The land is situated in Driftwood Cove along southern Ontario’s Niagara Escarpment.Peter Lam/Bruce Trail Conservancy
Parks Canada has purchased a privately owned swath of land listed at $20.6-million to expand the Bruce Peninsula National Park.
The 3,272-acre parcel of land, situated in Driftwood Cove along southern Ontario’s Niagara Escarpment, is home to jutting limestone cliffs, some of eastern North America’s oldest trees and more than 200 species, including black bears, barred owls and the northern flying squirrel. Ten of those species are at risk.
Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna said the purchase was a “demonstration of how we are committed to protecting nature” at a news conference announcing the deal Wednesday.
Since the previous owner was a private citizen, their name is not public. The property had been listed for $20.6-million, but the final price will not be made available until the deal officially closes; Ms. McKenna said she expects that to happen in November. The government has bought more than 140 parcels of land to add to the park from private sellers since the park was established in 1987.
The Bruce Trail Conservancy, a group dedicated to protecting the region, chipped in some money for the purchase, but Ms. McKenna did not say how much.
“It would be hard to overstate the important of Driftwood Cove to the Bruce Trail,” said Bruce Trail Conservancy CEO Beth Gilhespy, whose volunteers maintain more than 20 kilometres of the park’s major trail. The acquisition “permanently preserves a crucial part of the Bruce Trail on the ecologically significant Bruce Peninsula, and ensures that hundreds of thousands of Canadians each year can continue to experience this irreplaceable landscape,” she said.
'It would be hard to overstate the important of Driftwood Cove to the Bruce Trail,' says the CEO of the Bruce Trail Conservancy.Bruce Trail Conservancy
The purchase comes from the $1.3-billion federal budget line dedicated to protecting natural spaces. The federal government aims to protect 17 per cent of the country’s land and freshwater by 2020. Currently, 10.5 per cent are protected. Ms. McKenna said she is confident her government will hit that target.
The Driftwood Cove purchase will expand the 154-square-kilometre national park by about 10 per cent.
Anna Baggio, the director of conservation planning for the Wildlands League, applauded the purchase, calling it a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Bruce Trail Conservancy chairman Warren Bell said the group was looking forward to working with Parks Canada on new projects in the park.
The Driftwood Cove purchase will expand the 154-square-kilometre national park by about 10 per cent.Bruce Trail Conservancy
“The Bruce Trail Conservancy is very grateful to the previous owners for allowing access for the Bruce Trail on their land and is delighted to partner with Parks Canada to preserve the land, and ensure that the eight kilometres of the Bruce Trail remain in place,” he said in a news release.
The land is located on the traditional territory of the Saugeen Ojibway and the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation, a representative of which also spoke favourably of the deal at the news conference.
“Many of us need to fall back in love with nature,” said Anthony Chegahno, a member of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation who has worked with Parks Canada. “We need to leave a positive legacy, that our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren will get to see the beauty of what we have on the Bruce Peninsula.”