As you may recall from our April newsletter, the Haliburton Highlands Land Trust nominated the Milburn Kendrick Area of Interest for consideration by the Province of Ontario as a candidate for becoming a Conservation Reserve . We were in the process of presenting to the Haliburton County Council and general public at a March 27 meeting. It was cancelled just a few minutes into our presentation due to a medical emergency. We expected it to be rescheduled.
Unfortunately, a few weeks later, the Provincial Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks informed us they had decided not to proceed with the process to consider the Millburn Kendrick Area of Interest for designation as a Conservation Reserve. No reasons were given. This decision was made prior to the public, stakeholders and Indigenous groups having a chance to provide input through consultation with the provincial government.
The Millburn Kendrick Area of Interest is an ecologically sensitive area with exceptionally high biodiversity. It is home to 27 provincially significant species, 26 species recognized as rare and 32 species at risk. A Conservation Reserve designation would have afforded far greater protection to this Crown Land, particularly by preventing logging, mining and aggregate extraction.
The HHLT board continues to focus on other priorities, including clearing the trails of ice storm debris at Dahl Forest, running a busy summer of Discovery Days events, hosting our second Bioblitz at Barnum Creek Nature Reserve and acquiring more private property to add to our portfolio.