Lake of Bays Heritage Foundation Permanently Protects

107-Acre Marianne Girling Nature Reserve

The Lake of Bays Heritage Foundation has permanently protected a 107-acre ecologically significant property adjacent to the historic cottage community of Bona Vista. The property was acquired through a generous bequest from the estate of Marianne Girling.

Marianne Girling’s 2019 bequest funded both the purchase of the property and the creation of a Stewardship Endowment Fund that will help ensure its long-term care and protection. In recognition of her generosity and commitment to conservation the property will be known as the Marianne Girling Nature Reserve.

Karen Girling, a daughter of Marianne Girling, recalls, “Mom loved spending time in nature, swimming, hiking and paddling. For all her 91 years she cherished time at the family’s cottage on Lake of Bays and would be pleased that her bequest has resulted in the permanent protection and stewardship of this important natural habitat.”

The Marianne Girling Nature Reserve is an important ecological extension to the adjoining Westermain Woods creating a larger, connected landscape of forests, wetlands and wildlife habitat. Those who first explored the property last summer described it as “a hidden part of Lake of Bays that time had forgotten,” where quiet wetlands, towering mature forests and a secluded valley create a landscape that feels remarkably untouched. 

The property is crossed by an east-west ridge that divides Dreamhaven Lake to the south from the sandy soils to the north. Dreamhaven Lake is an open-water marsh containing large floating mats of sedge called open-shore fens that provide excellent habitat for nesting waterfowl. The “lake” is also used by two species of endangered turtles. In the north part of the property a cold-water stream draining into Lake of Bays, has carved a deep, secluded valley preserving a ribbon of untouched forest along its length. The reserve also contains a significant stand of mature Red Oak exhibiting old-growth characteristics. 

A recent biological inventory found 249 species including nine species at risk.  Five species of endangered bats have been recorded. The reserve’s intact forest wetlands and cold-water-stream support a rich diversity of plants and wildlife while also contributing to climate resilience, carbon storage and flood reduction. 

Margaret Casey, President, Lake of Bays Heritage Foundation, said, “The Marianne Girling Nature Reserve is a wonderful example of what can be accomplished when generous donors, conservation-minded landowners and our community work together. We are deeply grateful to Marianne Girling and her family for making this remarkable conservation success possible. Because of their vision and generosity, future generations will be able to experience the forests, wetlands and wildlife that make this property so special."

Together, the Marianne Girling Nature Reserve and Westermain Woods Nature Reserve will protect a larger, connected landscape of forests, wetlands and wildlife habitat in perpetuity.

Photo above: Dreamhaven Lake, part of the newly protected Marianne Girling Nature Reserve. Credit: Kelly Stronks.