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“I am just a housewife and a grandmother. »
Margot Heyerhoff is humble. Very humble.
The grandmother managed to convince wealthy landowners to sell — or donate entirely — their vast tracts of land to an environmental conservation trust, thus fending off the onslaught of real estate developers eyeing a corner of paradise.
An area of 1200 acres (about 485 hectares) representing 900 American football fields has been protected so far. And the Masavippi Foundation, which she chairs – as well as the trust of the same name – doesn’t intend to stop there.
“If I had known how much work it was, I’m not sure I would have gotten into it,” she said before laughing.
“It’s really hard, long-term work,” she adds more earnestly.
A 69-year-old grandmother received us in a barn converted into an artist’s studio behind her house. From his farm, a few kilometers from North Hatley village in the Eastern Townships, there is a magnificent view of the valley of Lake Massavippi.
On one wall of the workshop, a noble lady with immaculate white hair pinned a humorous postcard on which we could see a woman smiling and saying: “Remind me not to volunteer anymore. »
It involves some negotiations with the owners or sometimes their heirs that can go on for months, even years.
Mme Heyerhoff pulls out a large laminated map of the private properties bordering the lake. Each red area represents land that is now protected.
Originally from New York, this woman – who turns 100 today – offered her a small five-and-a-half-acre lot very close to the lake. Then American’s three neighbors granted an easement to protect more than 220 acres. The movement started.
“Its owner is a real estate developer,” she said, pointing to the 57-acre plot of land with lake access. “He’s hard to convince. He’s not going to give us a gift,” she said with a smile in her voice.
The promoter decided the land was too big to subdivide, but he hurried to sell it. “Find $1.2 million in six months – mortgage free – and it’s yours,” he told Ms.me Heyerhoff.
It’s a race against time to collect the amount. “I called a lot of friends,” she recalls, adding that other friends and “valuable” volunteers have been working with her since the project began.
“I will never succeed in this alone,” she insists (humbly, to say the least).
Grandma is persistent and persuasive. For a landlord who wanted to sell an estate — including a house, a lakeside boathouse and a heavily wooded lot — to the highest bidder, she suggested three sales instead of one.
“It’s a win-win,” she said. One man bought a house, another a boathouse, and a trust acquired part of the land to house it. In the end, the seller probably made as much, if not more, money. »
On land in the reclaimed forest near Sainte-Catherine-de-Hutley, hiking trails have been developed (more than 8 km so far). Another trail (2.5 km) has been made in a conservation park in North Hatley. A third will be built at Stansted-Est at Borough Falls.
The foundation hired a trail designer of Cree origin. “He is a genius!” said M.me Heyerhoff, he creates sustainable pathways that disturb flora and fauna as little as possible. »
During the pandemic, these routes took over. “Our pathways are beneficial to the mental health and physical health of the population,” she observed.
Initially, the municipalities — five around the lake — viewed Fiduci’s project with skepticism, she said, because it would cost them potential property taxes.
But in 11 years, mindsets have evolved, note Mme Heyerhoff.
Municipalities realized this was not a loss, but a gift to their population, and this added to the townships’ cachet.
Margot Heyerhoff
A public beach developed in 2020 by the foundation is now accessible by boat or on foot. The project is of capital importance because public access to the lake is rare in the region, she explains.
“We protect what we love”
So how did this “housewife” – and the painter, let’s underline it if it bothers her – come to knock on the doors of wealthy landowners and other promoters to convince them to save nature?
“We protect what we love,” she replies, quoting oceanographer Jacques Cousteau.
Photo by Oliver Jean, Pres
Growing up in Toronto, Margot Heyerhoff fell in love with the Eastern Townships as a teenager.
Mme Heyerhoff was born in Montreal and raised in Toronto. As a teenager, his parents sent him to boarding school in Compton, Eastern Townships. This was the beginning of his love affair with the region. Later, she studied at Bishop’s University, where she returned to work. “To me, this is the most beautiful place in the world. »
In 2000, she and her husband live in Toronto with their two boys. She was visiting the area when she saw this beautiful organic farm on a rural row in the Canton of Hatley.
The couple bought it to have a pied-à-terre in their favorite area. Two years later, her husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and decided to retire. The family leaves Toronto and settles on a farm.
A sense of urgency
For 11 years, Mr.me Heyerhoff and his colleagues were driven by a sense of urgency. “Most of the owners are elderly. You have to convince them before they die because then it’s too late; We lose ground. The heirs then sell it to the highest bidder. »
The lands on the western side of the lake have high ecological value. In addition to being a member of the Corridor Appalachian Institute, the foundation has also teamed up with Université de Sherbrooke researchers to conduct research on the fauna and flora there.
Already, several species, birds – the eastern pio – and some stream salamanders (northern dusky and purple) are listed there as threatened in Canada.
Starting in the fall, the foundation offers eight elementary schools in the area three annual visits to the trails to help young people connect with nature. “Kids see the forest in three different seasons,” she marvels.
Need people from surrounding communities to thank you when they pass you by? We ask M.me Heyerhoff. “Changing sidewalks,” she said, laughing again. They knew I was going to ask them for donations. »
One of her grandsons, a 5-year-old boy with the same blue eyes, approached her grandmother as she passed. Press.
Several times during the interview, she gives him affectionate glances as he draws on the floor with chalk. She devotes her time to this cause for her generation and the following – a little – a lot.
“I’m experiencing a weather emergency,” said the grandmother. I can’t save the world, but I can act in my environment in hopes that others will act in theirs. »
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