This announcement is a real high point for the Nature Trust: We’re proud to announce the protection of Wilkie Sugar Loaf, the highest free-standing peak in Nova Scotia!

This 107-acre (43-hectare) property lies within the Nature Trust’s Aspy Bay focus area, where it joins three already protected lands comprising 358 acres of northeast Cape Breton coastline and gypsum karst cliffs and forest. This entire area lies within Unama’ki, one of the seven traditional districts of the Mi’kmaq. “Unama’ki” loosely translates to “Land of Fog” and encompasses all of what is also known as Cape Breton Island. The northwestern boundary of the new property adjoins Cape Breton’s largest wilderness area, the Polletts Cove – Aspy Fault Wilderness Area, further extending and strengthening this area as a contiguous, undisturbed landscape.

Although not technically the highest place in the province, at 411 meters (1,351 feet) the property holds Nova Scotia’s highest free-standing peak, separated from the rest of the North Mountain range along the Aspy Fault by the deep ravines cut by Wilkie Brook and Polly Brook. The Mi’kmaq call this area ktitnuk, meaning “highest mountain,” and some sources suggest that they refer to the peak itself squa-dichk, meaning “the highest point.”
In addition to its stunning views, the mountain hosts ideal and mapped critical habitat for Bicknell’s Thrush, a federally Threatened species strongly associated with this high-elevation spruce and fir forest habitat.

The property holds intact old growth forest stands and safeguards habitat for several other species of conservation concern, including American Marten and Canada Lynx. These wide-ranging mammals depend on intact, contiguous forest cover like that found in abundance on the property. Its connection to other conservation lands gives these endangered species a much bigger protected corridor to travel, hunt, breed, and rest safely.

The land’s steep terrain and limited access mean that there are likely many other species making use of the habitats on the property we simply have not had the opportunity to observe. Given that the land is relatively undisturbed by human development or habitat alteration, it is likely that it supports many of the same rare and sensitive species that have been documented on adjacent lands, like Pine Grosbeak, Boreal Chickadee, and Evening Grosbeak. Protecting this land is an important win for the conservation of at-risk wildlife in Unama’ki.

The land has been protected thanks to a generous donation by John Newton. John’s family began camping on the Wilkie Sugar Loaf campground in the early 1960s and fell in love with the land. His father purchased the property when it came up for sale in the mid-1960s and turned a small cabin on the land into the family’s lasting summer home. John and his wife, Janice, continue to spend several months there every year. But they have no immediate family interested in carrying on the tradition, and John wanted for the local community to continue to be able to enjoy the property, as they always had. “It seemed like a wonderful thing to do to make sure that most of the property would stay the way it always was,” he explained. “Rather than trying to sell it, it made a lot of sense to preserve it in perpetuity.” While John and Janice will keep a small area surrounding their cabin, they will be able to look across the road up the mountain and know that their generous gift has made a real difference for the future of Nova Scotia’s nature. Read more about John’s story.

The Nature Trust is proud to protect this land in partnership with American Friends of Canadian Conservation, an entity created to facilitate cross-border conservation of land owned by U.S. taxpayers.

This project was made possible by the Waltons Trust.

In addition to the generosity of land donors, saving Nova Scotia’s most incredible wild nature depends on the ongoing support of passionate individuals coming together to protect tomorrow, today. Thanks to you, Wilkie Sugar Loaf and other spectacular and at-risk wild places will remain in our nature, forever. You can support this work with a gift today. A gift of any size makes a real difference.