A large plot of pristine Acadian forest in the Cobequid Hills of New Annan is to be preserved in perpetuity, thanks to the family of a former Truro doctor.
“Today we are establishing a new nature reserve in your neck of the woods,” said Craig Smith, a program director with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC).
Speaking to an audience gathered at Creamery Square in Tatamagouche, Smith said the donation of 366 hectares (904 acres) of forest land by the three sons of the late Dr. George and Phyllis Cook is the largest conservation project undertaken by the conservancy in Nova Scotia this year. It’s also the largest project the agency has partnered in over the past five years in Canada.
The forest, dominated by sugar maples, beech and birch, along with scattered growths of pine, ash and hemlock, is made up of “some of the highest quality Acadian forest” his team has documented in the region, Smith said.
The land donation, valued at $800,000, was made by brothers Dr. Steven Cook of Truro and Dr. Laurie Cook and Dr. David Cook, both of British Columbia, through the Government of Canada’s Ecological Gifts Program.
“Today as you walk through the fields and the forest there are all kinds of signs of our ancestors homesteading efforts,” Dr. Steven Cook said during the announcement.
Although his father was a busy surgeon, he also managed to run a large maple syrup operation on the property for many years. And while the family has been twice recognized with the distinction of having the property named as Nova Scotia Woodlot of the Year, continuing to maintain that level of care has become too much for the family to properly deal with, especially since two of the brothers live across the country.
Although the Cook brothers have had purchase offers for the property for logging purposes, they did not want to see the forest clear-cut. Ultimately, they decided the best way to honour their heritage was to offer the land in trust to the NCC.
“My brothers and I are very happy to know that our New Annan land will be maintained in perpetuity as an intact forest, and delighted that the donation will honour our father, without whom none of this would have happened,” Steven Cook said. “We are also grateful for the help and guidance from Craig Smith and the Nature Conservancy of Canada staff during this process and look forward to an ongoing relationship.”
The Cook brothers were granted capital gains exemptions in exchange for the donation. But in order to deal with the legal, surveying and appraisal costs associated with the partnership, the NCC put out a call last fall for public assistance to raise the $162,500 in required funding.
Smith said those funds came through a variety of sources, including private contributions and the Natural Areas Conservation Program, an initiative of the federal Department of Environment and Climate Change, as well as support from the Nova Scotia Crown Share Land Legacy Trust.
Speaking on behalf of federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, Cumberland-Colchester MP Bill Casey said the land donation is a testament to the way Nova Scotians generally feel about wildlife and habitat conservation.
“We’re all really, really proud of what we have and we want to keep it that way,” Casey said. “It’s so important to save our wilderness… and provide habitat for wildlife species.”
Smith said the NCC was only too happy to be chosen as the perpetual stewards of the property, which will ensure the forest will never fall victim to clear-cutting measures.
“And essentially there is no way to do that other than give it to someone who will give it formal protection,” he said.
As with other conservation sites, the Dr. George Cook Nature Reserve will open for such public uses as hiking, birdwatching and picnicking, among others.
And while hiking trails and signage may be developed in the future, the site will not be developed in any significant way.
“But we will go through a property management planning process,” Smith said. “So we know people will be able to access the site and be able to do some of those basic recreation activities.”
Dr. George Cook
The land donated by the Cook family is located near New Annan in the Cobequid Hills, at the headwaters of the French River.
For 30 years, the property was the site of Dr. George Cook’s Maple Ridge Farm, a 25,000-tree commercial maple syrup operation.
The property is to be known as the Dr. George Cook Nature Reserve.
Dr. George Cook grew up in Urbania (East Hants), N.S., and as a young man loved working on his family’s woodlot. He bought the New Annan, Colchester County property in 1974 as a way to renew his love of the woods again.
Although just a sideline project from his work as a surgeon, Cook took a hands-on role in the business, and often personally delivered his maple syrup and stocked store shelves all over mainland Nova Scotia. The maple syrup business was wrapped up in 2006.
Dr. George Cook died in April 2016.
FAST FACTS
• The Nature Conservancy of Canada is the nation's leading land conservation organization;
• Its aim is to protect the most important natural areas and the species they sustain;
• Since 1962, NCC and its partners have helped to protect more than 1.1 million hectares (2.8 million acres), coast to coast;
• The NCC has protected more than 34,000 acres (13,800 hectares) of ecologically significant land in Nova Scotia.
