Quebec Lodge teams up with Massawippi Conservation Trust to preserve forest
By William Crooks
Local Journalism Initiative
In a landmark agreement signed on April 24, the Quebec Lodge (QL) Foundation, in partnership with the Massawippi Conservation Trust and the Anglican Diocese of Quebec, secured the perpetual protection of roughly 50 acres of land east of Chemin du Lac.
This collaboration will see the Trust building and maintaining hiking trails on the property, with some areas set aside for future development by Quebec Lodge, including potential new “yurt villages” and an organic garden.
This effort aligns with QL’s long-term conservation goals and highlights the role of the Massawippi Conservation Trust and Foundation in preserving the natural beauty and ecological integrity of the Lake Massawippi watershed.
New QL Agreement
“The [QL] Foundation retains ownership,” explained QL Foundation Board Chair Ruth Sheeran to The Record May 17, “but we are working in partnership with the Massawippi Conservation Trust.” A servitude agreement was signed April 24 between the QL Foundation, the Massawippi Foundation, and the Anglican Diocese of Quebec, who donated the land to the QL Foundation in the first place.
The agreement pertains to the roughly 50 acres of land east of Chemin du Lac. The land is now “protected in perpetuity,” Sheeran said. The Massawippi Conservation Trust will build publicly-accessible, hand-made hiking trails through the property. It will also maintain them with a little help from QL staff.
Sheeran noted some areas of the land have been set aside for further QL development. QL currently operates one “yurt village” near its lodge, but has planned to eventually build as many as three villages, of three yurts each, in total. One new village may be placed on the now-protected land where QL used to run its “Pioneer” camps decades ago. Another area, a clearing hugging Chemin Taylor, may host an organic garden in the future.
