American Friends of Canadian Conservation

Tom Wilcox, a board member of the Massawippi Foundation and a Trustee of the Massawippi Conservation Trust, has most recently forged a formal relationship with US organization American Friends of Canadian Conservation (AF of CC), a relationship that promises to bring significant American resources to conservation organizations across Canada.  Mr. Wilcox serves as the Canadian-based representative for that organization.
American Friends of Canadian Conservation is a US charity that partners with Canadian conservation organizations and American owners of environmentally and ecologically significant lands to protect Canada’s lands. It helps to preserve Canada’s natural areas, scenic landscapes, sensitive watersheds, recreation resources, important habitat for fish, birds and wildlife, and the places that hold generations of family memories.
AF of CC was created to remove the tax and legal barriers that prevented US taxpayers from permanently protecting their Canadian natural lands. Gifts of land and conservation easements to American Friends are charitable donations in the US and effectively not subject to Canadian capital gains

The border between Canada and the United States may be the world’s longest international border but it may also be the friendliest, with long-standing positive relationships between the residents of both countries. Quebec’s Eastern Townships is one region where that close connection is very apparent. Just 30 minutes or 36 km from the Vermont border, the charming town of North Hatley, Quebec traces its origins all the way back to 1792 when American Captain Ebenezer Hovey encountered Lake Massawippi during his explorations of the area. Of course, the first people to discover Lake Massawippi would have been the Abenaki First Nation who chose to name the 15-square-km lake Massawippi, a word meaning “abundance of clear water.”

Whether hundreds of years ago or today, there seems to be firm agreement that the landscape of the Massawippi area possesses great ecological and aesthetic value. Two organizations have been successful in their ongoing efforts to conserve land and the environment in the area.

In 1968, citizens came together to form what is now known as Blue Massawippi, an organization dedicated to protecting the ecological health of the Massawippi watershed area through research and education. And in 2010-2011, a group of concerned local residents established the Massawippi Foundation (FMF) and the Massawippi Conservation Trust (MCT), to facilitate fundraising for ongoing protection of the ecological integrity of the Lake and watershed area. While the Foundation supports activities that benefit the people of the region, the purpose of the Trust is to conserve the natural state of the land adjacent to Lake Massawippi and its tributaries, and to provide stewardship services for that land in perpetuity.
Currently the work of the Massawippi Conservation Trust is focused on undeveloped land on the west slopes of Lake Massawippi, stretching over six kilometers and rising up to the high ridge. Experts have noted the value of the old growth forest and a wide variety of rare or threatened flora and fauna on these lands. Tom Wilcox is a one of the founders of the Trust – his family has been escaping summers in the US and spending time in the Massawippi area for five generations.

“My great grandmother and grandfather came in 1890, making my brother’s grandchildren the sixth generation,” says Wilcox. “As development pressure on the ecologically sensitive lands increased, we saw an opportunity to create a means to protect the valuable resource.” The Massawippi Conservation Trust employs several methods to conserve land including: acquiring land through purchase or donation; establishing easements or servitudes; helping landowners understand the ecological and tax benefits of limiting the types of activities permitted; and helping landowners understand the effect of over-development on the overall well-being of the Massawippi watershed. Wilcox has had many proud moments over the past ten years during which time the Trust has raised more than $5,000,000.
“In addition to the cash, we have received donated properties and servitudes worth more than $3,000,000. Thanks to our donors and partners, we have become a leading voice for ecological health and sustainability,” said Patterson Webster, Chair of the Massawippi Foundation.

In June 2017, the community celebrated the dedication of the Massawippi Trail. Representatives from First Nations, English and French-speaking residents, families and elected officials all came together to officially open the trail system providing public access to what was once private property. In recognition of the original Abenaki people whose territory included this land, Métis Paul Carignan and his wife Sylvia Bertolini sang an Anishinaabe Sun Song. “The work we do with the Trust not only ensures land conservation in perpetuity, it provides access for families to appreciate and learn about nature – which over the past 18 months we have come to understand is even more essential to the well-being of our community and the planet.”

Both The Massawippi Conservation Trust and Blue Massawippi are now grantees of American Friends of Canadian Conservation, US taxpayers can support their work with a gift that is tax deductible in the US!
“We are very grateful to American Friends,” said Wilcox. “I would advise any American who might be considering the future of their property in Canada to investigate American Friends. With the tax benefits available, you can ‘do well, by doing good’.”

Annual Report 2019-2020
Conserve Canada