Article content continued

The retired public servant said he bought the woodlots two decades ago from John Lutes, a close friend and his neighbour at the family cottage in New Brunswick. For two decades, the land was a source of outdoor recreation and a connection to nature for the couple and their four children.

Burney, 73, said he and his wife heard of the moose sex project from a friend in Montreal and decided to make the offer to the conservancy as they sought to downsize their property holdings in the province.

Paula Noel, program director with the conservancy’s New Brunswick office, says the project has protected about 600 hectares so far and the Burneys contribution is critical to its progress.

The Nova Scotia mainland moose population is estimated at about 1,000 animals and has been endangered since 2003. The conservancy says it hopes the corridors give a route for the 29,000 moose in New Brunswick to find mates in the neighbouring province.

Noel says she was excited when she investigated the location of the lands being offered by the Burney family.

The two parcels of family land are about two kilometres apart, and in one instance directly neighbour an area that is already protected in the upper Tantramar region.

“When I looked at where the land was I said, ’Oh wow, this is exactly what we’re looking for,’ ” Noel said in an interview.

“It’s tripled the land on the New Brunswick side. It’s really accelerated our work on the isthmus.”

She said the mixed forests on the Burneys’ land had been carefully managed over decades and one of the parcels is already home to a notable population of moose and other wildlife.

The conservancy’s marketing focus has been on moose, which is an important source of food in Mi’kmaq culture.

Noel says the land donation will also be useful to other species.

“We tend to look at big things and if the moose and bear and bobcat can get across some land, then we figure the little things are doing all right,” she said.