LAC LA BICHE - A sea of cat-tails swaying in the breeze and a lullaby of bird-song — all just metres from a busy highway and the residential streets in the hamlet of Lac La Biche.
About 50 acres of wetland at the western borders of the hamlet have been donated to the municipality by a local family as an Environmental Reserve. The land will not only preserve the natural landscape, but also preserve a historical family-name in the region.
The J. E. Cote Memorial Wetlands was recently donated to Lac La Biche County in honour of Evangelist Cote, a long-time resident of the Plamondon area. He was also the long-serving postmaster of the community. Evangelist's own father was an original founder of the Plamondon community, arriving in the region from Lower Canada by wagon train at the turn of the 20th Century.
Evangelist's daughter, Rosalie Cote-Vandermeer recently donated a piece of Cote family land between Nashim Drive and Highway 55 to Lac La Biche County. The wetland area includes a portion of the Red Deer Brook that flows into Lac la Biche Lake. The designation will keep the property as a natural area.
"It will preserve the wetlands for future generations," she said.
The donated land sits beside a half acre of residential property that Cote-Vandermeer continues to own. Now living in Calgary, she rents out a house on that property, but remembers years of family memories.
"It is so nice to be right there ... the bird-song is everywhere, and you can just sit outside and right by the water it's really pretty," she said. " There's been a fox den, and ducks come by and the birds in the morning. The stream is a spawning area, so there's lots of fish ..."
Enjoying the land for years, but also watching the growth of the community and wanting to keep the natural areas, the family started looking for ways to protect the land several years ago.
Cote-Vandermeer, along with her sister Valerie Cote and brother Colin Cote, spent a lot of time looking for the right program. In the end, a joint partnership between the municipality, the province and the federal government offered them the assurances of protecting the land and the opportunity to dedicate it.
"I wanted to donate the wetlands, but not just as another piece of land. I said, let's have a dedication and let's have it for our dad, someone who was important to the area, mostly in Plamondon. He was the postmaster for 25 years. He loved nature."
Awareness for preservation
Her brother, a former municipal councillor and current member of the Lac La Biche Healthy Waters advisory committee, helped to find the best program. He hopes the story about the donation — and the road sign that has been put up on Nashim Drive — brings more awareness to the importance of protected areas.
"This is just one family and it's 50 acres that has been donated and designated as sensitive land," he said, hoping other rural residents see the benefits of protecting sensitive areas. "This is a really great program and there are people who have sensitive land who aren't even aware. You can get it designated as parkland, and donate it and keep it protected. It has this designation now, and one thing I learned from my years on council is that it stays as protected land."
Admitting that the application did take a lot of homework, along with studies, site visits, environmental appraisals and requirements to meet, the Cote family says the work has been worth it. While the 50 acres of wetland is now protected from future developments, the family hopes that one day a boardwalk could be put into the property to allow the public to see and hear what they have enjoyed for many years.
"Just to let future generations see the natural areas, to enjoy those birds ... we're pleased we could do it as a family," said Cote-Vandermeer.
More information about the wetland donation program can be found by contacting the Lac La Biche Healthy Waters group though their social media links.
