June 7, 2024

From left: Sally McKay, Don McKay, RRCA Chair and South Stormont Mayor, Bryan McGillis, RRCA Board Member and South Glengarry Deputy Mayor, Martin Lang, RRCA Board Member and South Glengarry Mayor, Lachlan McDonald, and RRCA General Manager, Richard Pilon

The McKay family have established a natural legacy in South Glengarry through an 89-acre land donation to the Raisin Region Conservation Authority (RRCA). Located near Williamstown, the property features a diverse range of landscapes, including old forests and significant wetlands, and is home to a variety of wildlife and several species-at-risk.

“This land has been in the care and possession of the McKay family for decades. It is a privilege and an honour for the RRCA to now be entrusted with the perpetual preservation and maintenance of this environmentally significant land,” says Bryan McGillis, Chair of the RRCA’s Board of Directors.

Along with adjacent publicly owned land, the McKay property helps form a forest block identified as a Regional Core and Corridor in the 2021 Natural Heritage System for Prescott-Russell and Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.

“We thank the McKays for their foresight to ensure the property keeps providing its wide range of ecological services for years to come through this donation to the RRCA,” says South Glengarry Mayor and RRCA Board Member, Lachlan McDonald. “We also thank them for their many years stewarding this beautiful land and crucial habitat to a long list of animal and plant species.”

The McKay property also has the distinction of being the first land donation to the RRCA made through Canada’s Ecological Gifts Program, which helps provide a way for Canadians with ecologically sensitive land to protect nature and leave a legacy for future generations by donating land to a qualified recipient, such as the RRCA, to ensure the land’s biodiversity and environmental heritage are conserved in perpetuity.

“Our family holds so many wonderful memories of time spent connecting with nature on this land, and so it brings us great comfort to know it will now be permanently protected by the RRCA,” says property donor Don McKay. “We would certainly encourage other owners of environmentally significant property to consider leaving a natural legacy through a land donation to the RRCA.”

The donors of the 89-acre property also include Kitty Lewis, Rob McKay, and Ian McKay.  

The RRCA currently owns, manages, and protects 1,985 acres of land to strengthen the region’s forest cover, enhance resilience to natural hazards such as flooding and erosion, preserve sensitive habitat, and provide recreation and eco-tourism opportunities.

The Ecological Gifts Program is administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada in cooperation with dozens of partners, including other federal departments, provincial and municipal governments, and environmental organizations.

For more information visit rrca.on.ca or contact (613) 938-3611 ext. 223 or Lisa.VanDeLigt@rrca.on.ca.