Many have approached Charles and Gloria McKinnon Perret over the years in hopes of purchasing a piece of the couple’s Island paradise.
One disappointed would-be buyer after another would kindly be sent on their way.
The pair wanted the property protected — not developed.
Last August, the Perrets donated 173 acres of their land to the Island Nature Trust, ensuring the land will remain undeveloped and ecologically sensitive forever.
On Wednesday, their generous gift of one year ago earned the couple the Lieutenant Governor’s Greenwing Award for Wetland Conservation.
In accepting the award, Charles Perret noted with pride that his persistent refusal to sell any of the property “has made possible the gift which brings us here today.’’
The land, donated under the federal EcoGift Program, consists of a partial property and a complete property adjacent to one another at Cable Head East.
The donated land is steep in softwood trees as well as consisting of wet, mossy shrubby areas that are home to amphibians, reptiles, insects and many birds.
“But the shore, of course, is the value of the property in many ways,’’ said Jackie Waddell of the Island Nature Trust.
“Undeveloped shoreline, as you can guess, in that area is extremely valuable and rare. The Parrets wanted to keep this as exactly that: undeveloped shoreline.’’
Waddell acknowledges that there would have been considerable demand for property on either side of the road. Perhaps 20 or 30 one-acre lots would have been divided off of the land had it gone into other hands.
“It’s a very valuable property (with a minimum assessment of just over $800,000) and that was what was donated to the trust,’’ she said.
“Now that will be designated as a natural area in the very near future.’’
“Undeveloped shoreline, as you can guess, in that area is extremely valuable and rare. The Parrets wanted to keep this as exactly that: undeveloped shoreline,’’ - Jackie Waddell
The Perrets stumbled into purchasing the property 50 years ago when visiting P.E.I. from Connecticut, where they lived and taught school.
“We had come without the faintest notion of looking for property, but circumstances and an extraordinary sequence of incidental conversations determined otherwise,’’ he said.
“When we left the Island three weeks later, we were the owners of a run-down farm on a clay road, and a house in need of renovation, without electricity or plumbing. When we returned the following summer we began the work of improving and maintaining our purchase, a job which has gone on for 50 years.’’
Charles, who flew an F-86 fighter bomber with the U.S. Air Force during the closing months of the Second World War, created a small landing strip in 1963 which required the use of a small open field on adjoining property. Though the field was only about four acres, he purchased the entire property.
In the 1960’s, notes Charles, the north shore was wide open. It was possible to walk on the beach or on the bank from Cable Head to Goose River.
“Today, that would entail trespassing on a virtual chain of cottage lots,’’ he said.
“In a one mile span from Cable Head West to the mid-point of Cable Head East, there is an assortment of buildings ranging from a tepee to a $7 million mansion.’’
The Perrets, long concerned about the infilling of wetlands on P.E.I., are thrilled to be able to protect a significant portion of Cable Head and to preserve it as wildlife habitat for generations to come.
They are, for now, holding on to the old farmhouse and 33 acres of land.
jday@theguardian.pe.ca
Thanks Chuck, We appreciate you and Gloria looking after a piece of our great Island , from an old golfing partner