Ecological Gifts: Donor Profile
Steven Waring
A Conservation Easement in Caledon
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Canadian
Wildlife Service |
"No one feature of the landscape is any
more important than any other. They all are of equal importance,
equal validity. So when you take away a whole swath of landscape
for building, you remove a significant part of its ability
to regenerate itself. I hope that we don’t keep extravagantly
using land. We must realize that the landscape is worth keeping,
worth looking after. It is not just land waiting to be developed.
That was the old view of it."
Steven Waring |
There is something delightfully hidden
about this property nestled along a curve of the Credit River in
Caledon, Ontario. Perhaps it is the unassuming lane that slips away
from the sideroad, or the way the log cabin blends beautifully into
the woods. It is a site that offers respite and a
sense of natural continuity.
Steven Waring has a long connection with this place. "I started
renting here in 1955," he recalls. "I bought it in 1966,
the year before Expo, and I moved the cabin up here in '74."
In the 1950s, the 4.25-hectare property (about 10 acres) had fewer
trees and much of the area up to the house was mowed. Cattle had
watered directly from the river for many years, causing damage to
the banks. Under Mr. Waring’s restrained hand, the property
has developed into a complex ecosystem of forest, wetland and riparian
habitat. The forest floor is covered with leaves, branches, ferns,
fungi and mosses right up to the house. "I can’t imagine
me mowing now," he remarks.
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Canadian Wildlife
Service |
The property contains three major zones: a hardwood bush; old open
pasture; and a cedar bush-wetland. There is also about 300 metres
of natural riverbank. The wetland and hardwood forest are designated
Niagara Escarpment Natural Area. The small forest, once dominated
by elm trees, is now mainly maple and beech, mixed with a variety
of other native growth including eastern hemlock, black cherry,
basswood and Canada mayflower. The former pastureland hosts more
than 1,000 hand planted trees, mainly white ash and oak growing
up nicely under a cover of pine. Along the river’s edge, vegetation
and fallen logs provide refuge for the many trout and other fish
species present.
For qualified donations,
the Ecological Gifts Program allows donors to claim an enhanced
tax benefit from their donation of land or a conservation
easement, and also offers further protection to the donated
lands and assurance to donors. Recipients of ecological gifts
could be subject to a substantial federal tax (50 percent
of the value of the fair market value of the property) if
they transfer or otherwise dispose of such gifts, or make
changes in use, without prior written approval from the federal
Minister of the Environment. |
As one of many actions he has taken to care for this place, Mr.
Waring donated a conservation easement in 1999 through Environment
Canada’s Ecological Gifts Program to the Nature Conservancy
of Canada (NCC). This action protected the property in perpetuity,
while allowing him to retain title. The easement is a legal agreement,
registered on the title of the property, that dictates allowed and
restricted land-uses and activities. As the holder of the easement,
the NCC has a right and obligation to inspect the land and enforce
the agreed restrictions, if needed.
"As you drive north up Highway 10 to Caledon," Mr.
Waring observes, "you can see that land is being lost to development
and it seemed to me that equally there has to be a preservation
for landscape. So that was really the motivation."
He was inspired by the book The Perfection of the
Morning, a personal memoir of a woman’s discovery of
nature that guides her family to preserve an expanse of prairie
through careful stewardship and by donating their ranch to the NCC.
"That is really what got me going," he says. He also
received guidance from local conservation groups, the Credit Valley
Conservation Authority, and the NCC itself.
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Canadian Wildlife
Service |
The conservation easement remains on the title of the property,
even if it is sold. Considering the potential impact that restrictions
on land-use may have on the selling price, Mr. Waring is clear:
"The landscape is more important. I am nearly 82 and I shall
be gone quite soon. Most people long to get out of the city and
visit the country, and why do they? Because it is regenerating.
We feel better in the countryside, it regenerates us all."
To find out more about making an ecological gift or about conservation
easements, contact:
Ecological Gifts Program
Ontario Region
Canadian Wildlife Service
Environment Canada
4905 Dufferin Street
Downsview, ON M3H 5T4
Tel: 416-739-4286
E-mail: Ecogifts.Ontario@ec.gc.ca
Web site: www.on.ec.gc.ca/ecogifts
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