The St. Clair Region Conservation Authority (SCRCA) is welcoming new land to its protected property list.
The Bradshaw Conservation Lands, along McCallum Line south of Brigden, will be protected in perpetuity thanks to a generous partial donation.
General Manager Ken Phillips said the natural environment will be maintained and research will be done to help grow the area over time.
"The St. Clair Conservation Foundation, in conjunction with the Thames Talbot Land Trust (TTLT), was presented with an opportunity to purchase just under 42 hectares (103 acres) of property in St. Clair Township, on the western boundary of Lambton County," said Phillips.
He said the benefit, and excitement for them, was that the property boasts about 31 hectares of natural area.
"Including forest, meadow, wetlands, a hawthorn thicket and still has just under 10 acres of agricultural land," said Phillips. "But, to get that much land that's still in very much a natural state in this area... is very rare. So, we were very excited about the opportunity."
Notably, the provincially rare Big Shellbark Hickory can be found on the landscape, as well as the Northern Oak Hairstreak Butterfly and Red-headed Woodpecker.
"There's a lot of different habitats, for numerous terrestrial and aquatic species on the property, and there are some rare species and species at risk there. So, the fact that the foundation was able to acquire it... was just a big benefit for us," Phillips said.
The public will not have access to the property.
"It's designed to just be a natural features property. So, while there will be some signage along the roadway, we would generally dissuade the public from using it. Just because the more public use of a property, the environmental integrity of it goes down," Phillips said.
The Bradshaw Conservation Lands join a larger complex of adjacent natural areas already protected by SCRCA along Black Creek.
TTLT said the opportunity to expand the protected area within this corridor is a significant contribution to biodiversity protection in the Carolinian Zone.
