Friday, 14 March 2014

@HaliburtonLandTrust - Have You Connected With Them?

Haliburton Highlands Land Trust - Protecting Natural Heritage of Haliburton County for Future Generations!

Haliburton Highlands Land Trust, a non-profit, non-governmental, registered environmental charity, mission is to protect the natural heritage of Haliburton County for future generations.

Books of interest:

As a young girl, I had the privilege of camping in the Haliburton Highlands at Camp Adelaide. The beauty of the region with its stark rock faces, scrub blueberry bushes and towering pines are a welcome reminiscence. Have you visited the Haliburton Highlands? How wonderful it would be for our great- great-grandchildren to enjoy that same natural beauty!
Species At Risk Journal -Haliburton Highlands Land Trust cover image turtle , farmland linked to ordering information
Order Your Species At Risk Journal -
The Haliburton Highlands Land Trust works to conserve the plants, wildlife and clean water of Haliburton County to ensure a legacy of forests, fields and wetlands, and the species they nurture. The Haliburton Highlands Land Trust wants to:
  • Identify significant lands and waters of natural or cultural value; 
  • Cooperatively work with individuals, groups and governments to identify, manage and/or research areas of interest; 
  • Acquire significant properties and/or conservation easements through donation or purchase;
  • Support stewardship planning for privately owned natural areas; and 
  • Encourage private and government sectors to set aside significant natural areas. 
While these all seem to be honourable goals, just one question wiggles in the back of my mind - how are people compensated if their land is deemed significant? For example, if my ancestral home was built on a piece of land that suddenly became significant - what happens next?

History - How Long Have Land Trusts Been Around?

Land trusts are non-profit, charitable organizations which have as their core activities the acquisition of land for the purpose of conservation. 
Did you know there are over 30 land trusts in Ontario? 
Other than  vague references to Land Trusts in British Television shows, today was the first I'd heard of an Ontario Land Trust. 

Haliburton Highland Land Trust Holdings

The Haliburton Highlands Land Trust was approved in October 13, 2005, as a potential recipient of gifts under the Ecological Gifts Program of Environment Canada. It has received the following generous gifts of land:
  •  A 22-acre island on Kennisis Lake, now officially named Norah’s Island to honour the memory of donor Bruce Carruthers’ wife Norah. 
  • Dahl Forest, transferred by the The Dahl Family under the Ecological Gifts Program. The Dahl Forest is about 500-acres and straddles the Burnt River for 2.7 kilometres.
  • Two properties owned by Dr. Donald A. Smith, a long-time resident of Haliburton County The 72-acre forested property bordering a wetland complex on the Burnt River was donated under Environment Canada’s Ecological Gifts program. Dr. Donald A. Smith also donated a 2-acre waterfront lot on Black Lake, north of Haliburton village. Dr. Smith’s wish was to have the Land Trust sell the lot in order to establish an endowment fund to pay for the expenses of protecting and managing the 72-acre property and to support the Land Trust with its mission to protect the natural heritage of Haliburton County for future generations. 
  • A wetland complex near South Lake, donated to the Land Trust by Dennis Barry. The Barry Wetland is a 100-acre property, which is home to many important species and habitats, strengthens a block of nearby protected areas, which include the Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park, Snowdon Park and adjoining Crown land. 
Do you have land that would be suitable for donation to the Haliburton Highland Land Trust? Perhaps to you it is a veritable tax hole sapping your bank account, but to the animals and plants living on that land it is priceless. Imagine how donating that swamp could help future generations.

Haliburton Highland Land Trust Environmental Work

 Did you know the Land Trust does research on Species at Risk? Since 2007, the Land Trust has received funding from the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Canada for research studies on Species at Risk to develop a Natural Heritage Strategy for Haliburton County.The Land Trust also offers a number of workshops to help people identify Species at Risk. The presence of species at risk (SAR) and potentially suitable habitat for these species are two of the Land Trust’s criteria for land acquisition for conservation purposes. 

Haliburton Highland Land Trust Encourages You to Spot Species At Risk!

From 2008 to 2010, many members of the community reported sightings of SAR to the Land Trust and, combined with research projects, the Land Trust has increased the number of documented observations of SAR in the County by 465%. The Land Trust also published a Species at Risk Journal,, to raise funds and provide the public with a helpful species and habitat identification tool.
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1 comment:

  1. Unknown23 August 2014 at 12:19

    Do you have fond memories of enjoying Haliburton forests?

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