Nature trust seeks to protect Ross Island

In its most ambitious and expensive venture to date, the Nature Trust of New Brunswick (NTNB) recently announced a project to conserve 860 acres on Ross Island, adjacent to Grand Manan. The plan is part of NTNB's "Conserve Y(our) NB: Protect the Places You Love" campaign, which was launched with the goal of raising $10 million to increase the trust's conserved lands to 15,000 acres by 2030. The trust currently has over 9,000 acres in 67 preserves.
Ross Island was identified as ecologically significant and was of interest because NTNB has three other properties on Grand Manan. The Nature Conservancy of Canada's property and the federally designated migratory bird sanctuary are also nearby.
The trust's CEO, Renata Woodward, says the organization received a note from some islanders who had been looking from the museum across the passage to Ross Island and wondering about its future and whether it might someday be sold for development. NTNB staff researched the area and realized its ecological value and that it would fit well with the existing network of conservation areas. Woodward says the trust contacted the major landowner a year and a half ago and has been negotiating to purchase the property. "He has been very receptive of the idea of conservation," she says. "It seems to be a no brainer" to protect the island.
With a total project cost of $1.4 million, the property would be NTNB's largest. It encompasses most of the island. The seller will retain 20 acres, and there are a couple of smaller landowners. These won't compromise the ecological significance of the property, says Honorary Director and Conserve Y(our) NB Cabinet member Jessie Davies. "People love to go there," she says. "Not everyone owns coastal property," so preserving such places to share with people is something the group is excited about. She adds that people have spent much of 2020 being told what they can't do, but contributing to this effort is something they can do.
Woodward says NTNB's "robust procedure" of assessment involves sending people with knowledge of trees, birds and other species to evaluate the habitat and give a good understanding of the "treasures" of the ecosystem as well as the threats to it.
According to Cheyenne Currie, NTNB's acting communications and engagement manager, Ross Island "contains a mosaic of softwood forest types with balsam fir and spruce dominating. Carolina wren and Arctic tern as well as the killdeer call Ross Island home; the island has evidence of bald eagle as well. The tidal flats and salt marshes... are important habitat, and the island is known as an ecologically significant area."
Davies notes that there are some remains of United Empire Loyalist settlement, like old house foundations, which will be investigated further. Ross Island was the first permanent habitation in the Grand Manan archipelago when 50 families settled there in 1784. "It's nice to have a human connection, too," she says. Woodward adds that the area has been significant to First Nations, and the organization is discussing shared management with the Peskotomuhkati people as well.
Woodward points out that the process involves community consultation. Grand Mananers pick periwinkles and hunt on the island, and she explains that NTNB will not own the intertidal area, so periwinkling is unaffected. While the aim is to conserve habitat and species, they acknowledge areas' importance to locals and their traditional uses. Some other preserves have hunting grandfathered in. She says, "It's not just [NTNB] to make the decision," so once the organization has purchased the property, it will consult with islanders to work out a management plan. Once a management plan is prepared, NTNB looks for local residents to act as stewards. Two planned activities are a much needed cleanup of debris and improvements to trails.
NTNB NTNB hopes to wrap up the remaining fundraising and complete the purchase by March 2021. At the beginning of December about $260,000 remained to be raised. Matching donations have boosted the project, as has a $300,000 pledge from the MapleCross Fund, an organization founded by two retired pharmaceutical chemists in Ontario that invests in the protection of natural areas across Canada.
NTNB can accept a variety of contributions, including credit cards, checks and in kind financial securities like stocks, as well as gifts of land. Davies points out that donations can be given in someone's honor as "a Christmas present that people don't have to dust." For more information about the Ross Island project with links to donate and learn more about NTNB's work, visit www.naturetrust.nb.ca/en/protect-ross-island.