The Ontario Woodlot Association (OWA) is pleased to announce that Colleen Drew-Baehre has been appointed as the organization’s President, effective immediately. Colleen has served as an elected officer on the OWA’s Executive Committee for several years now, and she is also the current Vice-Chair of the Bancroft-Haliburton Chapter of the OWA.
Colleen is a retired secondary school teacher who has lived and worked in the North Hastings/Eastern Haliburton area for over 30 years. She lives on a forested property with her husband Ralph, her mother Sidney, a highly energetic Border Collie named Joey, a crazy cat, and occasionally, their two grown children. She graduated from the University of Guelph with an Honours Bachelor of Science (Agriculture) degree majoring in Natural Resource Management (with a wildlife biology add-on), followed by a Master of Science in Rural and Natural Resource Planning and Management. She worked as a land use planner for several years with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, before deciding that teaching was the right path for her. She obtained a Bachelor of Education degree from Queen’s University and 30 years at North Hastings High School in Bancroft quickly followed.
Colleen has been qualified as a GPS instructor, a Standard First Aid Instructor, and did hold an Ontario Tree Marker license for over 15 years. She has completed training in a number of research protocols (Ontario Benthos Biomonitoring Network as an example) and has had opportunities to take students to net fish for research purposes, conduct stream studies, work with biologists doing black bear research, and with forestry professionals conducting woodlot surveys. Colleen is also a director with the Bancroft Area Stewardship Council and through this is the coordinator for “Wetlands Day” (Grades 3 and 4), and the “Environmental Youth Summit” (Grades 9 to 12).
Quote: “I am honoured to take on the role of President of the OWA, and I am very proud of what we do and what we stand for as an organization… Across our 21 Chapters, our members are focused on using best forest management practices, and on achieving the highest standards in land stewardship! I want to help lead us in continuing to grow our relevance, value, and positive impact.” – Colleen Drew-Baehre.
About the OWA
Vision: Ensuring the sustainability of Ontario’s privately owned forests now and in the future.
Mission: Helping each other to become the best possible stewards of our woodlands.
Our Values: As an organization built by enthusiastic and engaged people, committed to using best management practices, we want our woodlots to be sustainable and productive, ecologically healthy, and diverse, and spiritually and physically renewing.
