Blueberry Hill

Friends of Blueberry Hill is a group of community members from Saint John and Grand Bay-Westfield, who aim to support the conservation of Blueberry Hill for future generations. Friends of Blueberry Hill group works in partnership with the Nature Trust of New Brunswick.

Blueberry Hill is a unique undeveloped piece of land located in City of Saint John, bordering the Town of Grand Bay-Westfield. The property is located behind the Workers Rehabilitation Centre, and is currently owned by WorkSafe New Brunswick. This fifty acres property contains five different ecosystems, including:

1. Graminoid meadow and small brook with a large wetland complex bordering the Henderson Brook; 2. Open fields reflecting various states of forest regeneration; 3. Shrub wetland composed mainly of young Red ash, Mountain ash and Speckled alder; 4. Hillside sloping down to Grand Bay shoreline that is dominated by mature Red spruce forest; and 5. Rocky shoreline and outcrop along Grand Bay.

The Friends of Blueberry Hill and the Nature Trust of New Brunswick would like to acknowledge the passing of our friend and dedicated member Gary Mittleholtz on Saturday March 13, 2010. Gary was a valued friend and community member and loved spending time outdoors in nature. He will be missed. 

 

The Friends of Blueberry Hill

Carol Ann Boudreau -Chair

Ron Wilson - Vice-Chair
Mike Bonga – Secretary
Maureen Boone – Treasurer

 

To Become a Member of Friends the of Blueberry Hill please e-mail friendsofblueberryhill@gmail.com

 

Click here to make a donation to the Blueberry Hill Stewardship Fund.  

 

 

Click here to Become a member of The Nature Trust of New Brunswick

Click here , to make a donation to the Nature Trust of New Brunswick.

Maps of Blueberry Hill

Zoom in map
Regional Map
Arial with Trail

 

Coming Events

The Nature Trust of New Brunswick would like to cordially invite you to the official property transfer of the Blueberry Hill Nature Preserve.

 

Date:  Monday, July 19th @ 3:00pm
Location:  Lower parking lot, 3700 Westfield Rd., Saint John.

**Event is weather dependent**

For more information please call (506)457-2398 or email naturetrust@ntnb.org

 

HISTORY OF THE INNITIATIVE TOWARDS CONSERVATION OF THE BLUEBERRY HILL

The Nature Trust of New Brunswick became involved in this project in late 2007. The WSNB has offered this land to the Nature Trust and Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between WSNB and NTNB in October, 2008. This MOU agrees to transfer ownership of the property to NTNB. AS a result of this MOU, the Nature Trust became to investigate how to overcome several issues, including the aging culverts and road access.

Henderson Brook Wetland at Blueberry Hill Photo: Renata Woodward

Accomplishments to date: 

July 19, 2010

  •  The Blueberry Hill Property is being officially transfered to theNature Trust of New Brunswick from the WorkSafeNB.

June 6, 2010

  •  The Nature Trust of New Brunswick and the Friends of Blueberry Hill celebrated their successful fundraising campaign for the Blueberry Hill Conservation Project on International Trail Day Sunday, June 6th.  

    To date, fundraising campaigns  have raised over $85,000 plus extensive in-kind contribution for the culvert removal, site restoration, and stewardship fund,the Province of New Brunswick, multiple organizations and countless individuals have supported this project.

 March 1, 2010.

  • Presentation to Saint John City Council. Renata Woodward presented on behalf of the Friends of Blueberry Hill requesting the support of the City of Saint John for the Blueberry Hill Stewardship fund. The Council has referred the motion to City Manager and will report back in two weeks.  

January, 2010 .

  • The NTNB Board passed a motion that the Nature Trust will accept the property once the funding for culvert removal is in place and 75% of the stewardship funds in pledges are raised.

December 2009.

  • Friends of Blueberry Hill public meeting was held. It was decided that the Friends of Blueberry Hill together with the Nature Trust will work towards raising $35,000 in pledges for the stewardship fund that is necessary to establish prior acceptace of any property by the Trust. This fund will be managed by NTNB and will provide for any future stewardship costs of the property;

November, 2009.

  • Nature Trust has applied for several funding sources to remove the culverts and restore the Henderson Brook and wetland;

October, 2009.

  • NTNB Board of Directors made a motion that once the culverts issue is dealt with the Nature Trust will take over ownership of the property;

October, 2009

  • The Friends of Blueberry Hill support group was established in order to help with fundraising for stewardship fund and to become future stewards of the property transferred to the Trust.

September, 2009.

  • Presentation for council was requested and accepted. The City of Saint John has been receptive to creating a dialogue regarding future plans for Blueberry Hill and its potential
  • River Road Community Alliance, Inc. unanimously passed motion in support of the Blueberry Hill project during a community wide meeting;

August, 2009.

  • Several groups in the Blueberry Hill vicinity have been approached to show support for this project.
  • Botanical Survey was completed in August 2009. It was determined that he Blueberry Hill property contains more than 178 species of plants including Anticosti aster Aster anticostensis, that is considered to be threatened species.
  • Second public meeting was held in Rockwood Park, Saint John.
  • An Open Space and Trail Study was completed by the Glenn Group, which outlines three options. These options describe characteristics of the property and provide recommendations of potential trail configurations along with the subsequent cost of installation and maintenance. This project was funded by the Crane Mountain Enhancement Fund.

May, 2009.

  • Bird walk on Blueberry Hill property was led by the Nature Trust staff with approximately 40 people attending
  • Advisory Committee consisting of several board members, staff and local representatives was formed to oversee the Open Space and Trail study and the overall progress of this project;
  • Public meeting was held in Grand Bay-Westfield. 65 people from the community attended and expressed a great interest to conserve the Blueberry Hill Property;

 

Saint John Outdoor Enthusiasts Club contributed $1,000 pledge towards the stewardship fund;

 

Town of Grand Bay-Westfield has made a $5,000 pledge towards the stewardship fund;

Main Challenges for the NTNB: Culverts and Public Access

Two 2m high culverts are located under the access road. The Trust has sought professional engineering advice. The culverts are expected to deteriorate in 10-15 years. Therefore, it is imperative find a solution to the culverts before taking over ownership of the property. The Nature Trust staff is currently looking for funding options to deal with the culverts and restore the wetland.

Henderson Brook culverts Photo: Renata Woodward

Ways you can help

To donate money to the Blueberry Hill project, follow the link to

http://www.naturetrust.nb.ca/make-a-donation

Make a donation to the Nature Trust, select special project donation under fund/designation and specify Blueberry Hill project under message/instruction for the Nature Trust.

View of the Grand Bay from the Blueberry Hill Photo: Eric Krugland