The Nature Conservancy of Canada is looking to create a reserve near Miramichi after some private landowners expressed an interest in selling, but it’s an expensive endeavour.
All in all the group would need to raise a million dollars to make it happen.
Sharon Wells and her family have been fishing in the area for four generations. She says her favourite fishing spot is along the Bartholomew River near Miramichi.
“It’s awesome in all seasons,” says Wells. “A winding river, it’s great to go down that pulling a canoe with a nine foot fishing rod with lots of flies.”
Wells is on board with the group which is hoping to create a huge reserve on the river to keep it clean for generations to come.
Paula Noel with The Nature Conservancy of Canada says it’s a huge area and that’s one reason it’s an expensive undertaking.
“It’s 2,200 acres of land on the Bartholomew River,” she says. “It’s a huge forested area with wetlands and riverfront.”
The group hope to raise the million dollars needed for the project. It expects that money will cover the purchase of the land as well as put funds into an endowment so that the group is able to manage the lands into the future.
The group manages more than 30 projects in New Brunswick, keeping the areas free from development and exploitation.
The president of the Miramichi Salmon Association is also on board.
“This piece of land actually has some of the best salmon pools in the whole watershed,” he says.
The conservancy is a private, non-profit organization that buys or acquires land to protect natural areas across the country.
“We need to protect it,” says Wells. “Instead of [allowing] all the logging and clearcutting that is happening along many of the rivers in New Brunswick.”
The conservancy says that the current landowners have been extremely accommodating and are working with the group to help them reach their goal. They have given them until November to raise the funds.
With files from CTV Atlantic's David Bell
