News Release

Government of Canada Celebrates $500 Million Milestone in Donations Through Ecological Gifts Program

CALGARY, Alta. -- September 4, 2009 -- Ted Menzies, Member of Parliament for Macleod and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, on behalf of Canada’s Environment Minister, the Honourable Jim Prentice, today joined Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) and the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) in announcing one of the largest valued Ecological Gift donations ever made in Canada – conservation easements, generously donated by the late Daryl Kenneth (“Doc”) Seaman, on four OH Ranch properties.  

“The Government of Canada honours the late Doc Seaman for this wonderful gift to the people of Alberta,” said Minister Prentice. “With these conservation easements Doc Seaman’s conservation legacy has been secured.

“The OH Ranch is an excellent example of federal funds and incentives helping to create a strong stewardship partnership that will conserve important landscapes and protect habitat for our species at risk, while supporting local ranching operations,” added Minister Prentice.

The four OH Ranch properties, located near Calgary, Medicine Hat, and Drumheller, cover nearly 7,200 hectares of ecologically sensitive lands in Southern Alberta. The donated lands are equivalent in area to Dinosaur Provincial Park, and the donated conservation easements are valued at $26 million. These properties are located in the ridings of Members of Parliament Ted Menzies (Macleod) and LaVar Payne (Medicine Hat), who attended the event, and Kevin Sorenson (Crowfoot).

“The achievement we are celebrating today is a great example of Canadians’ passion and engagement towards their natural environment. This will leave a wonderful legacy for generations to come,” said Mr. Menzies.  “Conserving precious habitats like these is one of the best ways to help our ecosystems and species thrive and survive.”

Mr. Seaman’s gift is Alberta’s largest donated conservation easement, and brings the total donated through Environment Canada’s Ecological Gifts program to the milestone of $500 million.

As part of the federal Ecological Gifts Program, the Seaman family, who have been ranching on the land for over 20 years, will receive enhanced tax benefits in return for their generosity, in addition to the charitable donation receipt received from the recipient organizations.

”Doc Seaman has been a long time supporter and friend of Ducks Unlimited Canada and our wetland conservation mission,” said Jack H. Hole, DUC President. “He was well respected as a businessman, and a friend of the environment. Through this generous donation, DU Canada is honoured to continue Doc’s conservation legacy in southern Alberta.”

"OH Ranch is a remarkable conservation project" says John Lounds, President and CEO, Nature Conservancy of Canada. "This demonstrates the impact of the EcoGift program. But it is also a great example of the difference one person can make. Doc Seaman has left an incredible conservation legacy to all Canadians and we are honoured to be a part of this project."

The Ecological Gifts Program provides tax incentives to private land-owners that donate ecologically sensitive land, or partial interest rights to the land, to eligible charitable organizations or government bodies that in turn protect the land in perpetuity.  In Budget 2006, ecological gifts were made 100-percent exempt from capital-gains tax.

Related documents:

Environment Canada’s Ecological Gifts Program
[Backgrounder 2009-09-04]

For more information, please contact:

Frédéric Baril
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of the Environment
819-997-1441

Environment Canada Media Relations
819-934-8008
1-888-908-8008