Smith Christmas Tree Farm – Conservation Easement
The site of the former Smith Christmas Tree Farm in Pelham spans approximately fifty acres, located along the Niagara Escarpment within the Carolinian Life Zone, just south of Short Hills Provincial Park. It is part of what is known as the Fonthill Kame, a geological feature consisting of sand and gravel deposited by retreating glaciers some 12,000 years ago.
Coldwater tributaries of Twelve Mile Creek—the only cold-water fishery in Niagara—and a Provincially Significant Wetland traverse the property. To date, 182 species of plants and an abundance of wildlife have been identified on the property, including four species considered to be at risk (SAR) in Ontario, one plant species considered to be regionally rare, and 15 native, regionally uncommon plant species.
This Conservation Easement was an EcoGift donated to the Niagara Land Trust by Jim and Mary Smith in 2013.
Canby Memorial Forest
The Canby Memorial Forest is a forest in Wainfleet of just under 8 acres. It hosts a surprising variety of native trees, including American Beech, Shagbark Hickory, Sugar Maple, Basswood, White Oak, Yellow Birch, Hop-hornbeam (Ironwood), and Blue Beech, commonly called the musclewood tree.
Its shrub species include Highbush Blueberry and an abundance of Spicebush. The berries of the Spicebush provided a source of seasoning for early Niagara pioneers. The moss-covered forest floor supports many herb species, including False Solomon’s Seal, Beechdrops, Common Self-heal, native Lily-of-the-Valley, and Sensitive Fern.
A healthy slough within the forest is home to several species of frogs, whose spring chorus can be deafening—particularly the Spring Peepers.
This forest was acquired by the Niagara Land Trust in 2014 from the estate of Margaret Canby.
Sulphur Springs Triangle
The Niagara Land Trust is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of a new property on Sulphur Spring Drive in Pelham—widely regarded as one of Niagara’s most picturesque roadways.
This unique parcel protects a section of cold-water stream within the Twelve Mile Creek watershed, supporting Niagara’s only known population of native brook trout. The surrounding forested uplands form part of the Short Hills which is one of the largest remaining continuous forest tracts within Southern Ontario’s Carolinian Zone.
Combined with the existing conservation easement held by the Niagara Land Trust along the St. John’s Branch of Twelve Mile Creek, this acquisition helps safeguard one of the region’s last remaining cold- water stream systems for future generations.
