Mulmur residents Allen Clarke and Jacqueline Tilford have been honoured with a Niagara Escarpment Achievement Award for the outstanding stewardship of their 30th Sideroad property.

At the June 21 award presentation, Niagara Escarpment Commission Chair Don Scott acknowledged the couple for their contribution to the Niagara Escarpment Plan Area, noting the efforts they have made to maintain and enhance the Escarpment’s natural landscape.

Clarke and Tilford developed a residential and landscaping design for their property that blends seamlessly into the scenic agricultural environment of the Mulmur hills. Maintaining a beautiful 75-variety Ontario heritage apple orchard, they have also planted two hundred Sugar Maples and have undertaken riparian planting along the streams that cross their 80-acre property, enhancing the streams’ species habitats.

“The Niagara Escarpment Plan speaks to maintaining and enhancing the quality and character of natural streams and water supplies, and the open landscape character of the Niagara Escarpment,” said Scott. “Your efforts support these goals, and you have set a wonderful example of how residents of the Niagara Escarpment can be stewards of our World Biosphere Reserve in their own backyards.”

The Niagara Escarpment Commission’s Achievement Awards recognize individuals and groups for outstanding accomplishments, including exceptional building design and site landscaping, environmental restorations, and lifetime achievement for outstanding contributions to the conservation and stewardship values embodied in the Niagara Escarpment Plan.