Register Conservation Easements on the title to the Crowe Bridge Conservation Area

Concerned Residents and Others:

Please help us save Crowe Bridge Conservation Area by signing our petition to:
Register Conservation Easements on the title to the Crowe Bridge Conservation Area to stop any further development of the Conservation Area.

Our mission is to preserve an important Natural Historical Site on the Crowe River and to uphold the conservation wishes of the original owners by registering conservation easements on the title to the Crowe Bridge Conservation Area.

Conservation Easements

A conservation easement is a restriction registered on the title to a property. It limits certain activities on the land in perpetuity. Conservation easements are an important tool used to support the long-term stewardship and protection of natural heritage features and agricultural uses on private property.

The easement is held by a conservation body such as a government agency or land trust. It enables the agency or land trust to monitor and enforce the restrictions attached to the property. The conditions set out in the easement remain in place if the property is sold or passed to the owners heirs.
Conservation easements are legally binding agreements between the landowners and the easement holders. However, there is a public interest in maintaining these easements, because they help secure lands that have public significance.

1. prohibit development/building unless for educational/ecological concerns
2. prohibit severance of the property
3. prohibit logging of trees
4. prohibit extraction of soil, gravel and rocks
5. prohibit altering of the shoreline
6. prohibit water extraction

For more information please visit our website at www.crowebridgeconservationarea.com

Please also consider making your email address available to the author of this petition so we can inform you of updates.

The following letter with the signed petition will be sent to the Minister of Natural Resources and to

Cc: Tim Pidduck, General Manager, Crowe Valley Conservation Area
Cc: Hector Macmillan, Mayor, Trent Hills
Cc: CVCA Board of Directors






To the Honorable David Ramsey, Minister of Natural Resources,

We the undersigned would like to petition the MNR and the CVCA to implement conservation easements on title to the Crowe Bridge Conservation Area (CBCA). The CBCA is privately owned by the Crowe Valley Conservation Authority (CVCA) and can be sold to anyone, including a developer. This area is under considerable threat for development.

The CBCA is twice listed in the Natural Heritage Information Center at the Ministry of Natural Resources as an Earth Science and Life Science site. The CBCA is an Ecologically Significant Area and has Areas of Natural and Scientific InterestsBat Hibernaculums, Crawl Caves, Geological Unconformities, Pre Cambrian Rock, Alvar and Fossils. The CBCA is home to many species of flora & fauna including Rare Bats, the Mink, Southern Blue Flag Iris, Red Shouldered Hawk, Osprey and Blue Heron.

The CBCA was owned for decades by the Pethericks, a local prominent family, and was used to pasture cattle and at the same time was a very popular local swimming area. In 1962 the Ontario government started the process to buy the land. The property has a weir dam across the Crowe River that the CVCA was using to measure water levels and flow. The family did not want to sell the land and fought for 3 years to keep their land. Eventually, under threat of expropriation from The Crowe Valley Conservation Authority, the family reluctantly sold the 26 acres for an insignificant amount. The CVCA purchased the land from Ernest, Annie and Thomas Petherick in 1965 for $3000.00 with the understanding it would be maintained by the CVCA so the public would benefit from the privileges of camping and swimming for many years to come. Lyle Petherick the surviving grandson of Ernest & Annie Petherick has stated publicly my grandfather was led to believe that it was going to be there in perpetuity. All of a sudden now it isnt the case.

Since 1965 the CVCA has operated the Crowe Bridge Conservation Area (CBCA) as a public recreation Park. The weir dam which creates a wonderful swimming area and dozens of wilderness campsites has been used every year by people from all over Ontario. Over the years the land has been extensively developed for public recreation by the CVCA and now has several wide gravel roads, gravel walking trails, several parking lots, a wilderness mini putt, full service washrooms, a convenience store and comfort stations. This Park is a popular tourist destination and important recreation area for Trent Hills.

In the fall of 2006 due to years of financial difficulties operating the Park, the CVCA Board of Directors voted to deem the Crowe Bridge Conservation Area as surplus land and sell it. On Feb 15, 2007, due to public pressure, the CVCA executive board reversed their decision to sell the Park. The Park is now closed and the CVCA is working with the community to consider other options rather than sell the land. One option is to remove the public recreation facilities and/or weir dam and allow the Park to be unmanaged and go fallow, another is to lease the Park to a private operator, and another option is to sell the land to the Municipality of Trent Hills. Any of these options can still result in the Park being further developed, severed and/or sold in the future. The full board of directors will be considering the 2008 CVCA budget in the fall of 2007. Without a revenue neutral plan in place for the Park the future of the Park will be uncertain. We are running out of time.

The CBCA is privately owned by the CVCA, is deemed surplus land and can be sold by the CVCA to anyone, including the municipality of Trent Hills. The municipality of Trent Hills can then do whatever they want with the Conservation Area, including developing the land

Our concern is that without conservation easements this land will always be under threat for development. Any further development of the land should be met with strict guidelines.

Please help us save the Crowe Bridge Conservation Area from development and register conservation easements on title.

We are petitioning that you, the Minister of Natural Resources and the CVCA Board of Directors, save the Crowe Bridge Conservation Area by:
- stopping any development of the Park and
- register Conservation Easements on title.