Couple gives St. Croix land for easement 2,313 acres in New Brunswick to be permanently preserved

ST. STEPHEN, New Brunswick – In what is being described as one of the largest ecological gifts of its kind in Canada, an Ohio couple has donated a 2,313-acre conservation easement on their riverfront land north of this river community.

The donation is valued at more than $500,000.

The land, which includes 2.2 miles of frontage on the St. Croix River, 1 1/2 lakes and large tracts of forest and wetland, is now permanently protected under the easement and will never be subdivided or developed, a press release from the St. Croix International Waterway Commission said Wednesday.

The land is about 13 miles north of Calais and across the river in New Brunswick.

The St. Croix River serves as a boundary between Canada and the United States.

“King Brook, a meandering stream that winds through peat land for more than a mile before entering the St. Croix, is also preserved in the arrangement,” the press release said.

The Orser family came up with the idea in 1999.

“This will happen,” Peter Orser said when the family reflected on how the land legacy they inherited from Carol Orser’s father, George P. MacNichol, would be preserved.

From the beginning, the Orsers favored an easement, a legal agreement that would restrict future uses but retain private ownership. “But the property, a jumble of 24 lots each having separate title, was hardly conducive to a large-scale conservation plan,” the press release said.

That’s when a unique partnership between two groups developed – the Nature Trust of New Brunswick and the St. Croix International Waterway Commission in St. Stephen.

The Nature Trust negotiated the terms of the easement and developed the legal agreement, forest management plan and baseline report.

The Waterway Commission, a group with representation from both sides of the international border, provided the cross-border assistance in the easement’s completion and tax recognition.

“Both groups brought a strong commitment to the Orsers’ vision and to the remarkable resources that would be protected, including a number of rare plants, significant botanical habitats and undeveloped shoreline on the St. Croix, a river known internationally for its backcountry experience,” the press release said.

Each year, the Orsers have summered at the family compound. “For five generations, starting in 1910, our family has used, loved and cared for this land,” Carol Orser said in the press release. “As time and generations move on what better way to protect the river and the land alongside it than by an easement through the Nature Trust of New Brunswick.”

The two agencies praised the Orsers. “Their gift closes one of the final gaps in a long-term effort to preserve this boundary waterway’s most pristine areas,” Don Doherty, co-chairman of the waterway commission said.

“This project is almost the last piece of the puzzle,” Margo Sheppard of the Nature Trust added.

She was referring to the number of initiatives that since 1992 have seen more than 170 miles of wilderness frontage secured by governments and land trusts on the facing Maine and New Brunswick shores of the St. Croix River.

“This easement shows, yet again, how major conservation goals can be achieved when many interests work together,” said Lee Sochasky, executive director of the waterway commission.

The Maine-New Brunswick management plan for the St. Croix boundary waters, developed by the waterway commission in 1991, identified preservation of the undeveloped shores of Spednic Lake and upper St. Croix River as a priority, the press release said.

After 15 years of collaborative effort, almost 95 percent of this area is now under permanent protection for its natural and backcountry recreation values.