OUR
MISSION.
For the benefit of current and future generations and as a factor in helping reduce the effects of climate change, WILD is committed to protecting biodiversity and ecosystems in perpetuity by preserving, through acquisition or other means, our ecologically valuable forests, wetlands and fields and by furthering nature appreciation through environmental education and accessibility to natural green spaces.
OUR
HISTORY.
Wentworth was first settled and subdivided in the early 1800’s. The territory was divided into 7 ranges and about 142 lots. Each lot was about 160 acres and many families settled on more than one lot. One of the main reasons that so much of our municipality remains undeveloped is that most of those original families passed down their land intact from one generation to the next.
Today some of those families still reside here or have only sold off those large parcels of land in the last generation. Those early settlers relied on farming and wood products to make a living. As a result, almost all of the towering pine and oak forests of Wentworth were cut and cleared for fields and to produce lumber. While little of those original farmers’ fields remain today, some still dot our landscape and many of the deep forests have regrown.
By the 1950’s, most of those early family farms had given up the unproductive land around the lakes and the cottage industry had begun to take shape. Seasonal housing in Wentworth began to concentrate around the lakes and the community transitioned from one of farming to one of recreation. As well, development of the Laurentians began and some existing large lots were subdivided as residential projects arrived over the years including Grace Park, Diamond Valley and Territoire des Lacs.
More recently, there has been a trend where once seasonal residents have become permanent homes as our small town country charms have attracted more interest. At one time the number of bears, wolves, deer and moose were at the level of being almost problematic to settlers, now with the loss of habitat they are a rarer but welcome sight. Our many lakes and wetlands continue to provide homes for loons, ducks, geese and a multitude of fish and amphibians but, again, pressure on their habitats are always of concern.
OUR
VISION.
A SUT.
A social utility trust (SUT) is the allocation of assets to a purpose of general interest rather than for the benefit of a natural or legal person.
This legal vehicle is particularly of great interest for the preservation of heritage assets, natural environments, agricultural land and for excluding speculation on land with a social vocation.
The SUT is a contract by which an owner (the grantor) transfers assets from his heritage (financial, buildings, land, etc.) to a trust that he creates and which he allocates to a particular vocation. The settlor(s) may be natural or legal persons who entrust the administration of the trust to a trustee or to a group of people called a board of trustees.
The SUT is enshrined in the constitutive act.
This essentially determines:
• the patrimony ;
• assignment;
• the duration ;
• the method of designating the board of trustees;
• governance rules.
Concepts to better understand:
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SUT is a form of ownership and not inherently a business.
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The SUT is inseparable from the notion of heritage.
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The SUT is created by contract, and not under a law such as the Companies or Cooperatives Act.
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The purpose to which one’s assets are assigned can only be revoked by a court judgment.
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The SUT can be perpetual, it exists just as long as the assets to which it is assigned. It is administered by a board of trustees with regard to the purpose to which it is assigned.
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The SUT has no real owner; the right of trustees is limited to the management of the assets, the terms of which are included in the deed.
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Its governance and the method of appointment of its board of trustees are enshrined in the constitutive act; to change the framework established by the constituents, authorization from a court is required.
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The SUT must be established for the general interest.
