American Friends of Canadian Conservation (AFCC) has a focused purpose and unique role – protecting ecologically important land in Canada owned by conservation-minded Americans, in collaboration with Canadian conservation organizations.
AFCC is protecting land all across Canada, from Prince Edward Island to British Columbia. Canada’s spectacular natural lands – seacoasts, forests, prairies, lakes, rivers, and islands – provide important ecological, economic, recreational, cultural, social and scenic benefits. These landscapes are defined by nature rather than political boundaries. Canada’s treasured landscapes, particularly those within a day’s drive of population centers in the US and Canada, are increasingly threatened. Demographics are causing big ownership shifts; as aging landowners sell their highly appreciated properties the new owners of these expensive properties are using them more intensively.
US taxpayers own a significant percentage of those priority conservation lands, for example:
- 25% of Nova Scotia’s coast is owned by non-Canadians, most of whom are US taxpayers
- In parts of Lake Huron’s ecologically-significant Georgian Bay, Americans own up to 80% of the properties
- Americans own as much as 30% of private land in the beautiful Southern Gulf Islands in British Columbia
Land protection professionals identify protection of American-owned lands as critical for conservation success in many parts of Canada. Before the creation of AFCC in 2006, they found US and Canadian tax laws to be nearly insurmountable barriers to donations of land or conservation easements from US taxpayers.
AFCC removed those tax and legal barriers, encouraging and facilitating “cross-border conservation” – Canadian land protected by US property owners. In the last 18 years, AFCC partners have permanently protected 35 remarkable properties in six provinces. Generous gifts of land from conservation-oriented US taxpayers have leverage contributions to American Friends $80:$1. Every dollar you donate protects $80 USD in high priority Canadian property!
AFCC can accept gifts of securities and land, bequests or planned gifts such as Charitable Remainder Trusts. Email us at info@conservecanada.org or call us at (360) 515-7171 to discuss your charitable giving.
