The Backlands Coalition and the Nova Scotia Nature Trust hosted an event at the Purcell’s Cove Social Club recently to celebrate and thank four families who had donated their lands in the Backlands to the Nova Scotia Nature Trust (NSNT.) Writes Cathy Vaughan in the Chebucto News for April 2023.
The Longard, Napier, Field, and Duggan families gifted their lands, over the past several years, to add to NSNT’s properties in the Backlands. The families want to protect the unique ecosystems, important wildlife corridors, distinctive land formations and the globally rare Jack Pine-Broom Crowberry communities. They feel it is important to provide permanent access to these stunningly beautiful properties in the Spryfield area.
Commented Councillor Patty Cuttell of the Sambro Loop – Prospect Road, District 11, in which the Backlands are situated:
Their gift shows appreciation for the environment, including the wildlife that depends on it. It shows personal selflessness by allowing others to access and enjoy this land around us. And it shows their belief in the future and the generations to come by ensuring they too have places that have been kept natural and wild for them.
Indeed, these are wonderful gifts. Thanks Backlands Families, Thanks NSNT, and Thanks Cathy Vaughan for writing about it.
Read more in the Chebucto News for April 2023.
Also in that issue: Owl Prowl – the Great Canadian backyard bird count, and Rugged Backlands inspire dramatic art, both by Cathy Vaughan.
As recounted in Owl Prowl, Backland birders’ 3 a.m. excursionsin February were rewarded with sounds of a Barred Owl, Great Horned Owl and a Saw Whet Owl.
The ‘Art Story’ features the work of Geoffrey Grantham, and “his powerful and complex paintings which capture the uniqueness of Nova Scotia.” Says Geoffrey:
I’ve been painting in the Backlands for 19 years and consider the large body of work that I’ve created as a result to be my greatest accomplishment. There’s a special feeling in the barrens. The Backlands are a spiritual and special place…It is my hope that the area will be conserved as much as possible and that future generations will be able to enjoy this wonderful urban wilderness.
Surely these three articles illustrate that many people share Geoffrey’s love and sense of the Backlands.
UPDATE: Also view: A piece of history protected in Purcells Cove Backlands in NS Nature Trust Blog, Mar 31, 2023. “Nestled in the Purcells Cove Backlands lies a newly secured 5.5-acre property that provides important protection for sensitive ecosystems as well as opportunities for public access and recreational activities. Beyond that, this particular property possesses rich cultural and historical significance, as the previous owner’s family lineage connects to the original Purcell family – the area’s namesake. The Nature Trust acquired the property from Bary and Marlene Duggan, a couple with a long family history attached to this land…”