Friends raise $20K to buy island they want all Nova Scotians to enjoy

When Juan Gomez-Perales heard an island on Lambs Lake in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis County was up for sale around a year ago, he knew he wanted to preserve it. 

Thanks to its proximity to the Mickey Hill Provincial Park, which borders the lake, visitors often swam to the island, something the previous owners allowed. 

“But there was no guarantee that the next person who bought it would make it accessible to the public,” said Gomez-Perales, who lives in nearby Bridgetown, N.S.

He met with a group of friends and they formed the Society of Mickey Hills Provincial Park to find a way to buy the island. 

And on Oct. 17, they reached their fundraising goal of $20,000.

“We just wanted to save this island, to make it accessible to the public from now on, permanently as part of the park,” he said. 

In an email, a spokesperson for the Department of Natural Resources wrote that staff are reviewing an application from the society to donate the island.

Proposed donations are considered based on their benefit to the province, including bringing Nova Scotia closer to its conservation goals and enhancing quality of life. 

‘We need to raise the money’

Gomez-Perales, the society’s president, said the group initially approached the island’s owners with an offer, but it was rejected because they wanted twice as much.

After some time, the owners came back to them and were able to renegotiate the deal, although it was still too much for the group to pay out of their own pockets. 

“We needed to raise the money because we’re not wealthy people,” he said. 

The society also reached out to the federal government to get some support, said vice-president of the society, Wayne Boucher. 

“The island was probably closer to twice that much, but we had to raise $20,000 privately to have matching funds,” said Boucher.

Parks Canada could not confirm Tuesday that it had agreed to match the society’s funds, but a spokesperson said they hoped to issue a statement this week.

Community support

Gomez-Perales said people from all over the province donated to the society’s cause, calling the community support “quite overwhelming.”

Boucher was also constantly sharing updates of the fundraiser on social media to garner more attention from the community. 

As the park’s trail keeper for 22 years, Boucher grew attached to the area, even drawing inspiration from its natural scenery for his own abstract artwork.

“It’s more of the essence of place and light and those types of things,” he said. 

Gomez-Perales said many people have their own connection to the land, much like Boucher.

“The relationship really is just an appreciation of nature. It’s quite a wild park — there’s a river going by, there’s this beautiful lake and a beach,” he said.