Northumberland Land Trust

The motto of Northumberland Land Trust states "Preserving Northumberland County - One Acre at a Time".  Their mandate is to 'establish, maintain and manage protected areas' and their Mission is to 'Preserve the natural, historical and cultural heritage of Northumberland County'. It was founded in 2004  and their press release at the time states 'The Northumberland Land Trust, a new community based organization has been established to work for the conservation of the natural areas, watersheds, forests and wildlife of Northumberland County.  The Land Trust is a non-government, charitable organization and it plans to partner with other agencies, community groups and landowners with similar aims.
It was the Willow Beach Field Naturalists who in 2001 began to understand that we need an organization such as a Trust to protect these important areas in Northumberland and the Northumberland Land Trust was created. 


They presently have 4 properties in Northumberland Land Trust. These preserved properties are:
1- Leckey Property -2009, 177 acre Conservation Easement, Cramahe Township, donated by Molly
                                  Leckey

2- Pelton Property -2008, 52 acres adjacent to Peter's woods in Alnwick/Haldimand Township

3- McEwen Property - 2008, 100 acres donated by the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Hope Township

4 - Laurie Lawson -   42 acres at the Outdoor Education Centre on Telephone Road, Hamilton Township
                                   Students still study mapping skills, geography, forest management and ecology at
                                    this site. Land donated by Dr. Mary Bedford-Jones who by doing this was guided
                                    the wishes of her late husband Bill Goodwin. This was the first property donated to
                                    the trust (2005)

If you are interested in learning more about the Northumberland Land Trust and it's benefits visit their website. If wish to donate a property or conserve a piece of land they want you contact them. They will put you in touch with a relevant Board Member who will meet with you and explain how you may be eligible for significant tax benefits and what the costs are to set this up for you.
A final note from me, one of the founding members of the Northumberland Land Trust is Audrey Wilson. Audrey is a good friend of mine, I first met her when I was a student of hers in grade 4, Audrey helped me in ways that I can not express here. One thing she did pass on to me was a love of nature, bird watching & Monarch butterfly banding. In my 20's I taught at the Laurie Lawson Outdoor Education Centre and the Outdoor Education Centre with Hazel Bird. Audrey was the driving force of this Centre through the then Northumberland Newcastle Board of Education. The experiences I had and still have out of doors are all thanks to Audrey. It is her belief that if you teach a child to love nature they will love nature for the rest of their lives. I am a living testament to this. She is why I am a Pantheist.