Media

Bill Bishop has been named the new executive director of the L.M. Montgomery Land Trust Inc.

Mr. Bishop has returned home to his native PEI to live full-time following his retirement from a career in the oil industry, working with Petro-Canada primarily in supply and logistics. He and his wife Bev, also an Islander, have a summer home in Long River and have bought a condo in Charlottetown for the winters.

They have two adult children, Megan and Ben. Megan lives in Calgary with her husband Shane and kids Zac and Ivy, and Ben lives in Toronto with his partner Melissa.

Mr. Bishop has been involved in various volunteer organizations over the years including community associations, hockey and swimming clubs, and was involved with the alumni association at Mount Allison University, serving two years as its president.

"I have followed the work of the LMM Land Trust over the years," says Bill Bishop. "When we returned to the Island full-time, I saw it as an opportunity to work with a wonderful group of people. The mission of preserving the seascape and the landscape on the north shore for generations to come is important to me, and one worth working for."

In the Saturday, July 19, 2008 edition of The Guardian there’s a cover story titled The Disappearing Landscape that reviews land use issues on Prince Edward Island and mentions the work of the Land Trust.

The article reads, in part:

With the way farming has been going, farmers on P.E.I. are keener than ever to sell their land, says John Cousins, a farmer in Park Corner.

“We’re like the Piping Plover. We’re a dying breed,’’ said Cousins, who’s also on the board of the Lucy Maud Montgomery Land Trust.

The trust’s mandate is to preserve the scenic agricultural land along P.E.I.’s North Shore by finding alternatives to
 development.

Cousins sold the development rights to part of his land to the land trust, so he could keep farming it.

The land trust has bought the development rights to about 130 acres of land between French River and Sea View.

But the price of land has been steadily rising and the trust is having trouble raising enough money to buy development rights.
If buying five acres of land or less, the average price per acre for all types of land nearly tripled between 1994, when the land trust was founded, and 2004. It rose from about $16,500 to about $43,000.

The trust has been petitioning the provincial and federal governments for support.”

The CBC ran a story on our work on Cape Tryon earlier this week.