Our bi-annual business meetings are opportunities for representatives from our member municipalities, invited guests and our partner organizations to share conservation and stewardship success stories and challenges. The AGM is an opportunity for your community to showcase its involvement and implementation of your habitat stewardship agreement and in seeking to become a sustainable community. It is also a chance to become inspired by work being done in other municipalities and bring those ideas back to your community. Attendance is highly encouraged, and we offer a travel incentive to cover some of the associated costs.

Registered participants will receive the 2025 Spring AGM Agenda and supporting materials via email prior to the AGM.

Accommodations

Guests are responsible to book their own accommodations and any related travel for this event (see below for SAM's Travel Incentive Policy). When booking, please indicate that you are with the "Stewardship Association of Municipalities (SAM)". Please book your accommodations as soon as possible, as space is limited.

• Quality Inn Corner Brook (709-639-8901) https://www.qualityinncornerbrook.com/

• Comfort Inn Corner Brook (709-639-1980) https://www.choicehotels.com/en-ca/newfoundland-and-labrador/corner-brook/comfort-inn-hotels/cn245

• Glynmill Inn (709-634-5181) https://www.steelehotels.com/our-hotels/the-glynmill-inn/

• Greenwood Inn & Suites (709-634-1723) https://www.greenwoodhotel.ca/

• Hew and Draw Hotel (709-388-3300) https://www.hewanddraw.ca/

Tentative SAM 2025 Spring AGM Itinerary (finalized itinerary will be sent with the information package):

Friday, April 25th:

1pm - SAM Board of Directors Meeting Corner Brook Civic Centre, 1 Canada Games Drive. (Board of Directors only.)

6pm - Local Outing TBA. Please note this is an outdoor event, we ask all to dress for the weather/activity. Binoculars and cameras welcome. (All attendees and guests welcome.)

7pm - Registration and Meet and Greet Location TBA. Refreshments available. (All attendees and guests welcome.)

Saturday, April 26th:

9am - SAM AGM Corner Brook Civic Centre, 1 Canada Games Drive.  (By invitation only.)

3:30pm - Local Outing Location TBA. Please note this is an outdoor event, we ask all to dress for the weather/activity. Binoculars and cameras welcome.  (All attendees and guests welcome.)

7pm - SAM Networking Dinner Corner Brook Civic Centre, 1 Canada Games Drive. (All attendees and guests welcome.)

Sunday, April 27th:

8:30am - Optional Send-Off Event TBA (All attendees and guests welcome.)

SAM Meeting Background:

The Stewardship Association of Municipalities Inc (known affectionately as SAM) works with the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture (EHJV), whose mission is to conserve landscapes in Eastern Canada to sustain bird populations, while providing ecological, social and economic benefits to society, to secure, enhance, & restore important wildlife habitat (wetlands, uplands, coastal areas, & species at risk habitat) within municipal planning boundaries in NL. As a network of communities who practice environmental stewardship across NL, SAM is an incorporated non-profit organization (1994) comprised of municipalities in NL interested in wildlife habitat conservation contributing to maintaining & enhancing biodiversity in the province.

Your town became involved with SAM upon the signing of a Municipal Habitat Stewardship Agreement with the province. This agreement, as a tangible public step taken by your Town's council, serves to proactively conserve wildlife habitat found within your municipal planning boundaries. Since taking that initial step many towns have become involved in restoring and enhancing wildlife habitat while educating and engaging residents in sustainable land use actions. Since 1993, 49 municipalities in NL have signed such agreements and incorporated them into their municipal planning documents and development regulations.

What happens at the meetings?

The AGM generally includes a meet and greet opening event (for invited members and guests), the AGM (for invited members only), a networking formal dinner (for invited members and guests) and a tour to highlight the community (for invited members and guests) - often these tours are on community nature trails or in conservation areas (Please come prepared with outdoor footwear and gear (rain gear recommended). Binoculars and cameras are encouraged!). A finalized weekend itinerary and Saturday meeting agenda and corresponding documents are emailed to all registered attendees before the meeting.

Who can attend a SAM meeting?

Invitations are emailed to SAM communities with an online registration form. Town councils appoint a representative to attend the meetings and they can be either:

A) A member of council;

B) A member of staff; or,

C) A member of a council committee or interested town resident.

What is expected of attendees?

The AGM is an opportunity for sharing, networking, and partnership building. It is an opportunity for your community to showcase its involvement and implementation of your habitat stewardship agreement. It is also a chance to become inspired by work being done in other municipalities and bring those ideas back to your community. We hope that SAM Representatives come prepared to share their municipality's future environmental conservation and stewardship goals, with hopes that municipalities will leave the meeting with more tools and resources available to achieve these goals.

There are two important expectations of attendees:

A) First, we ask that each representative prepares a brief 3-5 minute verbal or written report outlining any conservation and stewardship activities that have taken place in your town since the last meeting. You are welcome to bring materials such as a slideshow or photographs to showcase the work that your community has been doing, or materials to pass out to the other representatives. If you are bringing a slideshow, please email it to samengagement995@gmail.com prior to the AGM or bring the slideshow on a USB drive.

B) Secondly, we request that following the meeting, each attendee provide a report on the meeting outcomes to their respective councils and/or committees.

What if I am unable to attend the meeting?

You are welcome to send a brief written report or slideshow (1 page or less, 5 slides or less), outlining the activities which have occurred recently in the ongoing implementation of your municipal habitat stewardship agreement or in terms of your town’s efforts to increase environmental sustainability. Your report will be tabled at the meeting. Please email to samconservation@gmail.com.

What are the costs? Does SAM pay for accommodations?

There is no registration fee to attend SAM meetings and meals are provided at no charge during formal itinerary events. Travel Incentive: We understand that municipalities may not be able to cover the costs to send a representative to our AGM, but our travel incentive allows SAM to reimburse attendees following the business meeting for one night of accommodations for each represented community (up to $150). Representatives are responsible for arranging their own transportation and booking their own accommodations at the designated lodgings. If a representative wishes to share a room with a representative from another town, two nights of accommodations can be covered. All other expenses incurred at the accommodations (i.e. second night stay, room service, etc.) are your own responsibility.

Where do I stay during the meeting?

Guests are responsible to book their own accommodations and any related travel for this event. When booking, please indicate that you are with the "Stewardship Association of Municipalities (SAM)". Please book your accommodations as soon as possible, as space is limited.

• Quality Inn Corner Brook (709-639-8901) https://www.qualityinncornerbrook.com/

• Comfort Inn Corner Brook (709-639-1980) https://www.choicehotels.com/en-ca/newfoundland-and-labrador/corner-brook/comfort-inn-hotels/cn245

• Glynmill Inn (709-634-5181) https://www.steelehotels.com/our-hotels/the-glynmill-inn/

• Greenwood Inn & Suites (709-634-1723) https://www.greenwoodhotel.ca/

• Hew and Draw Hotel (709-388-3300) https://www.hewanddraw.ca/

  
  

Are meals provided at the meeting? What about allergies and dietary restrictions?

Generally finger foods are provided during the meet and greet, nutrition/coffee breaks and a lunch are provided during the business meeting for invited members, and a full course meal is provided during the networking dinner. Breakfast may or may not be included at your lodgings, please take this into account as breakfast is not provided at the AGM. Please let us know on the online registration form about any food allergies or dietary restrictions you or your guest may have.

City of Corner Brook Website

Local Attractions:

Corner Brook Stream Trail

Captain James Cook Historic Site

Corner Brook Caves Grenfell Campus Art Gallery

Newfoundland Emporium

Railway Society of Newfoundland Historic Train Site

Margaret Bowater Park

Corner Brook Museum and Archives

Man in the Mountain Trail

Marble Mountain and Zipline Tours (Steady Brook)

Gros Morne National Park (1.5 hour drive North)

Cabox Aspiring Global Geopark

Bay of Islands