Bay Islands in Play

Troop Island is an rare example of relatively untouched coastal habitats ranging from wetlands to features of old growth forest, sandy beaches and rocky shoreline. It has hosted generations of summer picnickers, swimmers and even cows grazing in a small summer pasture. Thanks to the generosity of previous owners it has been a welcome addition to the coastal community of St. Margaret’s Bay.

Today, the Troop pasturage has grown over. While a small tip of the island is still locally owned, the remainder of the uninhabited 26 acre tract has come up for sale. The present absentee owners have subdivided the island into six lots for easier development.

Each time a privately-owned island comes up for sale it creates a sense of anxiety for Bay residents, most of whom would prefer to keep them pristine. Many of the islands are used by boaters for picnics or anchorage and by tourists as focal points of natural beauty.

In all, there are over 30 islands in St. Margaret’s Bay, with Shut-In being the largest at 85 acres, followed by Southwest Island at 30 acres. Nine islands are owned or controlled by the NS Department of Natural Resources, and roughly 16 are in private hands. It is estimated that at least four of the major islands in private hands have development potential.

When  22.5 acre Micou’s Island was put on the market, the Bay community, led by the St. Margaret’s Bay Stewardship Association, rallied together to buy it and keep it from being developed.

“There was just too much concern by locals to walk away from this gem, “ says Stewardship Chair Ella McQuinn. “At first, the campaign to raise one million dollars seemed insurmountable. But then a lead donor came forward with $200,000, and the rest of the community along with HRM put up another $300,000, with DNR assisting with the remainder. It was a tremendous community effort.”

“We’ve been lucky in many cases,” says McQuinn, “when new or old owners simply want to keep the islands from being developed. This was recently the case with a Bay family who purchased two islands as a defensive measure.”

 In other cases, such as that of Frank George Island, one of the biggest in the Bay, recent  excavator activity connected with a development has cut through natural habitats and altered the landscape. 

“The Frank George sale and purchase caught us unawares, with no public policy in place to provide an alternative ,” says McQuinn. “Had we been ready with an island purchase plan, we might have been able to avert the ecological impact and exclusionary practices imposed by the present owner.”

The Stewardship Association recently launched an islands management endowment fund —Heart of the Bay Fund—to maintain the cottage on Micou’s and to steward the delicate ecology of Bay islands. But without a breather, the Association is now scrambling to find a way to keep Troop in community or public hands. The effort requires new capital and creative thinking.  The Mahone Islands Conservation Association is one example of how communities and government can work together to promote the public ownership of the islands of Mahone Bay.

“The quickest solution for Troop” says McQuinn is to put together a group of one or more buyers who are willing to buy the island to (1) hold it against development or (2) place it under some form of conservation easement for a considerable tax advantage.”

A recent example is the 11 hectare Little Gooseberry Island in Mahone Bay. The present owners, the Lindsay family, placed most of the island under a conservation easement with the Nova Scotia Nature Trust. Under the new Nova Scotia Conservation Tax Exemption, the family are able to continue to frequent the part of the island they’ve always used while protecting the remainder and gaining a tax credit.

Another plan, says McQuinn, is the federal Ecological Gifts Program. Under this program donors who gift their land to federal provincial or municipal governments or environmental charities get a dollar for dollar tax receipt for the value of the land applied against 100 percent of their net annual income. This applies to corporations and individuals. Any unused portion of the receipt may be carried forward for up to five years and no taxable capital gain.

“The Stewardship Association is now collecting all the options for (1) individuals or families who now own islands and are thinking of selling them and (2) individuals who alone or with group action would be willing to buy islands to protect them from development and (3) those who own islands and want to gift them or place them under covenant. We ask that they talk to us as a first action in preserving our Bay island heritage.”

The Stewardship Association has an interactive map of the bay’s islands that provides a virtual tour with pictures and stories. They are encouraging visitors to the site to add their own stories and learn more about these local treasures. Go to www.heartofthebay.ca and click on SMB Islands for a virtual tour.

For more information: Ella McQuinn- 823-1228