Geographically, Muskoka is a large area full of significant wilderness areas. Because the Trust has limited resources, the Board of Directors has created acquisition criteria to ensure that the lands they accept best represent the uniqueness and variety of significant lands in Muskoka. Potential donations should embody one or more of the following criterion:

Lands

• Representativeness and/or uniqueness.

• Diversity of habitat and/or biotic communities.

• Quality and ecological integrity.

• Rare or unusual biota.

• Hydrological significance.

• Scenic or cultural significance.

Built Heritage

• Representativeness and/or uniqueness.

• Association with a specific event that has made a significant contribution or had a significant impact upon the community, province, or nation.

• Association with an individual or group that has made a significant contribution to the community, province, or nation.

• Visual and/or functional quality of the resource.

• Architectural or technological significance.

• Influence of structure upon present character of the area.

A management plan for each asset will be developed that ensures the protection of the aspects of an asset that satisfied the Trust's selection criteria. Where appropriate, the Trust will establish a volunteer management group with strong representation from the immediate vicinity of the asset.

At the beginning of 2006, The Muskoka Heritage Trust had under its protection more than 800 acres of ecologically significant land in Muskoka.

Completed in 2004, this 297-acre reserve was created through the generous donations of many people. Two individuals donated a large portion of the reserve, and a group of island residents, The Friends of Browning Island, rallied together and donated over half a million dollars to the MHT to purchase the rest.

The reserve is made up of mixed upland forest interspersed with open fields and small wetlands. It is located in the interior of Browning Island on Lake Muskoka. Maidenhair fern is not common to Muskoka, but is found here in the rich soil under the young maple trees. The mix of open and forested areas makes this reserve an ideal spot to see white tail deer and a wide variety of birds.

The donors who live in the neighborhood named this environmentally sensitive wetland. They named it Indigo Marsh as there have been occasional sightings here of the bright blue songbird, the Indigo Bunting. In 2004, local residents Nancy Bozek and Anne Lindsay banded together to raise the funds needed to buy, then donate, this 11-acre wetland.

Located in the town of Huntsville near Lake Vernon, the preservation of this small wetland will provide habitat for species that have been threatened by development in the Huntsville area.

Island K is a triangular shaped island framing the entry into Hamer Bay on Lake Joseph North and consists of 12.5 acres and 3,200 ft. of mostly untouched property and shoreline. The combination of a nature reserve and a conservation easement allows for limited development while maintaining the integrity and visual appearance of the Island. A modest boathouse and a virtually invisible cottage, facing southwest, are the only existing structures.

Concerned over the possibility of losing the natural features that make Muskoka lakes so beautiful, the rest of the Island was purchased in 2003 by a group of cottagers and turned over to the Trust. In December 2004, approximately 65% of the shoreline and land area of the Island was donated in order to create the Island K Nature Reserve.

Concerned over the future of the land he loved, the late Jack McVittie left his legacy by donating the centre of Eilean Gowan Island to the Trust. This 253-acre nature reserve is part of the ancient pre-cambrian shield. Over most of the island, the bedrock is buried beneath a shallow mantle of glacial till. Mature Hemlock, Sugar Maple and American Beech trees dominate this mixed upland forest.

This reserve is home to a variety of different flora and fauna including: White-tailed deer, porcupine, red squirrel, black squirrel, eastern chipmunk, barred owl, blue jay, red-breasted nuthatch, chickadee, golden-crowned kinglet, pileated woodpecker, ovenbird, spring peeper and red-backed salamander.

Three sisters Elizabeth Stewart, Megan Winstanley and Martha Stewart entered into a conservation agreement with The Muskoka Heritage Trust in 2003.

This 11-acre property located on the south shore of Longline Lake in Lake of Bays Township is the Trust's second conservation easement. The property shows virtually no sign of human disturbance and contains a substantial stand of large hemlocks. In addition, large specimens of American beech and hard maples are found, both important food sources for bears and other animals. Longline Lake Conservation Easement is home to many varieties of birds, animals, vines and wildflowers.

The Graham family managed this wetland as a nature reserve for more than 80 years before Betty and her late husband, Tom Graham, donated the land. This 53.5-acre wetland located on Sparrow Lake is considered provincially significant and has a hardwood swamp that contains numerous marsh plant, insect and animal species.

This nature reserve is located at the mouth of the Muskoka River on Lake Muskoka. Part of an active river delta, the island has unique vegetation which represents the active delta process. The shallows along the shoreline contain a diversity of birds, fish, amphibians and plant life. The purchase of the 18-acre property was made possible by a donation by the South Muskoka Sailing Club, which cares for the property in return for a lease on one acre.

This 195-acre nature reserve is completely surrounded by the Torrance Barrens Dark Sky Reserve. The owners donated the land in 2001, and its protection will help to complete the dark sky experience.

The reserve protects a diversity of landforms and vegetation communities including rural bush land, forests, wetlands, and bedrock. Oaks, pines, ashes, aspen, beech and yellow birch are represented in the woodland. The dense open water aquatic vegetation and rich fens support many orchid species. The hot, open rock barren habitat supports significant populations of threatened species such as five-lined skink, Eastern Massassauga Rattler and Eastern Hognose Snake.

Even before a conservation easement was negotiated, the owners of this property received a Muskoka Heritage Foundation Stewardship Award in 1995 in recognition of their voluntary pledge to protect the heritage values of their property. The Peter Goering family negotiated this conservation easement with the Trust in 2000, which restricts future development on 34 acres and 1760 feet of frontage.

This easement covers an attractive point of land on a deep-water portion of Lake of Bays. It consists of coniferous slopes along the rocky shoreline with an intermittent stream. The upland forest is a mature mixed sugar maple-beech-hemlock. An abundance of wildlife has been seen and there is an extensive description of flora and fauna located in the site's Conservation Management Plan.

On December 17, 2007 two neighbours, Chuck Lamon and Bill McCann, recognized the value of their land and generously donated this 121-acre piece of property, located east of the Town of Huntsville along the highway 60 corridor.

The property has an outstanding combination of woodland, grassland and wetland that supports a diverse community of wildlife including blue birds, savannah sparrows, bobolinks, deer and salamanders. Mr. Lamon has also seen moose on the property. There is a headwater creek designated as an Environmental Protected Zone by Lake of Bays Township running through the property. There is a possibility of linking this property with other protected lands as encroaching development threatens what natural areas are left in this area.

Town of Huntsville resident Doug Millikin and thirteen of his neighbours pooled their resources and bought this 8-acre parcel of land. Then, they donated it to the Trust. Located on Bayshore Boulevard in Huntsville, the reserve is the second of its kind in Huntsville, the first being Indigo Marsh Nature Reserve. Like its sister reserve, the Pileated Ridge Nature Reserve is situated along the shores of Lake Vernon and addresses the loss of natural habitat along the Highway 11 corridor.

Millikin and his neighbors, the Lake Vernon cottagers, the Town of Huntsville and the Huntsville Nature Club are working in partnership to protect the birds, animals and native plant species of the area.