THE OAK RIDGES MORAINE LAND TRUST: PARTNERSHIP AND CO-OPERATION IN LAND SECUREMENT FOR CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION OF THE OAK RIDGES MORAINE

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1 THE OAK RIDGES MORAINE LAND TRUST: PARTNERSHIP AND CO-OPERATION IN LAND SECUREMENT FOR CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION OF THE OAK RIDGES MORAINE Author: FRANK SHAW Abstract: The Oak Ridges Moraine is a continuous glacial landform extending 160 km from the to the Trent River. The Moraine includes significant habitats, forests and headwaters of 65 watercourses in south-central Ontario. The Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust (ORMLT) was formed by citizens interested in saving the Moraine. ORMLT incorporated in April 2000 as a non-profit charitable organization and designated an Ecological Gifts recipient. ORMLT Vision sees a healthy, sustainable Moraine ecosystem within which the Trust and partners are cooperating in protection. ORMLT Mission is to ensure significant properties, including Oak Ridges Trail, are protected through strategic land securement. ORMLT has raised funding and secured conservation easements for 1400 acres of land valued at $3.7 million and 1600 acres are under negotiation. Volunteers lead most activities with help from experienced professionals. Trust program framework is built on five strategic directions: land securement as job #1, stewardship, fundraising, outreach and organization capacity. Moraine partnerships are essential to success. The Trust co-operates with government departments, municipalities, conservation organizations, trail associations, foundations and other partners in land securement, promotion and fundraising activities. ORMLT land securement is complementary to the provincial Conservation Plan established in April Securement offers increased protection and stewardship for the Moraine ecosystem. Ensuring a healthy future for the Oak Ridges Moraine involves the cooperation and participation of many stakeholders. The Trust will continue with land securement as the primary focus of its contribution to saving the Moraine. WHAT IS THE MORAINE? The Oak Ridges Moraine is a continuous glacial landform that extends 160 km. from the Niagara Escarpment to the Trent River. The Moraine is a signature landscape in Southern Ontario defined by significant natural areas, wildlife habitats, forests, rivers, wetlands, kettle lakes, and unique landform character. It is the rain barrel for south-central Ontario and the key source of headwaters for over 65 watercourses flowing south into Lake Ontario and north into Lake Simcoe. It is under constant threat of urban sprawl and the continuous pressure for land development from rapid 1

2 growth in the Greater Toronto Area. The health and vitality of the Moraine is essential to green space and ecological sustainability throughout the GTA. WHAT IS THE TRUST? The Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust (ORMLT) was organized in 1999 by concerned citizens to help protect the Moraine ecosystem through strategic securement of our natural heritage. The Trust was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in April 2000, approved as a registered charity by the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, and designated a recipient agency under Environment Canada s Ecological Gifts Program. Under its constitution, the Trust is governed by a Board of Directors of up to 17 members. The Trust is supported in its work by many volunteers, donors, partners and wide spread public interest. At present, ORMLT is the only land trust whose sole purpose is natural area protection through land securement across the Moraine. TRUST VISION AND MISSION ORMLT vision for the Oak Ridges Moraine is to have a vibrant, healthy, sustainable ecosystem within which the Trust and partners including landowners, organizations, government and others are actively cooperating in conservation and protection of the moraine. The mission of the Trust focuses on its land securement role in contributing to protection of the Moraine and realizing its vision for a healthy ecosystem. Toward this end, the ORMLT mission is to ensure that significant moraine properties, including lands required for the Oak Ridges Trail, are protected in perpetuity through strategic land securement and related long term stewardship for the benefit of future generations. WHAT IS SECUREMENT? Land securement involves the acquisition of an interest in the title or ownership of land whether partial (conservation easement) or full certificate of title (fee simple). Securement may be achieved by donation or purchase and allows for perpetual conservation. Securement offers additional protection, habitat restoration and stewardship beyond the provision of municipal plans and the provincial ORM Conservation Plan. Securement is protection in perpetuity. Registered easements allow for continued private ownership while protecting conservation values. Fee simple acquisition allows for more public access and enjoyment when appropriate. WHY USE EASEMENTS? Conservation easements registered on title provide covenants for natural area protection while the land continues in private land ownership. Many easements are now donated through the Ecological Gifts Program of Environment Canada that includes tax incentives for participation. Easement transactions achieve protection at much less cost than acquisition of full title. The landowner continues as registered owner and steward of the property in co-operation with the Trust. As a grass roots organization, the ORMLT works closely with each landowner to 2

3 customize easement conditions and achieve conservation goals for the natural values of each property. COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM STRATEGY The ORMLT program framework approved by the Board of Directors in October 2003 is built on five strategic directions: land securement, stewardship, fundraising, outreach and organization capacity. All program strategies are focused on support for land securement as Job #1. Partnership and co-operation with others is the common, essential theme throughout all Trust priorities and actions. Conservation easements are registered on title to protect natural values in perpetuity and the Trust assists the owner in land stewardship and restoration. The actions of the Trust are designed to save significant natural areas of the Moraine, property by property. TRUST PROGRESS IN SECUREMENT Under its Land Securement Strategy, the Trust has raised funding and secured conservation easements for about 1900 acres of land valued at almost $4.5 million as of December Full ownership of one property has been donated to the Trust and another is coming by bequest. We are presently negotiating easements for 15 more properties, representing an additional 1600 acres and investigating the potential of another 1200 acres. Much of this work is done by trained and dedicated volunteers with the help of experienced professionals whose every day efforts secure the Moraine one property at a time. Trust volunteers and professionals work closely with the landowners to create site-specific conditions that achieve Trust and individual goals for stewardship. Trust volunteers and partners assist landowners in developing stewardship plans, habitat restoration and site monitoring activities. CO-OPERATION AND PARTNERSHIP The Trust has developed many partnerships (including agreements and formal memoranda) for land securement projects, working closely with municipalities, conservation authorities, Oak Ridges Trail Association (ORTA), foundations, stewardship councils and donors. The Trust partners with the Conservation Foundation of Greater Toronto and the Oak Ridges Trail Association in specific fund raising events (Sauriol Dinner and Walk for the Moraine). In addition, the Trust is working with Environment Canada and many other government departments to help save the Moraine ecosystem and to support implementation of the ORM Conservation Plan. FUNDRAISING FOR SECUREMENT Funds to support land securement and ongoing stewardship are being obtained from foundations e.g. Trillium, Schad, ORMF, EJLB, Metcalf, McLean and other contributors e.g. conservation authorities, municipalities, FON, corporate sponsors and individuals. The Trillium Foundation 3

4 has supported Trust operating costs through two grants for office support now renewed to The City of Toronto has invested in land securement projects of benefit to downstream watershed health and water quality. Our two signature fund raising events Charles Sauriol Environmental Dinner and Walk for the Moraine are held annually with our partners in the fall. CONSERVATION PLAN CONTRIBUTION Trust land securement contributes to implementation of land use policies in the provincial Conservation Plan established in April 2002 and to securement priorities of the Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation (ORMF). Securement priorities of the ORMF place a strong emphasis on natural core and linkage lands, significant habitat, moraine wetlands, ecological functions and the Oak Ridges Trail corridor in co-operation with conservation partners and other funding sources. Land securement by the Trust contributes to increased protection and stewardship for strategic components of the Oak Ridges Moraine ecosystem e.g. core natural areas, kettle lakes, aquifer recharge areas and stream valleys. FRIENDS AND ALLIES OF THE TRUST The ORMLT is a member of the Ontario Land Trust Alliance (OLTA) and is affiliated with other conservation organizations e.g. Federation of Ontario Naturalists (FON) and Ontario Forestry Association (OFA). Advocacy groups such as Save The Oak Ridges Moraine (STORM) continue to look out for public interest in ecological sustainability of the ORM. Landowners are by far the major contributors in their specific land donation for conservation easements and for their individual commitment to moraine conservation and protection through their ongoing investment in environmental stewardship. Individuals step forward every day to volunteer their personal time and talent to the Trust. SUPPORT FOR THE MORAINE The ORMLT is a grass roots non-profit volunteer organization with a focus on protection across the whole Moraine. Trust interests in longer term protection through securement are actively supported by landowners, conservation organizations, charitable foundations and the public at large. Public interest in the health of the Moraine continues to grow as urban sprawl threatens its significant natural features and functions. The importance of the Moraine to water quantity and quality is a major public concern. Public advocacy for a vibrant, healthy and sustainable moraine ecosystem is relentless and will not diminish with time. OUTLOOK FOR THE TRUST Realizing a healthy future for the Oak Ridges Moraine ecosystem must involve the active participation of many stakeholders. Governments at all levels, conservation agencies, landowners, foundations, land trusts, corporations, individuals and the public at large have an important role to play. Public support for saving the Moraine is strong, widely spread and vigilant. Threat of 4

5 natural area depletion is constant. The ORMLT will continue to focus on strategic land securement and related land stewardship as its contribution to saving the Oak Ridges Moraine one property at a time. Partnership and co-operation will ensure conservation and protection of the Moraine for future generations. REFERENCES Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. April Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan. Toronto: Publications Ontario. Ontario Land Trust Alliance. May Statement of Land Trust Standards and Practices. Smiths Falls, ON: OLTA. Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation. March Strategic Plan 2003 to King City, ON: Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation. Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation. March Land Securement Strategy, Appendix 3. King City, ON: Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation. Environment Canada. March Ontario Ecological Gifts Handbook Downsview, ON: CWS-Environment Canada. Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust. October Program Strategy 2002 to Protection through Parnerships in Land Securement. King City, ON: Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation. CONTACT Frank G. Shaw Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation Yonge Street, Suite 2A Dufferin Street North Aurora, Ontario King City, Ontario L4G 1M2 L7B 1B3 Phone: (905) Phone: (905) Fax: (905) Website: landtrust@bellnet.ca Website: landtrust@bellnet.ca 5