Bill Balkwill and Jack Balkwill and the Canada South Land Trust have been working together in partner- ship for three years to complete the necessary Conserva- tion Agreement document along with the accompanying Baseline Documentation Report. Finally, in late March 2007, the Conservation Agreement and the Baseline Documentation Report were proof read for a final time. The signing process began with Bill Balkwill and Jack Balkwill signing each document, then Canada South Land Trust principals Tom Hurst and Betty Learmouth sign- ing the documents. On April 13, 2007, the Conservation Agreement was electronically registered on the Balkwill Lands title.
The Conservation Agreeement states in its pre- amble ... the Owners and the Land Trust intend to con- serve the woodland, wildlife habitat and natural features of the Lands and to preserve the aesthetic and scenic character of the Lands, and to prevent exploitation of the Lands and wildlife for commercial, industrial or develop- ment purposes.
In order to preserve the natural features of the Balkwill Lands certain negative restrictions have been selected to be a part of the Conservation Agreement. If these negative restrictions are upheld, then the Lands are protected.
Fifteen negative restrictions have been carefully chosen which will protect the natural features of the Lands and will allow the woodland to become a mature forest with a diversity of tree species. The negative restrictions apply to the current owners and to all subse- quent owners of the Lands.
The Baseline Documentation Report is a docu- ment which describes the Balkwill Lands in both words and photographs at the time of the signing of the Conservation Agreement. The Baseline Documentation Report is important as it forms the basis of the monitor- ing that will occur regularly on the Balkwill Lands. The condition of the Balkwill Lands will be judged from the Baseline Documentation Report.
Now the real work of the Land Trust begins as the long term monitoring of the Balkwill Lands is underway with excellent record keeping to record the condition of the Lands.