Articles
Island to be Forever Wild
(Portions of this article first appeared in Envirobook 2007, published by Environment Haliburton and the Haliburton Highlands Stewardship Council, and in the newsletter of the Ontario Land Trust Alliance.)
For generations now, cottagers have been paddling and rowing and swimming the thousand feet from the north shore of Kennisis Lake to picnic and camp on an island that will be forever Norah’s.
Now its natural state is to be preserved forever by the Haliburton Highlands Land Trust, thanks to the generosity of its owner, Bruce Carruthers, and of Kennisis cottagers who have embraced its special wildness.
To visitors, Haliburton County’s landscape may appear to be natural, but much of it has been modified by human activities. Less than a fifth of the county’s woodlands have never been logged and even most old growth is vulnerable to invasive plant species.
The island, which is not far from Algonquin Park, is a rare unspoiled remnant of the county’s natural heritage. Only 22 acres and well away from the mainland, it escaped the attention of loggers, and the water that surrounds it kept away exotic plants.
In a report prepared in connection with the donation, Trent University biology professor Brent Wootton described the island as the "last vestige of intact representative wilderness" on Kennisis.
Formal transfer of title to the island took place on March 23, the second anniversary of the incorporation of the Land Trust.
Carruthers donated the island to the Trust to honour Norah, his late wife. Members of the Kennisis Lake Cottage Owners’ Association (KLCOA) are contributing to an endowment fund that will pay for maintaining the island in perpetuity.
The Trust will share management of the island with the KLCOA through the Norah’s Island Management Committee, which has three representatives from each group.
Subject to provincial approval, the property is to be known as Norah’s Island as it was informally for the 32 years the Carruthers owned it. Norah resisted developer’s blandishments and left it as she found it.
An appreciation of what the Carruthers had done to keep their island wild persuaded the KLCOA to pitch in financially.
"The lake has seen a great deal of development over the years and KCLOA recognizes the need to maintain undeveloped wilderness areas," Jeff Pinkney, chair of the cottagers’ lands committee, said in an e-mail interview.
Pinkney’s connection to the island goes back to his boyhood. "My father, Morley Pinkney, is a wild-flower photographer; my first visits were to hunt for wild flowers and wild orchids.
"Our discoveries included Pipsissewa, Round-Leaved Orchis and Pale Corydalis. The island became a favourite destination for boyhood adventures. Later I would share its undisturbed magic with my own daughters.
"Each of the families that has donated to the Norah’s Island Kennisis Lake Fund has its own story and its own set of reasons for being so excited about ... this partnership."
Last Updated: Jun 29 2010 12:10:31 am.
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Photo: Lyn Winans
Did You Know...
Norah’s Island was donated by Bruce Carruthers to the Haliburton Highlands Land Trust to honour the memory of his late wife. The Carruthers owned the island for 32 years. Find out more about Norah’s Island.
