To all my friends, supporters, and
Awakened Dreamers who are interested in protecting Mother Earth at a local
level – PLEASE READ! There is now the possibility to protect 380 acres of land
surrounding The Oasis.
Hi, I am Michel Palmer and this
letter has been written to seek your support in protecting a beautiful
wilderness area on the North Mountain near Middleton in the Annapolis Valley,
N.S. Presently there is a 380 acre piece of forested land for sale next to my
land, The Oasis, which I have first right of refusal to purchase. The final
date to make this purchase is June 15th, 2012 (Money has to be in Trust Fund by June 05/12!!!), and currently
there is a competing offer from a former owner who plans to create a Christmas
tree plantation on this natural woodland. Every day I wake up knowing that I
must do something – everything that I can to prevent this from happening.
Mother Earth herself is speaking about the need to awaken other human beings so
that we can come together and create a beautiful synergistic project of the
human spirit.
About The Oasis
The Oasis is 30 acres of forested
land in the Annapolis Valley, near Middleton, NS, and has been my home for over
30 years. When I first acquired the land in 1981 I began by creating a
homestead which involved clearing land and establishing bio-dynamic gardens.
Today The Oasis features a beautiful array of organic bio-dynamic gardens,
workshops, greenhouses, orchards and forested lands, and is a healing place for
people to come and unwind, to receive therapeutic massage and water therapy
treatments, to present and to attend workshops, and to relax and stay in the
country for a night or a weekend. In the summer of 2012 Graham Calder, a
Permaculture Design Instructor, will present a 12 day Permaculture
Certification Course, (http://www.p3permaculture.ca/NS_July_PDC.html) incorporating an Eco-village design process. This is just
one example of the workshops facilitated at The Oasis.
About Me
I am a carpenter, landscaper, organic gardener, greenhouse
builder, a healer and massage therapist. I was a founding board member of the
Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA), as well as Chair and founding
member of Voice of the Earth Society, which operated for eleven years. This
group helped to create the inaugural inspector training program for organic
growers in Nova Scotia. I served as an inspector for six years, issuing
growers' organic certificates. The Voice of the Earth Society also helped to
initiate the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and the Nova Scotia Organic
Growers Association (NSOGA). My passion for working with the earth in a good
way has also led me to being a Board member of the Canadian Environment Network
for three years, the Nova Scotia Environmental Network for eight years, and
part of twelve national environmental caucus groups. I have created and given a
multitude of organic gardening workshops and environmental presentations over
the past twenty five years.
The Opportunity
The forest lands surrounding The
Oasis have recently become available for purchase, an area of 380 acres where
over the last 10 years the native white spruce trees have been removed from
approximately one third of this parcel of land. The forest there now grows as a
mixture of semi-mature native hardwood and softwood trees. It is in a perfect
state to plant an edible forest garden by increasing biodiversity. This can be
accomplished by planting oak, larch, beech, sugar maple and a variety of edible
fruit and nut trees, as well as berry bushes. The plan is to design this part
of the land using forward thinking permaculture concepts. With the purchase of
this land, alongside what I and like-minded neighbours currently own, we
would create a block of 460 acres of mainly wooded lands. This would provides a
remarkable wildlife and plant life corridor rarely seen in Nova Scotia today.
This parcel of land is situated on the peak of the North Mountain which forms
the northern edge of the Annapolis Valley. Only 2 km from the majestic Bay of
Fundy, which has the highest tides in the world, this parcel of land has
immense potential, and includes cleared areas, a small stream which flows
year-round. There are large populations of deer, coyote, birds, rabbits and other
wildlife.
This 380 acre parcel is one of the
largest of its kind to be free of clear-cutting on the North Mountain, and
extends almost 2 km from Delusion Rd. to Lily Lake Rd, in a wide swath of
forest. http://g.co/maps/7wwm7
The first intention in buying this
land is to protect it from conversion to a Christmas tree plantation, the
probable outcome if we are unable to purchase and steward this land by June 15th,
2012 – therefore TIME IS SHORT. This is a very limited opportunity to protect
this area from unsustainable harvesting and development.
Upon obtaining stewardship, I am
open to a diverse range of of strategies for the long term protection of this
land, which would be based principles of forest preservation, community
benefit, organic and permaculture and collaborative decision making. These
include creation of an Eco-village, Association or Shared Ownership Model. The
potential for establishing personal building lots along Delusion Rd., with
certain protective covenants is also possible. I envision a place that is
ecologically sustainable, a place of healing; this might then translate into
creative artistic space, forest gardening, medicinal plant and mushroom
harvesting, native tree nurseries, communal building(s) for hosting workshops,
dance performance, music concerts and recording, experimental alternative
building and alternative energy production. As well, more remote areas could be
utilized for small buildings for personal retreats, accommodations, and
wilderness adventures. There currently exist a multitude of hiking and cross
country ski trails.
What can be done? Action plan
The first step is to purchase and to
secure the land. The deadline is June 15th, 2012 (Money has to be in Trust Fund by June 05/12!!!). The price of the
land is approximately $190,000, and I am now seeking investors able to extend a
loan of at least $5000, with an annual rate of return of 4% interest for 2
years; Parker & Richter Law Firm in Greenwood N.S. has been retained to
provide notarized promissory notes to secure the loan.
The next step will be to bring
together all stakeholders into a formal Association, Executive Membership, or
Board of Directors which would then purchase the initial loans and accumulated
interest, ultimately creating a supporting membership of caretakers. These same
people will come together with a shared vision for the future of the land.
Where the money comes from to pay back the investments
Many have asked how can 4%
interest be paid on the investments. When the caretakers association is
created there will be 10 to 12 memberships at $25 000 that will provide a
building lot and share in the communal land. This will generate $250
000 to $300 000. Then there will be a second level of memberships at
$5000 that will allow people to have a temporary shelter on the land and
that will generate more money. The money generated from the memberships
will be used to pay back the initial investments. The extra money from
those memberships will help build the infrastructure of creating the
communal spaces and to create the projects that will be happening on the
land. There has been much interest in this concept and approach to
stewardship of a piece of land by creating abundance with edible forest
gardens.
For those who want to
invest less than $5000 or for less time than 2 years, arrangements can be made.
For further information, please contact Michel Palmer at (902) 825-3954.
Telephone is the preferred means for communication, I am presently still on
dial-up Internet.
Close to half of the money has been pledged so far. So now is the time to participate and do something beautiful with this piece of land.
For further information, please contact
Michel Palmer at (902) 825-3954. Telephone is the preferred means
for communication, I am presently still on dial-up
Internet.
It's so odd, I met one of your neighbours a few days ago who is encouraging us to buy this land as the current owner has sent out pre-sale e-mails. We almost bought 97 acres in Victoria Vale but the owners sold to someone else just 4 hours before our financing was finalized, now we're looking at land in Torbrook instead. I'd be very interested in know ing more about your plans and writing about you on my blog if you'd allow. humblebee-farm.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteDear Elizabeth, I would like to talk to you about possibilities. My telephone number is (902) 825-3954. Please contact me as soon as possible.
DeleteThank you,
Michel
I hope you were successful in raising the money. My girlfriend and I are planning to move to the Valley next year to pursue a sustainable life. I wish we could have gotten involved in some way.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever purchase the land?
ReplyDelete