Community Update No. 4
Dear Perkins-sur-le-Lac neighbours,
Please find below an update on recent Conservation Perkins-sur-le-Lac activities.
Update on Lauzon Development Proposals
In August 2021, we learned from the municipality of Val-des-Monts that all of Lauzon's proposals in the Perkins-sur-le-lac area were approved for development at the "avant-projet" stage, meaning that Lauzon is now able to present more detailed proposals to the city. At this time, we do not have confirmation of Lauzon’s plans regarding which proposals will be prioritized. What we should all expect is that more Lauzon-approved lots would be available to reserve (pre-purchase) on La Liver Development Immobilier starting in Jan 2022.
Update on Partnerships
In our last update (#3), we told you about Institut des Territoires (IDT), an eco-program certified land trust, a charitable organization, and a small group of consultants who offer services to conservation groups and initiatives like ours. We are currently working with IDT and are planning a first meeting with Lauzon about our conservation efforts in the coming days.
Nature Conservancy Canada (NCC) - we are waiting for approval to walk Lauzon's land before we can organize a site visit on the land in our area with the NCC.
Charitable Status, Land Trust, Board of Directors
We have engaged a volunteer to initiate the process of establishing our own Charity, Land Trust, and Web site. With this in mind, we would like to ask the community 2 things:
Board of Directors: We will be establishing a more formal Board of Directors for our initiative and ideally aim to have 1 person on the Board from each lake. If you are interested in being your lake's representative, please let us know. We are, in particular, looking for representatives from: Lac Corrigan, Lac des Épinettes, Lac Louise, Lac Truite and Lac Barnes. The commitment would likely involve attending some meetings and helping with fundraising efforts in your area.
Web site: We will be looking for information about the conservation value of our area as well as photos. If you have either of these, please get in touch.
Val-des-Monts Examples: Conservation Manitou and Lac St. Germain
In Update #3 we told you about an example from Lac St. Germain where residents succeeded in purchasing land for conservation which was very similar to what we are trying to achieve. We have also recently learned about Conservation Manitou. Here is a brief (and inspiring) history of their organization:
January 2013: Founded as a Corporation
April 2013: Registered Charitable Status from CRA
May 2013: Qualified Recipient of ECCC Ecological-Gifts Program
Mission: Preserve & protect the ecosystem around Lake Manitou
Donations to date: $2.6 million in cash + $3.6 million in land
Land acquired to date: 1,391 acres valued at cost at $5.5 million
For more information, please visit the Conservation Manitou website.
Next Steps
Meeting with Lauzon (facilitated by IDT)
Establish Board of Directors
Collect information for and establish Web Site (and associated social media presence)
Open bank account, initiate the process for establishing a charity and land trust
Initiate fundraising efforts
We would like to reiterate our invitation to anyone on this list to join our working group. We would like to increase representation from as many lakes as possible in the Perkins-sur-le-Lac area. We could also use expertise in legal issues, accounting, ecological issues, and trail maintenance in our group. Thank you again for your interest and please feel free to reach out to us at conservation.perkins.sur.le.lac@gmail.com should you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Conservation Perkins-sur-le-Lac
Credit: Jean-François Riel