To: Watershed News Media

Date: October 5, 2006

CRCA and partners to honour donors to Parrott's Bay

Loyalist Township - The Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority (CRCA) and Loyalist Township will honour donors on Oct. 12 at 2 p.m. who made possible the acquisition of key properties for conservation.

"There was a plan, 22 years ago in 1984, to acquire all the land fronting on Parrott's Bay," recalls CRCA General Manager Steve Knechtel. "This most recent acquisition, the Lewis/Bos property, completes the plan to acquire those lands."

A commemorative bronze plaque honouring the Parrott family that colonized the area will be unveiled. Significant donors include: Loyalist Township, the John M. Parrott Foundation, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, the Cataraqui Conservation Foundation, Kingston Field Naturalists, Lafarge Canada, NPIF Kingston Cogen Inc., Ducks Unlimited, the Michael Davies Foundation plus hundreds of others.

Mr. Knechtel also notes there have been significant contributions from the Loyalist Chapter of the National Turkey Federation. It adopted a trail, is making it accessible and is building a 12 by 20-foot viewing pavilion.

"These property acquisitions represent the best way to protect this unique ecosystem – through public ownership by the CRCA," says Mr. Knechtel.

Loyalist Township Reeve Clayton McEwen agrees: "My council and I are very pleased to be involved in the completion of the Parrott's Bay Conservation Area land assembly. This means that this very important ecological area will be protected for future generations and it is thanks to the generosity of the John M Parrott Foundation and the Nature Conservancy of Canada that the last privately held property on the bay was acquired."

Parrott's Bay Conservation Area now occupies 117 hectares of land with beautiful waterfront vistas. It fronts on Highway 33; its northern boundary is Taylor Kidd Boulevard. It includes 19 ha of water and five ha of provincially significant wetland.

"This property is a provincially significant coastal wetland and an area of natural and scientific interest (ANSI)," says Mr. Knechtel. "Parrott's Bay is important because it's home to provincially significant species."

For more information contact:
Michael Sykes, Communications and Marketing Assistant (613) 546-4228 ext. 243