The mission of the Muskoka Heritage Trust (MHT) is to protect ecologically sensitive land in Muskoka in perpetuity. If you own land that you would be interested in donating to the MHT, please contact us.

When a landowner donates a property, the MHT becomes the legal title holder. In order to accept a donation, the MHT will assess the ecological value of a property. If the property meets the MHT’s criteria, we will assist the landowner in applying for the Ecological Gifts Program, if that is applicable.

Assessing Ecological Value

While all natural lands provide habitat for wildlife and benefits such as carbon capture and prevention of erosion, not all are considered equally valuable by funding agencies that provide MHT with much of the money needed to acquire and maintain our properties. This means that MHT cannot always accept a property that may be offered.

A site visit by wildlife and forestry experts on our Technical Advisory Team (TAG ) is the first step in determining whether a particular property can be accepted. TAG visits must be done in spring or summer, when wildlife is most active and plants are growing and can be identified. The TAG will collect biological information about the property, compile a list of species present and provide MHT with an ecological description of the property.

The information provided by the TAG, as well as other information about the size, location and attributes of the property are compiled in a Project Selection Chart. This compilation of information allows MHT to set priorities, based on ecological value, for acquisition of properties. In some cases, the ecological value of the property is not high enough to allow MHT to accept the property. Even then, given financial limitations, a relatively few donations can be processed in any given year.

Procedure for Land Donation

Many landowners are surprised at how long it takes to complete a donation. This is partly because MHT has only one part time staff person but also because of the need for legal and financial procedures. Both MHT and the landowner must retain the services of a lawyer to complete the transfer of land ownership.

Almost all properties that are donated to MHT are eligible for a charitable donation tax receipt based on the appraised value of the property. However, lands that are accepted under Canada’s Ecogift program have additional tax benefits, including relief from capital gains taxes. More information about the Ecogift program can be found at http://www.ec.gc.ca/pde-egp/. Because each donor’s situation is different, all donors are advised to seek independent financial and legal advice before proceeding with a donation.

Once a firm decision has been made to donate, MHT will send two forms: Letter of Permission and Interest to Donate (both required by the Ecogift program) for the donor’s signature. Other requirements include a property line survey (if an acceptable one does not already exist), a property appraisal undertaken by a certified appraiser as well as all of the usual legal requirements when a property changes ownership. For U.S residents, the need to work through American Friends of Canadian Land Trusts to allow donors to receive tax relief also prolongs the process.

As well as co-ordinating the survey, appraisal and legal requirements, MHT has additional responsibilities. Each property requires a Baseline Documentation Report that documents the condition of the property at the time of acquisition. This is required so that funding agencies (including the Ontario government, which exempts conservation lands from municipal taxes) can ensure that the land is indeed worthy of ecological protection in the longterm. MHT also prepares the Ecogift application on behalf of the donor. If the property is not already zoned Environmental Protection by the municipality, MHT must apply for rezoning before applying to the Ontario Conservation Land Tax Incentive Program (CLTIP) for municipal tax exemption. Until the property is registered with CLTIP, MHT is responsible for municipal land taxes.

Costs

The major out-of-pocket costs associated with a donation are for a survey (up to $16,000, if needed), appraisal ($3000-$5000), legal fees ($2000-$4000), municipal fees for zoning changes (if needed) and municipal taxes in the first year of ownership. Although minor in comparison with costs associated with donation, MHT also incurs ongoing costs as steward of the land. These include liability insurance, costs associated with annual monitoring to ensure that there has not been activity incompatible with ecological integrity (e.g. dumping of garbage, unauthorized ATV activity) and the cost of signage to inform the public that the land is a protected nature reserve.

Summary

Protecting the land you (and we) love is MHT’s reason for existence. However, the reality is that doing so requires time and costs money, both of which can be in short supply. We hope that this short description of the costs and procedures helps you to understand why MHT cannot always accept an offered donation and why donation may take up to several years to complete.