Posted by BurwashGoboy

Ontario Heritage Trust unveils provincial plaque to commemorate correctional reform institution in Burwash

BURWASH, ON, Aug. 6 /CNW/ - Today, the Ontario Heritage Trust, the

Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services and the Burwash

Alumni Committee unveiled a provincial plaque commemorating Burwash Industrial

Farm during the Burwash Alumni Picnic.

Industrial farms, such as the one in Burwash, revolutionized the way

low-risk inmates served their sentences in Ontario's correctional facilities.

Established in 1914, the Burwash Industrial Farm was one of the largest reform

institutions in 20th-century Ontario. During its peak, it held over 800

minimum- and medium-security offenders and spanned 14,164 hectares

(35,000 acres) of owned, and 40,469 hectares (100,000 acres) of leased, land

to accommodate the inmates and prison staff families.

"Telling Ontario's stories through provincial plaques gives us the

opportunity to highlight the important people, places and events in our past

that have influenced and shaped us," said The Honourable Lincoln M. Alexander,

Chairman of the Ontario Heritage Trust. "The Burwash Industrial Farm offers a

heritage snapshot of a time when it was believed that low-risk inmates would

benefit from the exercise and skills learned while working outdoors at

self-supporting institutions."

This self-sustaining facility allowed inmates to grow their own food,

tend the crops, develop agricultural techniques and provide food to other

provincial institutions. Over time, the institution also operated a lumbering

operation, including a mill and tailor shop that provided clothing for

prisoners and shirts for prison officers. As well, it boasted its own 20-bed

hospital, assembly hall, newspaper, entertainment and sports activities. The

nearby Monteith Experimental Farm was annexed as a supplementary site.

"Ontario's communities developed for many reasons," said Ontario Minister

of Culture Caroline Di Cocco. "The Village of Burwash grew up around a

correctional institution and became its own self-sufficient community with

over 1,000 prison staff and their families. It remains a significant part of

Ontario's heritage."

"The roots of our modern correctional service can be found in the

achievements of earlier industrial farms such as Burwash," said Community

Safety and Correctional Services Minister Monte Kwinter. "Structured,

meaningful community-based work was paramount in rehabilitating Burwash

offenders and continues to play an important role in reducing recidivism

today."

In 1975, following changes to correctional practices, the facility closed

and the town all but disappeared. The buildings were torn down in the

mid-1980s when the land was transferred to the Department of National Defence.

Although the institution and town no longer exist, the strong community spirit

has not been forgotten. This spirit, sustained by memories of life in a unique

environment, is the lasting legacy of Burwash.

This unveiling is part of the Trust's Provincial Plaque Program that

commemorates significant people, places and events in Ontario's history. Since

1953, nearly 1,200 of these distinctive blue and gold plaques have been

unveiled.

The Ontario Heritage Trust is an agency of the Government of Ontario,

dedicated to identifying, preserving, protecting and promoting Ontario's

heritage.

Posted by BurwashGoboy

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Ontario Provincial Police are investigating after a body was found by hunters Tuesday in a wooded area near Burwash.

 

OPP officers perform a ground search alongside Trout Lake Rd. where human remains were discovered Wednesday.

Police are treating the death as suspicious.

 

The OPP have set up a command post with a trailer and several squad cars several hundred metres down Trout Lake Rd., just off Highway 69.

 

The road has been blocked off to traffic until the investigation is complete.

 

Several OPP officers under the direction of lead investigator Insp. Tim Millar were conducting a thorough land search of the area Thursday.

 

They used rakes and shovels to comb the snow and ground for any evidence that might lead to the identification of the body or an arrest.

 

"They're just looking for anything that doesn't look right on the ground," said Const. Louise Monette of the OPP. The provincial police are in charge of this investigation because the body was found in their jurisdiction.

 

In light of the investigation, the Greater Sudbury Police Service has provided the OPP with information about Daphne Kochar, the wife of a city doctor who has been missing since Nov. 6.

 

Sudbury police have been unable to find any trace of the woman since her blue Honda minivan was discovered Nov. 10 in the parking lot of an area apartment complex.

 

Monette would not speculate on whether the body could be Kochar's.

 

Given the cold weather conditions, it could take between several days and several weeks before the body is removed and a gender and positive identification can be determined, she said.

 

Once the remains have been removed, a post-mortem examination will be performed to find the cause of death. The body is probably frozen because of the weather we've been having, said Monette.

 

The officer isn't sure whether or not local forensics experts like Laurentian professor Scott Fairgrieve will be called in to help with their investigation.

 

Trout Lake Rd. cottagers wanting to access their property during the investigation can get in through Highway 535 instead, she said.

 

Sudbury police are collaborating with the OPP to help with the investigation, said Insp. Al Lekun of the Greater Sudbury Police Service.

 

"Because they know we have an outstanding missing person, they get in touch with us and say we have these found human remains," he said.

 

"Obviously, there is a possibility that those human remains are the remains of Daphne Kochar. The scientists are going to determine that."

 

The body found near Trout Lake Rd. has become important in the ongoing Kochar missing person investigation, said Lekun.

 

"Obviously, if these human remains were to be identified as being hers, it puts another piece in the puzzle in our investigation and it progresses."

 

 

Posted by BurwashGoboy

4/22/2004 Burwash has unique grasslands 

 From  NORTHERNLIFE  http://www.northernlife.ca/

 

BY DEBORAH C. SAUVÉ

When the fire crew arrived in Burwash with their noisy trucks, a group of sandhill cranes cracked the morning air with their distinct call of urgency. 

The burning provides the opportunity for grass and plants to come back to life.

The elk were nowhere to be found. The elusive creatures were hidden away deep in the woodlands in wait for the fresh grass, while the raptors perched high in the trees anxious for the rodents to emerge from their holes once the smoke cleared.

Over the dates of April 13 and 14, the Ministry of Natural Resources in partnership with the local chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, conducted a 120-hectare prescribed burn on the Burwash lands.

"The purpose of the burn is habitat management," said MNR area biologist Mike Hall.

"These fields are home to a number of species and I would like to see it maintained. Grasslands are a source of habitation that we do not have a lot of in the Sudbury area or throughout the province for that matter."

The Burwash property was historically utilized as a prison farm. Due to this fact, the fields were at one time open and used for grazing and growing crops. Today, many of the fields have begun to grow over with trees and brush.

"The grasslands make Burwash quite unique in this area," Hall said. "This is one of the reasons that we are trying to maintain it in that sort of open condition."

The burn will help maintain the habitat in the long-term, and in the short-term it will revitalize some of the plant growth. When the dead grass from the previous year presses down on the ground it inhibits other plant species from growing up through it.

"The more palatable ones [plants], the ones that are really preferred by wildlife, sometimes do not have the ability to push up through," Hall said.

"The burning of the dead grass provides the opportunity for those grasses and plants to come back to life."

The burned area was decided on by the MNR in accordance with the RMEF, after prioritizing where they wanted to realize the benefits of the burn.

"I would like to make the field more attractive to the animals away from the highway so that large animals like deer, moose and elk are not near the highway to lessen the chance of vehicle collision," Hall said.

Further to this, however, the MNR also paid close attention to the smaller animals that would be affected by the burn.

Perching sticks were installed, for instance, for birds that live in the area, like the rare Le Conte’s Sparrow.

Nonetheless, when the rain falls on Burwash this year, it will bring new life to all of the species that call the grasslands home. The elk, deer and moose will come out of hiding to graze the fields, the raptors will sail the sky in the hunt for food, and the fertility of the land will be preserved for another year.

Deborah C. Sauvé writes on behalf of the Friends of Burwash.

http://www.northernlife.ca/searchResults.asp?-1id19-pn=&keywords=burwash&topCategory=0&RSID=0&x=15&y=11&view=62703#log62703

Posted by goboy-p-low

 

NAME: Bison
RANK Date: 05-Sep-96

NAME: Bison

RANK Date: 05-Sep-96

Ontario General Status: EXOTIC

Notes: (Escaped  Iindividuals) from a 1939 release near the Burwash Prison Farm, south of Sudbury (Sudbury District.), persisted for a number of years; there have been no recent reports of Bison persisting at this locality.

Found at:

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/nhic/elements/el_report.cfm?elid=180744

Posted by BurwashGoboy

8/26/2003 Sam’s story: don’t fence me in

BY KEN MCCAUSLAND

Sam the elk has been foraging within the Burwash fields since his re-introduction in May 2003. He does not have the usual instinct to evade potential danger.

Before he came to Burwash, a farmer fed him by hand and he became less fearful of humans. Unfortunately, Sam and other elk that migrated west from Burwash, were feeding and in effect destroying the fields of a number of farmers.

All of the elk including Sam, were captured and re-released in Burwash in the hopes they would socialize with the herd.

"Sam has not yet socialized with the herd," says Ben Cox.

Cox has been working as a research technician for the Northern Environmental Heritage Institute (NEHI) out of Cambrian College.

"Currently they are capturing and collaring wolves in order to study their relation to predation on the elk herds. Sam’s chances of survival are greater if he socializes with the herd."

Sam looks healthy and at three years of age is an asset to reproduction within the herd.

The area of Burwash is prime land where man and wildlife can co-exist if simple rules of nature are followed.

Cox acknowledges that Sam is unique and not as evasive as the rest of the herd. There is good opportunity to

observe him from a closer distance.

Those who come upon Sam or any other wildlife in Burwash, should keep their initial distance of their sighting and possibly use binoculars for a closer view. This way one will be able to watch him longer and observe his habits if he is not pushed away.

Participants of the recent Burwash reunion had the pleasure of sighting Sam while on their wagon ride tour of the village.

Sam has been frequenting the more southern fields of Burwash in the last three weeks as the military has been more active in the northern sections.

The citizens group for the proper land use in Burwash are in the process of meeting with NEHI to determine common ground on the use of land in Burwash.

A point of interest: Ben Cox started as a volunteer with the Elk Program and stands as a model example of the educational values of the present projects in Burwash.

Education through nature is one of the main focuses the committee is reviewing.

This includes elementary, college, university and groups such as cubs and boy scouts.

It is obvious Burwash offers so much in this regard and is only 25 minutes from Sudbury and closer to other outlying towns.

Thus, the committee feels there are numerous educational opportunities that may be explored for the Burwash property.

If you would like further information or wish to have input as an individual or as a group that may have common ground send an e-mail to burwash@sympatico.ca.

Posted by BurwashGoboy

"Skeletal remains stumbled upon by hunters in Burwash"

 John Size/The Sudbury Star
Police identify bones of missing man, 19

 

Thursday, October 17, 2002 - 11:00

Local News - Skeletal remains stumbled upon by hunters a year ago in Burwash Township have been identified as those of a 19-year-old Toronto man missing since 1990.

David Paul Caffery was last seen hitchhiking on Highway 17, Ontario Provincial Police said Thursday.

The death of Caffery is suspicious and police are trying to track down a German national who was seen hitchhiking with Caffery by a provincial police officer near Thessalon on Aug. 22, 1990, days before the Toronto man was reported missing by his family.

"We are investigating it as foul play. He was a healthy 19-year-old male," OPP Det. Insp. Scott Tod said at a press conference at the Sudbury OPP detachment.

Caffery was described as being six-foot-four, slim build with straight brown, shoulder-length hair, brown eyes and wearing running shoes.

Most of Caffery's skeleton was recovered from a wooded area near an old hunt camp about 500 metres off Highway 69, south of Estaire.

Tod wouldn't say if the remains were found in a shallow grave or simply loose on the ground.

Hunters discovered the remains Oct. 29, 2001 and police began an investigation identifying the body using a computerized list of missing persons and dental records, Tod said.

"They were found within a hundred metres of the buildings," Tod said.

He wouldn't say if any of Caffery's belongings were found — he had a gym bag with him containing clothing and personal items.

Police said Caffery was hitchhiking home from Calgary, after visiting family in August 1990. He called home Aug. 21 from Thunder Bay and said he would be back in a few days.

He was first checked by an OPP officer in Nipigon the next day at 1:05 a.m. and again that morning by the officer in Thessalon at 11:12 a.m.

His family reported Caffery missing to Toronto police Aug. 25.

The remains were studied by a forensic anthropologist at Laurentian University, but no cause of death was determined. The bones are still being studied for more information, Tod said.

The German, believed to be about 25 at the time of Caffery's disappearance, is being sought in Canada and Germany, he said, adding that Interpol and German authorities have been contacted.

Tod said police have the name of the German male given to the OPP officer who checked the two near Thessalon, but declined to release it until the person is located and interviewed.

He said the person is "not a suspect" and police are simply trying to determine the cause and circumstances of Caffery's death.

Caffery's remains were identified in May, but police didn't release the information because of the ongoing investigation, he said. Police gathered background information from family.

Family members visited the site where Caffery's bones were found last week and held a religious ceremony, Tod said.

"They reacted as anyone would to the news that a loved one was deceased," he said.

Tod said the German male told the Thessalon officer he was driven there by a German couple from the Bruce Mines area.

Police hope that information will help the public come forward with information, either to locate the couple or the German male, who would be in his mid-thirties by now.

The OPP Northeast Region Operation Centre's number is 1-888-310-1122.

Posted by BurwashGoboy

‘Elk are here to stay’ in Sudbury

By Rob O’Flanagan/THE SUDBURY STAR

The dream of restoring an elk population to the Sudbury area has become a reality — albeit, a precarious one.
“I didn’t think my dream of bringing an elk population back into Ontario was possible at all,” said Joe Hamr, professor of sustainable outdoor recreation at Cambrian College, and a co-founder of the Elk Restoration Project.
Today, after securing both government and public support, the project has returned a sustainable population, numbering as many as 160, to the wilderness south of Sudbury.
The project leaders will know by the end of this week whether the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund will come through with additional funds to bring more Albertan elk across the country to Burwash. Bolstering the herd will cost between $80,000 and $100,000.
The majestic animals were slaughtered to extinction in Ontario in the early 1900s, and reintroduced via Alberta in the 1930s and again in the late 1990s.
The new herd will be closely monitored to ensure that elk never vanish again, Hamr said.
Wolves, bears and a long, bitter winter may take their toll on the herd, the majority of which inhabits a 10-km radius around the Burwash area, the former site of a minimum security prison.
An experimental herd imported from Alberta was raised within the enclosures of the prison back in the 1930s.
A perilously small number survived, said Ivan Filion, project co-founder and Cambrian College’s academic vice-president.
After biologists were able to track down and tag 16 of them in the mid-’90s, the Ministry of Natural Re-sources saw that elk might be able to make a comeback in the province, and threw its support behind the project.