Goals and Objectives

• To assist in securing a perpetual easement on 2,300 acres of ecologically sensitive wetlands and associated uplands along the St. Croix River (a designated Heritage River) in New Brunswick.
• This project is part of the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan and is supported in part through US North American Wetland Conservation Act grant agreements.
• The conservation easement would keep the property and its shoreline intact.

Activities
The WHC funding will provide a security deposit pending resolution of tax treatment questions on the donation by a non-resident foreign donor.

Specific Habitat Products/Results to be Supported by WHC's Contributions
The easement property hosts a number of significant and diverse habitats (e.g. riparian meadows, tolerant hardwood stands, mixed woods, pure Hemlock stands, Red Maple swamp, Cedar swamp, Black Spruce bog, vascular plant and bryophyte species).

Benefits for Wildlife
In addition to rare flora, the easement property provides a home for nesting Bald eagles (a Species at Risk in New Brunswick) and breeding Black ducks. The wide variety of habitats on the property is conducive to both breeding and migration activity for wetland and upland avian species.

Relevance to Habitat Planning, Decision Making and/or Management
The management plan for the St. Croix River corridor developed by the St. Croix International Waterway Commission identifies the Spednic Lake/Upper St. Croix River corridor on either side of the Maine-New Brunswick border, including the subject property, as containing the prime concentration of the river’s rare plan and wildlife habitats, potential ecological reserves and backcountry canoeing waters.

Project Location
The 2,300 acre conservation easement property hosts a number of significant and diverse habitats including a quiet stretch of the St. Croix River which forms the boundary between New Brunswick and Maine. The site encompasses 1.5 lakes (King Brook Lake and half of Blackwater Lake), the entire meandering course of King Brook and 3.4 km of frontage on the St. Croix River. The subject property is the longest section of unprotected shoreline within the Spednic Lake/Upper St. Croix River corridor, on either side of the Maine-New Brunswick border. There are large blocks of Crown land surrounding most of the property, including up and down stream, fronting on the St. Croix. Across the river in Maine, the shoreline is protected by a forever-wild conservation easement.

Project Contact
For more information on this project, please contact Linda Stephenson, Regional Vice President - Atlantic, Nature Conservancy of Canada, or Thea Silver, National Director Conservation Programs and Support Services, Nature Conservancy of Canada.