Community Update No. 5
Dear Perkins-sur-le-Lac neighbours,
It has been almost 1 year since our conservation initiative got off the ground, and we are happy to be able to report on the significant progress which we have made at this juncture.
First, we have been hard at work establishing ourselves as an organization. We are now a registered non-profit organization with a business number. We have opened a bank account and have applied for charitable status.
We would also like to take this opportunity to introduce to you our Board of Directors. Our goal is to have 1 representative from each of the 9 lakes in the PSLL region, and we are well on our way to achieving this. Our members are:
Executive:
• Justine Akman (President, Lac Rhéaume)
• Joel Petit (Vice-president, Lac Rhéaume)
• Bruce McMullen (Treasurer, Lac Rhéaume)
• Colette Labrecque-Riel (Secretary, Lac Rhéaume)
Area Directors:
• Ann Dale (Maskinongé)
• Cory Bialowas (Bataille)
• Isabelle Foley (Louise)
• Mike Murphy (Chevreuil)
• Paul Chedore (Corrigan)
Web Site Launch
We are delighted to announce the launch of our website and would like to invite you to visit it at: www.conservationperkins-sur-le-lac.ca
Meeting with Lauzon
Two of our Board of Directors members, Colette Labrecque-Riel and Joel Petit, met with a representative from Lauzon on November 26th, 2021, to discuss our interest in purchasing land in the region for conservation purposes. The meeting was facilitated by Institut des territoires (IDT)*.
The meeting was a friendly, introductory exchange and sharing of information. Lauzon is not considering any eco or conservation programs as part of its sales strategy. In terms of development, since receiving approval for the avant-projets, Lauzon has five years to actually proceed with registration (i.e. request cadastral plan). The only project registered at the moment is Red Oaks Estates (Les domaines aux Chênes Rouges) at the west end of Lac Bataille; these lots are currently for sale (for more information, please see: https://terrainslalievre.com/en/properties/red-oaks-estates/). The next project is likely to be Lac Louise. Prices – other than the Red Oaks Estates - have not formally been established.
Our group is pleased with how this introductory meeting unfolded and is looking forward to continuing discussions with the Lauzon Group. We believe that there is an opportunity for a strong collaboration, and should community members have particular inquiries, we would be happy to communicate these to the Lauzon Group on your behalf.
(*IDT is a charitable and conservation organization offering services in sustainable land use planning and developing innovative knowledge, whose objective is to create and maintain multifunctional protected areas; land trust with eco gift status).
Next Steps
We will be asking for permission to walk on Lauzon land with the Nature Conservancy of Canada who have taken an interest in our region as an area where there has been increased interest in protecting the land. This will help us to strengthen the case for conservation of the forests surrounding PSLL.
We will also be preparing to launch a fundraising campaign in anticipation of either receiving charitable status or finding an already established charity we can work through.
Finally, we would like to underscore that NO decisions have been made with regards to which properties we should focus our efforts on, and we are still collecting and analyzing information on all lands in the PSLL area. If there is a groundswell of support and investment for a particular area, then we are very open to pursuing it.
We would like to reiterate our invitation to anyone on this list to join our working group. We could still 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