Seventy-seven acres of wilderness along the Black River in Dalton Township is now permanently protected by The Couchiching Conservancy, thanks to a donation by the
Marley family.
Located 17 kilometres east of Washago, it is between the Adams Nature Reserve (10 kilometres to west, protected in 2016), Taylor Nature Reserve (4.7 kilometres to the west, protected in 2020) and Ron Reid Nature Reserve (2.6 kilometres to east, protected in 2017), the property has a direct connection to the Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park (QEII) at the southern boundary. It is Anishinabewaki, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Haudenosaunee territory.
The property was owned by Reet and Jaanus Marley, and their family. Jaanus’ parents, Leida and Roman Marley, bought the 100-acre property in the 1960s. Leida and Roman were forced to leave behind their homes in Estonia due to the advancing Soviet Army in the fall of 1944; they found refuge in Sweden.
They had their son Jannus, and in 1951, they were welcomed as immigrants to Canada and had their second son, Toomas. Once they had established themselves in Canada, they decided they needed some space to be free, and happened to find the 100-acre property along the Black River.
“It is a great place to watch turtles hatching and laying eggs, follow the life cycles of butterflies, observe the behaviour of foxes, beavers and moose and watch the night sky,” shared Reet and Jaanus. “We decided to donate about nine-tenths of the land to the Conservancy so that it can be enjoyed by others and protected from development.”
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