Pardee Nature Reserve
TBFNC is pleased to announce the creation of the Pardee Nature Reserve in the Pigeon River border area. The reserve includes three new properties, acquired in May and June of 2024. Two pieces (approximately 315 acres) were donated through the Ecological Gift Program by members of the Patterson family. The third piece (85 acres) was purchased from an estate. This reserve project was generously supported by the Government of Canada.
Together, the three parcels protect significant natural features. The forest cover is classed as Great Lakes-St. Lawrence and includes large White Pines, Sugar Maple on the south-facing slopes of the Devon Road Mesa, Red Maples, and Large-toothed Aspen. The stream running through all three pieces is used by beavers who have created multiple ponds. The floodplain provides habitat for Black Ash, Bloodroot, Ginger, Spring Beauty, and Ostrich Fern. Several rare plant species have been documented on the mesa slopes. Gray Fox, a Species at Risk of great interest to TBFNC, have been documented recently in the area. One of the properties directly abuts the Devon Mesa Provincial Nature Reserve.
The two pieces donated by members of the Patterson family were inherited after it had been held by various relatives over the decades. The Pattersons have a long family history on the site, including homesteading, tree planting and some research projects through the University. Although the family moved west to Calgary some years back, they still have a cottage on Lake Superior and visit Thunder Bay each summer. They wanted to respect their long family involvement at Pardee and chose to donate the land to TBFNC.
Two of the three properties acquired by TBFNC required some clean up to ensure that the land was in a suitable natural state. The Club engaged a contractor to remove derelict buildings, some old cars, and piles of tires that had been left on the sites over years of absentee ownership. One particularly interesting item was a large cruise boat abandoned in the middle of a field. The “Mary Ethel” used to take tourists around Thunder Bay Harbour back in the 1960’s and ’70’s before ending up in Pardee.
The Government of Canada’s Natural Heritage Conservation Program (NHCP):
The Government of Canada’s Natural Heritage Conservation Program (NHCP) is a unique partnership that supports the creation and recognition of protected and conserved areas through the acquisition of private land and private interest in land. To date, the Government of Canada has invested more than $470 million in the Program, which has been matched with more than $982 million in contributions raised by Nature Conservancy of Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada and the country’s land trust community leading to the protection and conservation of nearly 800,000 hectares of ecologically sensitive lands.
The properties donated by members of the Patterson Family were certified as Ecological Gifts. Canada’s Ecological Gifts Program provides a way for Canadians with ecologically sensitive land to protect nature and leave a legacy for future generations. Made possible by the terms of the Income Tax Act of Canada and the Quebec Taxation Act, it offers significant tax benefits to landowners who donate land or a partial interest in land to a qualified recipient. Recipients ensure that the land’s biodiversity and environmental heritage are conserved in perpetuity.
TBFN provided 1.7 dollars of cash/in-kind match for every dollar provided by the NHCP for the Pardee Nature Reserve project. The federal grant helped not only with the purchase price of this property, but also with associated costs (appraisal, legal expenses, a major site cleanup by a contractor), and with stewardship and monitoring activities. This monitoring includes a survey for bats on the property as well as installation of wildlife cameras. We hope to spot a Gray Fox. TBFN will make a substantial contribution into our own Nature Reserves Endowment Fund to support long term stewardship of this property.
TBFN was able to get this generous federal grant only because of the matching donations provided by private donors to TBFN. Your support was key to the creation of the new Pardee Nature Reserve.
Many thanks to Environment and Climate Change Canada for their support and to our many donors for their help with this successful project.
