The North Mountain Ridge runs along the western shore of the Bras d’Or Lake, where the land rises steeply from the water of West Bay to level out on a plateau known as the North Mountain. Its steep forested slope is covered mainly in shade-tolerant hardwoods, beautiful and uncommon in their age and composition. Many streams and brooks have their headwaters in the wetlands on the North Mountain plateau. 

The North Mountain Ridge is part of the UNESCO Bras d’Or Lake Biosphere, which encompasses the estuary and watershed surrounding Bras d’Or Lake. This reserve was designated to highlight the importance of this natural area to wildlife and the surrounding community. 

Two newly protected lands add almost 500 acres to the growing network of what will hopefully become an unbroken landscape of protected lands. 

The first property backs onto the eastern edge of the North Mountain Wilderness Area. Its 87 acres are almost entirely forested with mature Wabanaki-Acadian hardwood forest and dominated by American Beech, Sugar Maple, and Yellow Birch, much of it over 100 years of age and approaching old-growth status. This is a rare feature in Nova Scotia and valuable both because of that and because of the habitat that it offers to wildlife, especially birds.

This forest holds excellent habitat for Eastern Wood-Pewee, which is listed as a species of Special Concern by the federal Species at Risk Act and as Vulnerable under the Nova Scotia Endangered Species Act. The property also holds Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a species which is considered to have a sensitive population in the province; Nature Trust staff were lucky to observe several males singing during our initial field visit.

The small pond at the northern end of the property offers valuable habitat for waterfowl that is unlikely to be disturbed by humans, as well as an abundance of dragonflies, which use the aquatic habitats to breed and to hunt. The Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre recorded Hidden-scaled Sedge in several locations around this same pond; while not endangered, this sedge is uncommon in Nova Scotia, and the pond provides habitat for it. The property is also known to support salamanders, which are generally a good indicator of a healthy forest.

The land was donated to the Nature Trust by Lynn Lewis. Her family originally lived on the Crammond Islands in the Bras d’Or and moved to the property on the mainland side in 1942, hauling much of their furniture and belongings by horse and sleigh over the frozen lake. While Lynn herself grew up in the Amherst area, the property was a consistent part of her life, from her regular childhood visits to the family still living there, to her own visits as an adult and eventual ownership of the property. She was struck by the fact that while the land at the top of North Mountain between West Bay and Marble Mountain was mostly wooded, the forest heading down the mountain’s inland side was disappearing. “I saw on the maps that the side facing the Bras d’Or lake still has woods. I would like that to remain intact, and that’s why I donated it,” Lynn says.

She continues, “I want the land to be protected for wildlife; there’s not many places for them to go anymore. And if you don’t have woods, you don’t have any water either. I feel a sense of relief and gladness that that property will be protected.”

The second property encompasses 405 acres along another lower border of the North Mountain Wilderness Area. It is also adjacent to the Nature Trust’s Lime Hill (Homestead) property, with seven additional Nature Trust properties all located within 4 kilometers.

Like others in this focal area, the property boasts forest stands of mature hardwoods, with varying mixtures of Sugar Maple, Yellow Birch, and American Beech. There has been some historical harvesting on the property, but regeneration is well underway where dense stands of Sugar Maple and Yellow Birch have re-established along with conifers. Almost 50% of the property has been mapped as having old-growth forest potential, and site visits have verified the presence of mature, very large Yellow Birch and Sugar Maple trees.

The Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre has recorded several rare and at-risk lichens on the property, including Shelter Shingle Lichen, Fringe Lichen, Tree Pelt Lichen, Shaggy Fringed Lichen, and Blue Felt Lichen (which is federally listed as Vulnerable, in addition to being named as Nova Scotia’s official lichen).

Keeping these 492 acres in our nature is a critical win for the rare species who make their home on the North Mountain Ridge, and for the strength and resilience of this important protected area.

This project was undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada and the Government of Nova Scotia through the Canada-Nova Scotia Nature Agreement.

The Canada-Nova Scotia Nature Agreement is a project of the Province of Nova Scotia. Working with conservation partners, the goal is to increase the amount of protected and conserved areas and advance an integrated approach to the protection, conservation and recovery of biodiversity, including habitat, species at risk and migratory birds, in the Province. The Canada-Nova Scotia Nature Agreement is funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada, through the Canada Nature Fund.

Our thanks as well for generous support from the Nova Scotia Crown Share Land Legacy Trust, a critical source of land securement funding for Nova Scotia’s land trusts.