beautiful province. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to continue to have similar experiences during this summer’s field season. |
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At the Spring AGM in Grand-Falls Windsor, freshly minted as a SAM employee, he met with SAM Member council representatives and municipal staff who all showed an enthusiasm for both environmental conservation and the beauty of their towns. It got him excited for the new opportunities and responsibilities that were ahead, and he made it a goal to visit as many of these communities as possible over the course of the summer. Following the SAM AGM, Willem and Zach also traveled to Gander for the Municipalities of Newfoundland and Labrador (MNL) Symposium to meet with municipal staff and council members from across the province to discuss the conservation of natural assets. |
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Throughout the summer, Willem visited over twenty municipalities, including Carmanville, New-Wes-Valley, Centreville-Wareham-Trinity, Come by Chance, Torbay, Bauline, Portugal Cove-St. Philips, George's Brook-Milton, Elliston, and Winterland, who were committed to conserving important natural and cultural areas within their communities. He had the opportunity to collaborate with council members and town staff on strategies and plans to preserve, promote, and present beautiful and diverse natural areas. He met up with local organizations like Indian Bay Ecosystem Corporation (IBEC) to assist with their ongoing projects, and assisted with training in Conservation Corps NL (CCNL) Green Teams on the Northeast Avalon. He also worked with youth on projects to identify, restore, and educate on these beautiful places. Finally, he met residents, volunteers, and business owners whose passion for their special areas led them to invest dozens of hours in trail building, bird house construction, tree planting, and more. He also got to participate in events such as the World Ocean's Day Expo in the City of St. John's. |
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As he reflects on the summer, he feels truly inspired by the future of conservation in this province. Municipal governments are in the perfect position to generate positive action in environmental conservation, and many communities in our province are stepping up in a big way. SAM’s membership is growing each year, and he can’t wait to conserve and help support more of your beautiful places! |
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Catching up with SAM's Outreach Coordinator Karleena Squires... |
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This is Karleena's third summer working with SAM, and each year proves to be different, but even more fulfilling than the last. A lot of her focus this summer was assisting the CCNL Green Teams throughout the Northeast Avalon, as well as Outreach and Education throughout the Avalon Peninsula. |
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Early in the summer she helped provide some training and orientation to the CCNL Green Teams in some of our member towns. Every year, SAM helps member municipalities create, write and implement conservation projects through the CCNL Green Teams (if you're interested, please reach out!). The Towns of Bauline, Torbay and Portugal Cove-St. Philips were just some of the successful SAM municipal applicants this year. Throughout the summer Karleena assisted the Green Teams with some of their projects - including species point counts, tree planting and interpretive sign creation with the Town of Torbay and outreach program delivery with the Town of Bauline. |
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In early August, she was also invited to take part in the Bay Roberts Klondyke Days Market - providing information to residents on the conservation efforts of the Town and all about what SAM does. She also visited some summer camps to provide some Atlantic Salmon and Wetland educational programming in Paradise, CBS and St. John's. In addition to managing the social media pages, website, newsletters and planning more outreach/engagements, Karleena is looking forward to more outreach and educational opportunities in the Fall and connecting with everyone at the Fall Regional Meetings. |
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Catching up with SAM's Executive Director Zach Burrows... |
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SAM’s Executive Director Zach had a very busy summer - implementing and facilitating the financial and administrative side of the organization. His recent efforts have led to more financial oversight within the organization, stronger safety and Human Relation guidance, and increased supports being provided for SAM staff. |
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 | | Photo taken by Zach while visiting a wetland near Peters Place in the Town of Torbay |
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What exactly has Zach been up to? Zach sits on both the Board of Directors and the Financial Advisory Committee, both of which have met twice since the Spring AGM. Zach also met up with SAM's Chair of the Board Heidi Kolodniski in the Town of Bauline to present the 2024 SAM Scholarship Winner, Tori Burt, with their scholarship prize. Zach helped provide conservation training and orientation days to several CCNL Green Teams on the Northeast Avalon - Bauline, Torbay and Portugal Cove-St. Philips. Zach would like to give some special recognition to all of the Green Team members who were out in those towns every day, promoting conservation and stewardship of their special places. CONGRATULATIONS on a great summer! |
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 | | Natalie Parsons (SAM) and Caley Brennan (Aquatic Conservation Biologist for Intervale Associates) engaging with community members of all ages about conservation during the 16th Annual Bay St. George Powwow (Image Credit: Jenna Pledger) |
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One of those organizations is Intervale Associates - a non-profit organization, incorporated in Newfoundland and Labrador, with a mission to conserve biodiversity, interpret heritage, and promote the integrity of rural livelihoods. Intervale Associates helps people to design, develop, implement, and evaluate programs and approaches that achieve conservation objectives while benefiting local communities. |
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If you'd like to learn more about what Intervale Associates is doing here in the province, linked below is the latest issue of Living Rivers, the newsletter about stewardship of rivers and wild Atlantic salmon in Newfoundland and Labrador. If you'd like to sign up for this newsletter, or their other newsletter, Long Range Biodiversity, please reach out to Intervale Associates info@intervale.ca. |
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Species of importance found within SAM’s Conservation Areas |
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The Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), a fitting name due to its golden yellow iris, is found throughout North America and frequently breeds in higher latitude areas, including Newfoundland. |
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As with many waterfowl species, the male and female Common Goldeneye have different appearances, and the male is slightly larger than the female. Mature males have black-green heads, with a white patch between the eye and black bill. The sides, breasts and belly are white, and the back and upper tail are black. The tail itself is gray-brown, with light yellow feet. Female Common Goldeneye have brown heads with a grey-coloured back, wings and tail. Females have white-coloured sides, breasts, belly, and the distinctive yellow iris. When flying, males and females both have large white patches visible on the wings. |
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This species of Goldeneye is a secondary cavity nester, meaning they nest in cavities created by other species (such as woodpeckers). This makes the Common Goldeneye an excellent target for nest boxes, and they often return to the same box in the following years. This species can be found in marine and estuarine habitats and large ponds and rivers with slow-moving water during the winter. As they are flying, the wings of the Common Goldeneye produce a unique whistling sound. |
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Did you know? You can follow SAM on a variety of Social Media Platforms! Check us out on Facebook, Instagram and X (Twitter) @SAM_Stewardship |
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Do you have a conservation story you would like to see featured in a future newsletter? Send an email with the details to
samengagement995@gmail.com! |
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