Don Johnston and Carolyn Piche from the Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust
As councillor I am learning about a lot of things I never knew about and last week at the Carleton Place Chamber & District Chamber of Commerce I met Don Johnston and Carolyn Piche from the Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust. Pretty boring stuff you ask? Are you kidding me?
Did you know that the Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust protects nature and enriches human lives on private lands within our area from Ottawa to Arnprior, west to Highway 41 and south to Highway 7. Blueberry Mountain, which you may recognize as one of Lanark County’s seven wonders which I have written about. (Is this One of the Seven Wonders of Lanark County?
In 2004 concerned about the encroachment of human activity on wilderness, a group of residents in Levant and Dalhousie townships banded together to form a land trust to protect the area’s unspoiled nature.
Landowners whose properties are accepted into the nonprofit trust will be able to ensure that the land is preserved under future owners, by way of easement agreements that will allow the land trust and the current owner to stipulate conditions for the sale of land.
(PHOTO: Michael MacPherson, former MMLT board instrumental in securing the land, Carolyn Canfield, and Ian Campbell, neighbour and long time friend to Carolyn. They’re standing in front of the whaleback formation of glacier-sculpted Canadian Shield. Photo courtesy of Janet Mason.)
In April of 2018 the Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust (MMLT) honoured Carolyn Canfield for her generous donation of the 15.7 acre Whaleback Woodland Reserve in the Carp Hills in West Carleton.
Carolyn gave a passionate speech about the importance of preserving our biodiversity and letting the land evolve naturally. In the photo Carolyn is standing in front of the largest whaleback formation on the property.
Inaugural walk: Cathy Keddy, ecologist with the Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust, leads the inaugural walk on the interpreted nature trail on Poole Family Nature Sanctuary, the latest addition to MMLT’s protected property portfolio (photo by Brian Crawford).
The new 110 ac. Poole property, located approximately 8 km southwest of the town of Carleton Place, showcases great examples of natural features that typify the County, but appear little disturbed by human activity. This property is adjacent to the 530 ac. Keddy Nature Sanctuary (KNS), also stewarded by MMLT, bringing the total protected area to 640 acres. November 13, 2018 – The Millstone
For those wishing to go beyond Blueberry Mountain, the Saddleback Mountain ridge adds about an hour of walking time to the half-hour it takes to climb Blueberry Mountain. Bring your lunch and enjoy it on top of Pikes Peak. Don’t forget your camera because the views and the colours are spectacular!
Blueberry Mountain is located at 502 Hills of Peace Rd. near Flower Station in Lanark Highlands. Drive north of Lanark on Highway 511 to Brightside. Turn left on to the French Line Road. Drive toward Flower Station and watch for the right turn when you get to Joe’s Lake. Just before you reach Flower Station, turn right onto Hills of Peace Road.
Remember how I wrote about Paul Keddy months ago? He was the science whiz from Carleton Place High School.
What did Paul become? Paul A. Keddy (born May 29, 1953 in London, Ontario) is a Canadian ecologist. He has studied plant population ecology and community ecology in wetlands and many other habitats in eastern Canada and Louisiana, United States.
He also has a Wikipedia Page. CLICK
Cathy and Paul Keddy, biologists and nature lovers, spent 40 years saving and borrowing to buy a square mile of Lanark County’s most natural land.
Then they too gave it legal protection as a nature sanctuary for 999 years. Well done everyone!!
Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust
10970 Hwy 7
Carleton Place, ON
K7C 3P1
613-253-2722
The Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust (MMLT) is now the owner of High Lonesome. the land is now trails and the house became a fire house for local firefighters so they could practise firefighting techniques.
Clipped from The Ottawa Citizen, 25 Oct 2013, Fri, 26
where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in The Townships Sun and theSherbrooke Record and and Screamin’ Mamas (USACome and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read. Also check out The Tales of Carleton Place. Tales of Almonte and Arnprior Then and Now.
lindaseccaspina 