Posted at 5:00 a.m.
“I am simply a housewife and a grandmother. »
Margot Heyerhoff is humble. Too humble.
This grandma managed the feat of convincing wealthy landowners to sell – or outright donate – their sprawling land to an ecological conservation trust, thereby curbing the momentum of real estate developers who have their eye on a corner of paradise.
An area of 1200 acres (nearly 485 hectares), which represents 900 American football fields, has been protected so far. And the Massawippi Foundation, of which she is the president – as well as the trust of the same name – does not intend to stop there.
“If I had known how much work it involved, I’m not sure I would have gotten into it,” she says before bursting out laughing.
“It’s really hard, long-term work,” she adds more seriously.
The 69-year-old grandma receives us in the barn converted into an artist’s studio behind her home. From his farm located a handful of kilometers from the village of North Hatley, in the Eastern Townships, there is a magnificent view of the valley of Lake Massawippi.
On a wall of the workshop, the great lady with immaculate white hair pinned a humorous postcard on which we can see a woman exclaiming with a smile: “Remind me not to volunteer anymore. »
It is that certain negotiations with the owners or sometimes their heirs have stretched for months, even years.
Mme Heyerhoff pulls out a large laminated map of private properties bordering the lake. Each red area represents land that is now protected.
First there was this woman from New York – who is 100 years old today – who offered a small lot of five and a half acres located very close to the lake. Then three neighbors of the American granted easements to protect more than 220 additional acres. The movement was launched.
“The owner of this one was a real estate developer,” she says, pointing to 57 acres of land with lake access. “He was hard to convince. He wasn’t going to give us a present,” she said, still with a smile in her voice.
This promoter had decided that he was too old to subdivide the land, but he was in a hurry to sell it. “Find $1.2 million in six months – mortgage free – and it’s yours,” he told Ms.me Heyerhoff.
It was a race against time to collect the sum. “I called a lot of friends,” she recalls, adding that other allies and “precious” volunteers have been working alongside her since the start of the project.
“I would never have succeeded in this alone,” she insists (humble, it was said).
The grandmother is tenacious and persuasive. To a landlord who wanted to sell an estate — including a house, lakeside boathouse, and huge wooded lot — to the highest bidder, she suggested making three sales instead of one.
“It was a win-win,” she says. One person bought the house, another the boathouse and the Trust got hold of part of the land to keep it. In the end, the seller probably made as much if not more money. »
On the land in the forest acquired near Saint-Catherine-de-Hatley, hiking trails have been developed (more than 8 km so far). Another trail (2.5 km) was made in a protected park in North Hatley. A third will be built in Stanstead-Est at Burrough Falls.
The Foundation has hired a trail designer of Cree origin. ” He’s a genius ! exclaims M.me Heyerhoff, he creates sustainable trails with the least possible disturbance to flora and fauna. »
During the pandemic, these trails have been taken over. “Our trails have been beneficial for the mental health and the physical health of the population,” she observes.
Initially, the municipalities – five around the lake – viewed the Fiducie project with skepticism, she says, since it would deprive them of potential property taxes.
But in 11 years, mentalities have evolved, note Mme Heyerhoff.
The municipalities realized that this was not a loss, but rather a gift for their population and that it added to the cachet of the Townships.
Margot Heyerhof
A public beach developed in 2020 by the Foundation is now accessible by canoe or on foot. This project was of capital importance since public access to the lake is very rare in the area, she explains.
“We protect what we love”
So how did this “housewife” – and painter, let’s underline it even if it bothers her – came to knock on the doors of wealthy landowners and other promoters to convince them to protect nature?
“We protect what we love,” she replies, quoting oceanographer Jacques Cousteau.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Margot Heyerhoff, who grew up in Toronto, fell in love with the Eastern Townships during her teenage years.
Mme Heyerhoff was born in Montreal and raised in Toronto. As a teenager, his parents sent him to a boarding school in Compton, in the Eastern Townships. This is the beginning of his love affair with the region. Then, she studied at Bishop’s University where she would return to work later. “For me, it’s the most beautiful place in the world. »
In 2000, she and her husband were living in Toronto with their two boys. She is visiting the region when she sees this pretty organic farm on a countryside row in the Canton of Hatley.
The couple bought it to have a pied-à-terre in their favorite region. Two years later, her husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and decided to retire. The family leaves Toronto to settle on the farm.
sense of urgency
For 11 years, Mr.me Heyerhoff and his accomplices are driven by a sense of urgency. “Many of the owners are elderly people. You have to convince them before they die because afterwards it is often too late; we lose ground. It is sold by the heirs to the highest bidder. »
The lands on the western side of the lake have a high ecological value. The Foundation has also teamed up with researchers from the Université de Sherbrooke, in addition to being a member of the Corridor appalachien organization, to conduct research on the fauna and flora there.
Already, several species at risk in Canada, including birds – the eastern piou – and certain stream salamanders (the northern dusky and the purple), have been listed there.
Starting in the fall, the Foundation will offer eight elementary schools in the area three annual visits to the trails to allow young people to connect with nature. “Children will see the forest in three different seasons,” she marvels.
People from the surrounding communities have to thank you when they pass you? we ask M.me Heyerhoff. “They’re changing sidewalks,” she said, laughing again. They know I’m going to ask them for donations. »
One of her grandchildren, a 5-year-old boy with the same piercing blue eyes, was visiting her grandmother as she passed The Press.
Several times during the interview, she casts affectionate glances at him as he draws on the floor with chalk. It’s a bit – a lot – for her generation and the following ones that she devotes all her time to this cause.
“I feel the climate emergency,” says the grandmother. I can’t save the world, but I can act in my environment hoping that others will act in theirs. »