902-425-5263 (LAND)
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Gold River Lake Conservation Easement (Easement)
591 acres in Gold River, Kings & Lunenburg Co.Donated by Blackman, Gutting, Watkins, McNew, Miller, and Rossiter Families
Significance
Old forest, entire lakeshores, headwaters, significant acreage.
Details
Working with conservation-minded private landowners, the Nature Trust has a conservation easement that protects 591 acres of wild land along Gold River Lake. The protected area encompasses the entire shoreline of the lake, which is the headwaters of the Gold River in Kings and Lunenburg Counties.
The conservation lands support important wildlife habitat, including rare old growth Acadian forest, a rich wetland complex, and important salmon spawning habitat.
The easement is the fruition of four years of work with several landowners, particularly John Gutting, a developer and “eco-friendly” landscape architect, who bought the land in 1999. Five small cottage lots are permitted. To ensure minimal environmental impacts, strict covenants govern all future building activities. The lands outside the building lots will remain ‘forever wild’ with no development at all.
“The protected area is of outstanding conservation value in a landscape dominated by commercial logging and extensive lakeshore development” says Duncan Bayne, the Nature Trust’s Land Securement Coordinator. “The easement is a landmark in wildlife conservation in Nova Scotia”.