NCC Magazine - Spring 2017

SPRING 2017
ATLANTIC CANADA’S
Coast
Guards
Community connections drive coastal
conservation on Nova Scotia’s South Shore

Nature Conservancy of Canada
SPRING 2017
Nature Conservancy of Canada
36 Eglinton Avenue West, Suite 400
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4R 1A1
magazine@natureconservancy.ca
Phone: 416.932.3202
Toll-free: 800.465.0029
The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC)
is the nation’s leading land conservation
organization, working to protect our most
important natural areas and the species
they sustain. Since 1962, NCC and its partners
have helped to protect 2.8 million acres (more
than 1.1 million hectares), coast to coast.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada Magazine is
distributed to donors and supporters of NCC.
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COVER
Danielle Robertson,
Port Joli, Nova Scotia
Photo by Aaron McKenzie Fraser.
THIS PAGE
Pointe Saint-Pierre, Quebec
Photo by Mike Dembeck.
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2 SPRING 2017 natureconservancy.ca

Contents
Nature Conservancy of Canada SPRING 2017
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L-R, TOP TO BOTTOM: AARON MCKENZIE FRASER. SCOUTS CANADA. NCC.
Hope and optimism
Conservation is an effort of hope and
optimism in the face of what can
seem like unsurmountable obstacles.
But just as the flap of a butterfly’s wings can
have a large effect, so too can the actions of
a single person buoyed by hope and optimism
lead to great things.
In the early sixties, J. Bruce Falls, a young
zoology professor at the University of Toronto,
was one of a small group of hopeful optimists
who founded the Nature Conservancy of
Canada (NCC). “We were seeing that many of
the areas that we were interested in…were
disappearing or being degraded,” said Falls
in an interview a few years ago. “We thought,
we’d better do something about it.”
This past December, Falls’s contributions
to Canadian conservation were recognized
when he was named a member of the Order
of Canada — a true testament to the impact
of his hopeful vision more than 50 years ago.
NCC’s president and CEO, John Lounds,
was also recently recognized with the
Museum of Nature’s 2016 Nature Inspiration
Award. Lounds has guided NCC since 1997.
His vision of NCC as a national conservation
organization with offices in all 10 provinces
has defined the scope of our work, and helped
NCC evolve into Canada’s leading land
conservation charity. We congratulate him
and Bruce Falls on their recent awards.
In the pages that follow, you’ll read stories
about other hopeful, optimistic individuals,
without whom NCC’s conservation achievements
would not be possible. People like
Danielle Robertson and Dirk van Loon, who
believe in the importance of protecting the
lands on which they live. We celebrate them,
and we thank you for all you do to support
our shared vision for a natural Canada.
CBT
Christine Beevis Trickett,
Managing Editor
8
7 14
14 Small Acts of
Conservation
Five ways you can help nature in your
backyard or on your balcony
16 Yellow Quill
Prairie Preserve
This grassland property in Manitoba
bears traces of an ancient trade route
17 Scouts Canada
Backpack Essentials
National youth commissioner
Caitlin Piton’s backpack must-haves1
18 Feature Story:
Coastal Roots
Conservation in Port Joli, Nova Scotia,
begins with the community
12 Eel-grass
This member of the seagrass family is
declining in many parts of its range
14 Project Updates
Four ways NCC staff are collaborating
with ranchers and farmers in Manitoba,
Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C.
16 Richard Ivey:
Family Values
The Ivey family’s leadership has inspired
conservation across Canada
18 Remembering
Stuart McLean
A special story about one of NCC’s
conservation projects, à la Vinyl Cafe
natureconservancy.ca
SPRING 2017 3

COAST TO
COAST
Small Acts of
Conservation
Five things you can do right now to help
nature in your backyard or on your balcony
Many of us steward a small piece of Canada. It could be a recreational
property or a few square metres in an urban backyard. While these
places are not a wilderness or a wildlife preserve, they are all still a part
of nature, and they have a role in conservation.
Here’s a checklist of five small acts of conservation we can all
take to help nature, which will also benefit you and your community.
GETTY IMAGES.
4 SPRING 2017 natureconservancy.ca

COAST TO
COAST
2
4
ISTOCK.
1Be for
the birds
The Baltimore oriole or
scarlet tanager on your
property today may have
been in Venezuela when
you were shoveling snow or
skiing. Every year, billions of
songbirds make the journey
to Canada for one simple
reason: the explosion of
life that happens in our
northern spring makes it a
great place to raise a family.
Sadly, migratory songbirds
have been rapidly declining.
While many species remain
common, they are at risk
because of steep population
declines. For example,
the wood thrush and barn
swallow are both considered
at risk because their populations
in Canada have
declined by more than
75 per cent since 1970.
You can help by creating
migratory bird pit-stops
on your property. Planting
clusters of native shrubs or
trees can provide important
habitat. If every Canadian
with a single-detached
house provided just one
small patch of vegetation for
songbirds in their yard, we’d
add more than 7 million new
sites for nesting and resting.
Soak it
all in
On many yards and
properties, water no longer
sits and soaks into the
ground, but runs off roofs,
driveways, fields and lawns
into drains and eventually
into our streams and lakes.
One of the biggest issues for
Canada’s freshwater is too
much runoff, which carries
sediments, nutrients and
pollutants into our streams
and lakes. This can clog
streams with silt and cause
algal blooms in even very
big lakes, such as Lake Erie
and Lake Winnipeg.
Where you can, slow the
flow. Hold water on your
property in rain barrels, rain
gardens, wetlands or other
natural habitats. Make sure
the water that leaves your
property is as clean as it can
be. Remember, the more
water that infiltrates the
ground on your property,
the more you are helping
to conserve Canada’s
freshwater habitats.
3Cover it up
A study on the benefits of
conserved forests by TD
Bank Group and the Nature
Conservancy of Canada
(NCC) found that an acre
of conserved forest can
provide up to $18,000 in
important services, such as
reducing floods, removing
air pollution and sequestering
carbon, every year.
Not only are trees the
original (and still the best)
carbon capture and storage
method ever developed,
they literally create habitat
in what was once thin air.
When we fill that space
above our heads with
limb and leaf, we create
new habitats.
There are millions of places
in our cities and around our
homes that could support
more trees. If you can, find
a place to plant a native tree
on your property, or support
a forest restoration project
at NCC. You’ll be helping
create important habitats,
and making the world
a cooler place.
Know
your place
Unfortunately, particularly
for the eight in 10 Canadians
who live in cities, we are
losing our nature knowledge,
and with it, an understanding
of our connectedness
to other living things and
the natural world.
The good news is that
learning about nature
is getting easier. While a
walk through the woods
or grasslands with an elder
or experienced naturalist
may still be the best way to
learn, a few clicks on the
internet can reveal not only
the species in and around
your home, but also how to
identify them.
Even learning about five
new species a year can
change the way you see the
world. As you get to know
wild things, they start to
reveal themselves. What
appears as a blanket of
forest or prairie becomes
a richer tapestry of life.
Join us! This year’s Conservation
Volunteers season launches April 24!
conservationvolunteers.ca
5Leave
some wild
Our challenge in Canada is
that while we have the rare
opportunity to protect some
of the world’s last true
wilderness in our northlands,
we have lost significant
amounts of our natural
habitats in the south where
most people live. This loss
impacts both nature and
the well-being of Canadians.
We have nature in our cities
and homes. It may not be
the same nature that was
there hundreds of years ago,
but it can provide important
habitat. There are hundreds
of species that will share our
space, if we provide room
for them. This year, create or
expand a small area of wild
on your property and enjoy
your nature neighbours.1
natureconservancy.ca
SPRING 2017 5

BOOTS ON
THE TRAIL
Learning about prairie skinks
Visitors to this Manitoba property
may still be able to catch a glimpse
of a historic trade route.
Yellow Quill
Prairie Preserve
This native mixed-grass prairie area in Manitoba conserves
nature and our shared history of the land
Ruffed grouse
Long before European explorers and
settlers arrived in North America,
indigenous peoples had defined the
most convenient routes to travel the landscape.
Among them, the Yellow Quill Trail (named for
Chief Yellow Quill of the Saulteaux First Nation
during the late 1800s) connected Portage la
Prairie, west of Winnipeg, with the Boundary
Commission Trail, just past the western
Saskatchewan border. Later, these trade routes
were adopted by European settlers.
Today, the Yellow Quill Prairie Preserve,
south of Brandon in Manitoba, still bears faint
traces of the Yellow Quill Trail. Here, the trail
passes through a rolling, sandy prairie of
mixed grasses, such as big and little bluestem,
green needle grass and porcupine grass,
interspersed with hazelnut, juniper, aspen, bur
oak and white spruce.
A NATURAL FAMILY LEGACY
The Mooneys, fourth-generation descendants
of the European pioneers who settled in the
area in 1885, were the original owners of most
of the lands: 1,440 acres (580 hectares) within
the Yellow Quill project area. The family has
leased the remaining 960 acres (390 hectares)
from the provincial government.
Over time, conversion of the neighbouring
native grasslands all but eliminated these
once-large tracts of native grasslands. But the
Mooneys knew the ecological value of their
lands. After being approached by NCC, they
decided to fulfill the wishes of their departed
father by selling the land to NCC in the
hopes that their mixed-grass prairie would
not be lost.
NCC purchased the lands from the
Mooney family in 1999. Shortly after completing
the purchase, NCC developed a management
plan that incorporated traditional cattle
grazing practices to maintain biodiversity.
LANDSCAPE: NCC. SKINK: NCC. GROUSE: ROBERT MCCAW.
6 SPRING 2017 natureconservancy.ca

BACKPACK
ESSENTIALS
Today, these areas continue to shelter native
mixed-grass prairie.
In 2016, NCC’s Manitoba Region expanded
the original project with the addition of
a further 320 acres (130 hectares).
A UNIQUE LANDSCAPE
These lands, nestled along the western
boundary of the Assiniboine Delta in south
central Manitoba, are representative of the
vast prairies that once extended across
southern Manitoba. The landforms resulted
from the deposits of sediment in the delta,
where the Assiniboine River flowed into
glacial Lake Agassiz. As the waters receded
about 10,000 years ago, the sediments were
shaped into sandhill complexes, which remain
the dominant feature on the landscape today.
The unique sandhill landscape and occasional
open dunes are some of the last refuges
in the province where rare sandhill species
exist. Over time, lack of disturbance has caused
the historically open dunes to stabilize with
the roots of plants and grasses. NCC staff are
working to implement management programs
that promote the stewardship and recovery of
dune complexes, an important and increasingly
rare ecosystem type in Manitoba.
Visitors to the property may spot elk,
coyote, moose, deer and fox. The Yellow
Quill Prairie Preserve is a preferred site for
birdwatchers wishing to see red-tailed hawk,
ruffed grouse, sharp-tail grouse and mountain
bluebird. It’s also important habitat for the
endangered prairie skink.
1
5
4
Scout’s honour
Caitlyn Piton, national youth commissioner & chair of
Scouts Canada’s National Youth Network, shares her
backpack must-haves
3
2
ITEMS: JUAN LUNA. CAITLYN PITON: SCOUTS CANADA.
TRAILS
Length: approximately 4.5 km of access trails
Difficulty: easy
Terrain: rolling sandhills and native grasslands
GETTING THERE
The property is located 20 kilometres southeast
of Brandon and two kilometres north of the
junction of the Souris and Assiniboine rivers. It
abuts the western boundary of the Canadian
Forces Base Shilo. Visitors are asked to call
1-866-683-6934 prior to visiting to ensure land
management activities are not active on-site.A
DOWNLOAD THE TRAIL MAP
Visit natureconservancy.ca/yellowquill
to download a trail map and directions.
1. BEEF JERKY I tend to
get hungry fairly easily,
so a quick snack is
a must or I might get
grumpy (as my
team knows).
2. WATER FILTER
This is much easier
than having to carry
around bottles of water,
if there are streams along
your way.
3. LOOSE LEAF TEA I don’t think I could
go a day without tea. It’s nice to have
something comforting,
especially if it’s raining
(which it does a lot
in Vancouver, where
I’m from).
4. FIRST AID KIT
I’m a klutz, so this is
an absolute must.
5. KNIFE I have a knife
that I absolutely love. It
has engraving on it from some
of the work I’ve done with Scouts
Canada and is the most useful thing
I’ve ever received!1
natureconservancy.ca
SPRING 2017 7

Coastal
roots
A love for nature that runs
as deep as the waters off
Nova Scotia’s South Shore
drives coastal conservation
from the grassroots up
BY Sandra Phinney
PHOTOGRAPHY Aaron McKenzie Fraser
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8 SPRING 2017 natureconservancy.ca

Danielle Robertson has
had a love affair with nature in
general, and Port Joli, Nova
Scotia, in particular, for as long as she can
remember. Her roots run deep, as do those
of her husband, Charles. The land they live
on in Port Joli, nestled along Nova Scotia’s
South Shore, has been in the family since 1786,
when early settlers fished and farmed here.
“You can still see old fence posts
that were used to build platforms on the
coastal marsh where they stored the hay,”
says Robertson.
Yet the places their ancestors knew and
cared for over generations are increasingly
under threat from habitat loss, climate change
and the encroachment of invasive species,
such as European green crab. Given that
Canada’s East Coast is projected to experience
rising sea levels of up to one metre by the end
of the century, it comes as no surprise that the
potential impacts of this latter threat on our
coastal ecosystems and coastal communities
are staggering.
NCC has conserved close to 340 kilometres of marine coastal habitat in Canada, including here at Port Joli, Nova Scotia.
For an interactive map showing the timeline of NCC’s work in Port Joli, visit: natureconservancy.ca/port-joli
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natureconservancy.ca
SPRING 2017 9

One of the ways to safeguard these places,
for the people and species that live in them, is
for conservation organizations like the Nature
Conservancy of Canada (NCC) to work with
people on the ground at the grassroots level.
Support from local champions like Danielle
Robertson and her family — people who are
innately tied to the land and its history — is
critical in helping ensure a future for these
coastal landscapes.
Robertson has spent decades digging her
roots deeper, getting to know the natural
and human history of Port Joli. Shortly after
graduating from Mount Saint Vincent University
in 1989, Robertson was hired to do research
for the nearby Thomas Raddall Provincial
Park, which further fuelled her passion for the
region. In the process, she researched the
park’s Mi’kmaq clam middens (areas where
First Nations would dispose of clam shells
after harvesting them), evidence of a rich
human history dating back thousands of years.
“I got obsessed with the sites,” she says,
“and I also got serious about conservation.”
Robertson was proud that Port Joli and
neighbouring Port L’Hebert had four parks,
It’s getting more and more important that Canada be
the kind of country that protects the flora and fauna,
and where you can go out into the wild and explore.
DIRK VAN LOON (CENTRE, ABOVE ) BECAME A LAND DONOR AFTER DANIELLE ROBERTSON (OPENING
SPREAD) OPENED THE DOOR TO WORKING WITH NCC.
a nature reserve and three migratory bird
sanctuaries that were protected from development
and managed by national and provincial
government agencies — signs of the area’s
natural and cultural significance. Yet she often
thought how wonderful it would be for her
family and next generations if even more
land in the region could be protected from
extensive housing developments, quarries
and clear cutting.
Thirteen years ago, she and Charles
contacted NCC. Would the organization be
interested in buying a piece of the Robertson
family’s property if they donated a parcel?
Shortly after opening the door, Robertson also
provided contact information to NCC staff for
other landowners in hopes that, down the
road, NCC could help secure other lands in
the area. And that’s exactly what transpired.
Local champions
Craig Smith, Nova Scotia program director with
NCC, says that a number of factors influence
whether the land conservation organization
pursues work in a natural area or not.
“One of them is: do you have local champions?
When the Robertsons placed the call to
us, it happened to coincide with NCC completing
a survey of this region,” says Smith. NCC’s
staff had identified southwest Nova Scotia
as one of the areas that stood out as being
particularly ecologically important because of
its forests, diversity and rich coastal habitats.
Another of the many special features of
the area is that endangered mainland moose
living in the Tobeatic Wilderness Area migrate
to the Port Joli peninsula in the summer
— perhaps for the cooler climate and for the
salt content of the coastal marshes. Also, this
10 SPRING 2017 natureconservancy.ca

AERIAL: MIKE DEMBECK.
region is part of the South Shore (Port Joli
sector) Important Bird Area, which provides
valuable habitat for migrating shorebirds
and waterfowl, and nesting habitat for the
endangered piping plover.
“Property owners like Danielle can be
extremely helpful to bridge the divide and
create a more nuanced understanding among
other landowners about who we are and
what we do,” Smith says.
That knowledge of NCC came in handy
when Robertson approached a neighbouring
landowner, Dirk van Loon, who had moved
to the area from the United States in 1969. He
and his wife bought an old farm in Port Joli,
where he homesteaded, wrote books and
started a magazine.
“Where I grew up back in the U.S. is now
all developed. There is no wilderness there
anymore,” says van Loon. “So it’s getting more
and more important that Canada be the kind
of country that protects the flora and fauna, and
where you can go out into the wild and explore.”
Many years ago, van Loon and two other
like-minded families acquired 180 acres (70
hectares) in Port Joli on the spectacular Sandy
Bay Beach. They wanted to ensure the beach
remained natural and undeveloped. Van Loon
later handed down his portion of the beach to
his son, and together, because of a shared ethic,
the group of Sandy Bay landowners worked
with NCC to bring the beach into conservation.
In 2015, van Loon sold a substantial piece of
his land in the same area to NCC.
The lands around Sandy Bay Beach have
humid coastal forests, rare lichens and lots of
Craig Smith, NCC’s Nova Scotia program director, surveys the coastline.
wildlife. “I blame Danielle Robertson for
getting us involved,” van Loon jokes. “She
opened the door to working with NCC.”
Now, NCC protects 1,627 acres (658
hectares) in Port Joli and its surrounding
region, thanks to landowners such as the
Robertsons and van Loon, who know the
land on which they live is a special place.
Historical connections
It’s now clear that this understanding of the
area’s ecological richness was shared by First
Nations communities that lived here thousands
of years ago. Port Joli was a cultural landscape,
where people expressed their customs as well
as made a living.
“In Port Joli, we’ve found hard evidence
that the place was an ecological node (a place
of special ecological diversity and productivity),”
says Matthew Betts, PhD, and curator,
eastern archaeology with the Canadian Museum
of History. “The Mi’kmaq lived on the coast
all year round, as opposed to the traditional
model of spending winters in the interior and
summers on the coast.”
In Nova Scotia, where 90 per cent of
the coastline is privately owned, these local
connections with people who know the
land are ever more important if these special
places are to be protected. As NCC continues
to conserve lands and waters across the
country, working with people on the ground
who have deep roots, like the Robertsons
and van Loon, provides an excellent model
of what can be done if Canadians
work together.1
PRESSURE RISING ON
CANADA’S COASTS
With over a quarter of a million
kilometres of beaches, rocky shores,
salt marshes, seagrass meadows and
sea cliffs, Canada has more coastline
than the U.S. and Russia combined.
Canada’s coasts are the ecological
interface between land and sea, and
are equally essential for shorebirds
and the close to 1,100 fish species
that live in nearshore waters.
Many coastal habitats are very sensitive.
In addition to direct pressures, such
as unsustainable recreational uses and
invasive species, the health of coasts
often reflects the health of surrounding
lands and marine waters.
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Climate change is increasing the
pressures on our coasts. Rising sea
levels and extreme storm surges are
changing the forces that have shaped
coastal ecosystems. Across Canada,
NCC is incorporating climate change
impacts into our conservation actions
to increase the resiliency of coastal
habitats and to buffer coastal
communities from the impacts
of climate change.
natureconservancy.ca
SPRING 2017 11

SPECIES
PROFILE
Eel-grass
This unassuming species plays a major role in Canada’s coastal ecosystems
MARTIN ALMQVIST/ALAMY/ALL CANADA PHOTOS.
12 SPRING 2017 natureconservancy.ca

Eel-grass, a type of seagrass, first evolved as an aquatic algae,
moved to land and then returned to the ocean. Its long,
bright-green blades resemble underwater ribbons. The
plant’s complex root system allows it to anchor itself to the floors of
shallow bays, coves, lagoons and estuaries. By filtering and trapping
sediment, pollutants and nutrients, the species helps improve water
quality. Eel-grass beds support many marine invertebrates and provide
spawning and nursery habitat for numerous fish, resulting in
important feeding areas for marine birds and mammals.
STRUCTURE AND REPRODUCTION
Often mistaken for seaweed, eel-grass differs from it in several ways. For example,
unlike seaweed, eel-grass roots not only anchor the plants, they also absorb
nutrients. Eel-grass also has flowers and veins.
Eel-grasses reproduce in two ways: asexually, through cloning, and sexually,
by producing seeds. Like land grasses, eel-grass shoots are interconnected through
an underground rhizome (a large, root-like structure) network. As rhizomes spread,
they create new shoots that are clones of one another.
To reproduce sexually, male eel-grass flowers release pollen into the water,
which is then moved by underwater currents. The pollen grains, which are
the longest of any plant species in the world, then fertilize female flowers and
produce seeds.
A SENSITIVE SPECIES
Eel-grass is highly susceptible to human interference. Shade from docks, floating log
booms and algae also threaten this species. “Wasting disease,” caused by a marine
slime mold, affects some Atlantic populations. A relatively recent threat to eel-grass
is the European green crab — an invasive species that arrived in Atlantic Canada
in the 1950s in the ballast water of ships — which cuts the grasses while digging in
sediment for food.
FACT SHEET
SCIENTIFIC NAME
Zostera marina
SIZE AND WEIGHT
Can reach lengths of up to 1 m.
RANGE
North America’s Atlantic and Pacific
coasts, as well as Hudson Bay.
POPULATION TREND
Globally, eel-grass meadows have
declined on average by about
seven per cent per year since 1990.
Some declines along Canada’s B.C.
coast could have resulted from the
introduction of the non-native Pacific
oyster to the wild. In Newfoundland
and Labrador, eel-grass abundance
has increased over the past decade.
STATUS IN CANADA
No official status. NatureServe ranks it
as imperilled in Ontario and Manitoba,
and vulnerable in Quebec and Newfoundland
and Labrador.
DID YOU KNOW?
Seagrasses are estimated to be
responsible for 15 per cent of the total
carbon storage in the ocean, even
though they occupy only 0.2 per cent
of the oceans.
SCOTT LESLIE/MINDEN PICTURES.
CONSERVATION EFFORTS
The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is protecting eel-grass habitat along
Canada’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts. In 2014, staff in Nova Scotia partnered with
the Province of Nova Scotia and used aircraft and satellite imagery to map and
monitor eel-grass beds in the Pugwash Estuary and Musquodoboit Harbour. The
following year, NCC trapped European green crabs at the Pugwash Estuary to
determine this invasive species’ population size. In addition, NCC has acquired
valuable coastal land along Nova Scotia’s Northumberland Strait, which includes
important eel-grass beds.
NCC has also protected upland areas around estuaries in New Brunswick, such
as those at Tabusintac, where research is being conducted on eel-grass. Meanwhile,
in Quebec's Malbaie salt marsh, NCC has conserved a property that shelters an
eel-grass colony. Black ducks make stopovers here during their migration, to feed
on the plant.
In British Columbia, NCC has helped restore eel-grass populations in the
Campbell River Estuary on Baikie Island by replanting native vegetation in
marshes along rivers and streams. NCC staff have also identified eel-grass beds
as a priority habitat for coastal conservation projects, such as Grace Islet,
Clayoquot Island and the Gullchucks Conservation Area.1
CRABBY TIME
Green crabs are an invasive species that
is now established in many locations
in North America and is still expanding
its range.
Learn more at natureconservancy.ca/
green-crab
natureconservancy.ca
SPRING 2017 13

PROJECT
UPDATES
1
Cows and conservation
ACROSS CANADA
2
3
1
4
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Visit natureconservancy.ca/en/where-we-work
to learn more about these and other NCC projects.
What do cows and conservation have in common? The Nature
Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) membership in the Canadian
Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) is just one example of the
many ways that NCC has established tangible working relationships
with farmers and ranchers.
The CRSB, a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on advancing
sustainability within the Canadian beef industry, has established five
key guiding principles. Among them is the goal of ensuring that beef
producers adopt practices that sustain and restore ecosystem health.
CRSB’s other principles include respect for people and the community,
animal health and welfare, food quality, efficiency and innovation.
Since 2015, NCC has provided technical and financial support to
the CRSB to develop indicators that help ensure that the health of the
grasslands in which ranchers graze livestock is maintained and, wherever
possible, enhanced. NCC has also supported the CRSB’s development
of a set of important environmental goals, including the enhancement
of ecological services (such as flood control), improvement of stream
health and reduction of the industry’s water and greenhouse gas
footprints. NCC believes that the achievement of these goals is vital
to the conservation of biodiversity.
NCC understands that our conservation work cannot operate in
isolation, and that effective conservation needs partnerships. Our
partnership with the CRSB will help positively influence biodiversity
and ecosystem health within these working landscapes, on a very
large and ecologically significant scale.
NCC believes partnerships are essential to effective conservation, and works with
farmers and ranchers to ensure the sustainable management of Canada’s grasslands.
INSET: NCC. LANDSCAPE: NCC.
14 SPRING 2017
natureconservancy.ca

NCC and the Frolek family have worked
together for close to a decade to protect
this grassland habitat near Kamloops, B.C.
2
Conservation-minded ranchers
KAMLOOPS, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Each summer, Barb Pryce and Ray Frolek head out into the grasslands near Kamloops,
British Columbia, to check up on NCC’s conservation projects there. NCC and the Frolek
Cattle Company have been collaborating on grassland conservation since 2008, when the
B.C.
two joined forces to conserve 7,828 acres (3,168 hectares) of this rare and ecologically
significant habitat.
“As a third-generation rancher, Ray sees how the land has changed over time,” says Pryce.
“His understanding of past conditions adds important context to what we are seeing now.”
Ranchers own a lot of private land in B.C.’s rare grassland valleys. Partnering with
conservation-minded ranchers is essential to conserving this important habitat.
“Our relationships with ranchers enable truly amazing conservation in Canada’s grasslands,” says Pryce.
“We couldn’t do this work without them!”
Partner
Spotlight
In 2014, Imperial pledged
$1 million over four years to the
Nature Conservancy of Canada
(NCC) in support of the National
Conservation Interns Program.
The work of NCC’s conservation
interns is diverse, ranging from
forest and grassland restoration,
to species inventories, trail maintenance
and access. Interns can
also participate in mapping with
geographic information systems,
data management, monitoring
and relationship building with
neighbours, stakeholders and
communities.
FROLEK FAMILY AND NCC STAFF: TESSA BUCHAN. CONSERVATION INTERN: NCC.
3
Home on the range
TWIN BUTTE, ALBERTA
This past summer, NCC’s Alberta Region teamed up with a group of rangeland experts to
learn the tricks of the ranching trade. The Rancher’s Rangeland Management Workshop
was held at the Twin Butte Community Hall. The two-day workshop was attended by NCC
staff, and landowners and ranchers from the surrounding communities.
Presenters included government experts, academics, private consultants and the
landowners themselves. Participants discussed a wide range of topics, including principles
of range management, grazing strategies, weed control and prevention, ecological
services of grasslands and reducing wildlife-livestock conflicts.
4
A new lease on life
WIDEVIEW, SASKATCHEWAN
One of NCC’s newest properties in southwest Saskatchewan, Wideview, is now being grazed
by a local rancher’s cattle. NCC creates these types of lease agreements on about 90 per cent
of our properties in Saskatchewan, as a way of managing biodiversity while developing good
relationships with our neighbours.
Grazing by domestic cattle simulates the natural processes by which these grasslands
would have historically been influenced by wildfire and herds of bison. This grazing, in
turn, increases biodiversity and fertilizes the soil with manure. NCC monitors the grass to
ensure that grazing is maintaining and improving the health of the prairie ecosystem.1
ALTA.
SASK.
“NCC’s Conservation Interns
Program provides outstanding
experiences for university and
college students in areas such as
conservation science, land management
and wildlife research,”
says Erica Thompson, NCC’s
senior director for national
conservation engagement
and development.
Imperial is an integrated energy
company committed to developing
our nation’s resources responsibly.
Working with partners like NCC to
invest in tomorrow’s conservation
leaders delivers a valuable, longterm
contribution to Canada.
Kim Fox
Vice President of Public and
Government Affairs, Imperial
natureconservancy.ca
SPRING 2017 15

FORCE FOR
NATURE
Family values
Richard Ivey’s love for nature and passion for conservation over four decades
have inspired a natural legacy for his family and for countless Canadians
JOEL KIMMEL.
16 SPRING 2017 natureconservancy.ca

On December 31, 1947, a family dream became a reality
when Richard Ivey and his father established The Richard
Ivey Foundation. Now known as the Ivey Foundation,
this private, charitable foundation focuses on improving the
well-being of Canadians and supports charitable organizations
in areas such as the environment and climate change.
SUZANNE COOK.
Many people may not realize the importance of that initial collaboration, but today
when you visit protected areas in Ontario, such as on Pelee Island, hike trails in
Algonquin Provincial Park or go birding at Clear Creek Forest, much of these places
are now conserved and available thanks to a family with a passion for nature.
“Our family cottage was just north of Muskoka, along the Magnetawan River
system, in an area surrounded by forest,” recalls Richard Ivey. “We spent several
summers there in my youth. It was an excellent teacher of nature.”
From those summers spent along the banks of the river, Ivey’s appreciation
for nature grew and inspired a lifetime of work dedicated, in part, to protecting
significant Canadian landscapes.
“Throughout the 1970s we turned our attention to environmental grants, first to
the Nature Conservancy of Canada,” wrote Ivey in his 2014 memoir, A Meaningful
Life. “[My wife,] Beryl, was particularly drawn to the environment, and we started
working with the Nature Conservancy [of Canada], helping them acquire and
preserve unique properties in Ontario. One gentleman from the organization,
Mr. Charles Sauriol, took us on tours of beautiful properties that the conservancy
wanted to protect.”
Charles Sauriol was the first director of the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC),
from 1966 to 1987. Sauriol built a fond relationship with the Iveys and grew to know
them well, says John Riley, former NCC chief science officer and current board
member of NCC’s Ontario Region.
Ivey’s time at the family cottage sparked
an appreciation for nature and inspired
a lifetime of work dedicated, in part, to
protecting significant Canadian landscapes.
“Charles once shared the story of how, in 1970, he took the train from Toronto
to London and walked north to the Ivey home to introduce himself to Richard,”
recalls Riley. “Richard and Beryl’s interest in the spectacular cliffs and waterfalls
along the Niagara Escarpment, one of the conservation causes of the day, was
stimulated as a result.”
Richard Ivey and his family’s contribution through the Ivey Foundation were
essential in helping NCC secure and protect vulnerable lands in Ontario’s
Niagara Escarpment region. “With help from the Iveys, NCC started buying land
immediately, but soon came up with the idea of a personal visit to John Robarts,
Ontario’s premier at the time, to make a proposition,” says Riley. “Would the
province fund land securement along the Niagara Escarpment on the basis of
a match of $3 of public funding for each $1 of Ivey funding?”
Richard and Beryl on safari in Kenya, 1974
By 1983, more than 5,000 acres (2,020
hectares) were conserved under this agreement,
including in such familiar Ontario
destinations as Spirit Rock, Fishing Islands,
Cave Springs, Silver Creek, Hilton Falls,
Crawford Lake and Inglis Falls.
The Iveys had a particular interest
in protecting these lands, having shared
a long-time connection with the area.
“I could see the falls from the Ridley
College campus, in St. Catharines, where
I went to school,” remembers Ivey. “Shortly
after we got married, my wife began acting
in plays at the Grand Theatre and then
became involved in the Shaw Festival, at
Niagara-on-the-Lake. The area just became
a part of our life together.”
Ivey and his late wife, Beryl, have been
particularly supportive of NCC’s work to
conserve lands in southwestern Ontario.
Together with their foundation, the Iveys
have contributed millions of dollars to
support land conservation in areas such as
Pelee Island, Clear Creek Forest, Norfolk
County and countless others.
“This was the first of many great partnerships,
over the years, thanks to which NCC
has helped realize the conservation dreams
of its supporters,” reflects Riley. “The Ivey
family’s leadership, which Richard Ivey
continues to this day, has inspired conservation
across Canada.”1
natureconservancy.ca
SPRING 2017 17

CLOSE
ENCOUNTERS
Lake of Dreams
By Stuart McLean, writer and broadcaster and NCC ambassador
The Nature Conservancy of
Canada (NCC) was saddened
to learn of the passing of
Stuart McLean on February
15, 2017. He was a great
ambassador for NCC. In fact,
NCC staff were thrilled when
McLean, one of Canada’s
most recognizable voices,
agreed to record the voiceover
for NCC’s public service
announcement. He also kindly
agreed to write and present
a story (excerpted here) at
our 50 th anniversary gala.
READ THE FULL STORY
natureconservancy.ca/
stuart-mclean
In the late 1960s Eric and Doris were living in
Edmonton. They were modest people of modest
means. Eric had already retired from his job at
the Co-op. Doris was still working as a teacher.
They were an outdoorsy couple. They had always
enjoyed hiking and skiing and birding. And they were
dreamers. They dreamed of having a place in the country.
But they had never been able to afford one. So in
November of 1971, when they were out for one of their drives,
and they saw a small sign on a country road advertising land
for sale, they stopped and read it. The sign said the wooded
land they were looking at was owned by the Canadian Pacific
Railway and was up for sale by public tender.
Eric and Doris parked their car and walked through
the bush to see what the land looked like. On their hike,
they came across a beautiful and completely undeveloped
lake. It was the lake of their dreams.
Their golden pond.
They went home and, with absolutely no hope of
success, they cobbled together what they could and
submitted a tender.
When the bidding was done, it turned out Eric and
Doris were the only bidders. It turned out they were now
the owners of 320 acres of wooded wilderness: a quarter
section of uncleared land that was home to elk, deer,
moose and waterfowl. And a piece of Coyote Lake.
They erected a little pre-fab house on the edge of the lake.
For three decades, they lived there together. It became
the place the family would gather: for family visits, for
birthdays, to show off babies, to bring new partners or
spouses for Christmas.
The place where young and old would go hiking and
skiing along the trails, canoeing on the lake, skating on
the lake, bird watching beside the lake and star gazing.
In other words, it became the family home.
They thought, “It is so beautiful here. It should always
be like this.”
But there was a problem. Right across from their little
house, there was a point of land that jutted into the lake.
The point was owned by a man who lived in Calgary. Eric
and Doris began to worry about what he might do to that
point one day.
So, Eric and Doris found their way to the Nature Conservancy
of Canada. They suggested if the conservancy bought
the point, it would mean the lake would be protected forever.
The people from the conservancy explained that they
would love to do that, but it would not mean the lake
would be protected forever. It would mean half the lake
would be protected forever.
Eric and Doris said, “You are right.” And then they said,
“If you will buy the point across the lake, we will give you our
land, and then the whole lake will be protected. Forever.”
It was like saying, “If you buy the point across from us,
we will give you everything we have in the world.”
The conservancy bought the point across the lake. And
Doris and Eric were good to their word.1
ILLUSTRATION: JACQUI OAKLEY. PHOTO: ILIA HORSBURGH.
18 SPRING 2017 natureconservancy.ca

Your passion for Canada’s natural spaces defines your life; now it can
define your legacy. With a gift in your Will to the Nature Conservancy
of Canada, no matter the size, you can help protect our most vulnerable
habitats and the wildlife that live there. For today, for tomorrow and for
generations to come.
Learn more about leaving a gift in your Will at
NatureConservancy.ca/legacy or 1-800-465-0029

YOUR
VOICES
Generations of caring
“My 10-year-old granddaughter, Tanaeya, and I travelled from Ontario
to Saskatchewan to volunteer at Old Man on His Back (OMB). I had the
desire to visit OMB after reading Sharon Butala’s books, and discovering
the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC's) volunteer program made
all of our travel plans easier. We could not only visit OMB, we could stay
all weekend and they would feed us, too! All for the price of walking
around in the prairie sunshine, putting cans on fence posts, putting
markers on fence wires and meeting other caring Canadians. This
experience showed us that by volunteering, ordinary Canadians can
make a difference to help protect the
land. I wish every child and grandmother
could have the experience of sleeping
under the stars and waking up to
a Saskatchewan sunrise!”
~ Jean Kendall, Brantford, Ontario
Nature for all!
“For me, nature and the prairies are exotic! I am
originally from Vancouver. While there is Stanley Park,
and many other smaller parks for Vancouver residents,
as a child I never got to experience nature very often.
The first time I volunteered for NCC, it was on a field trip that involved
the local multicultural society, allowing new Canadians to see the natural
prairie landscape that was now their new home. I support the conservancy
with my donations and time because it preserves what remains
of the wilderness and teaches all of us to appreciate the grasses, trees, air,
gophers, deer, moose and insects — even mosquitoes — that live with us!
We need to appreciate what we have, and the Nature Conservancy of
Canada teaches us how.”
~ Gail Chin, Regina, Saskatchewan
Front lines of conservation
“As an NCC volunteer and land donor in west
Quebec, I appreciate the intrinsic value of
protected spaces. My wife, Charlotte, and I have
donated to NCC approximately 300 acres (120
hectares) of property in the Ottawa River watershed.
It’s not a huge property, but it can now
continue to mature as a protected natural
forest and productive wetlands. Perhaps, when
combined with other properties, it will contribute
to an important wildlife corridor.
“I also volunteer at other NCC properties along the
Ottawa River — in Breckenridge, Clarendon and
Bristol, Quebec. I greatly enjoy the opportunities
to learn from other volunteers as well as fisheries
biologists and ornithologists as they survey
properties to guide conservation efforts.
“I spent the final years of my career [as an assistant
deputy minister for Environment Canada]
working on environmental policies and regulations.
Now, to be on the front lines, working on
the properties, gives me great satisfaction.”
~ Barry Stemshorn, Gatineau, Quebec
MARK TAYLOR. GAIL CHIN. NCC.
Send us your stories! magazine@natureconservancy.ca
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