The Bruce Trail Conservancy is receiving $1-million through an Ontario government conservation program to support its effort to transform the former Talisman ski resort property into a nature reserve.
Ontario’s Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks Todd McCarthy and representatives from the Bruce Trail Conservancy gathered at the former Talisman resort property Friday for the funding announcement — $1-million will be provided to the conservancy through Ontario’s Species Conservation Program.
The Talisman Mountain Resort closed in 2011. The Bruce Trail Conservancy acquired the former Talisman Ski resort property — known as the middle resort lands — in 2025. A real estate developer bought two other parcels, the upper and lower portions of the Talisman property, back in 2022.
Bruce Trail Conservancy Chief Executive Officer Michael McDonald says the government funding will support its Talisman Forest Nature Reserve project, an effort to protect and reforest 123 acres of land along the Niagara Escarpment.
“What we’re going to be able to do is to sort of unwind the clock and restore this place back to a really healthy ecosystem,” McDonald says. “And so for us, what that means is rewilding.”
Some of that work will include reforesting the area where the ski slopes were located. Invasive species removal, and habitat restoration will also be part of the conservancy’s work at Talisman.
A permanent new one-kilometre section of the Bruce Trail will also be added at the former Talisman ski property, where the conservancy is working through the permit process before it begins removing the old resort buildings and ski lift. McDonald says the expectation is the removal of the old ski infrastructure could be completed by spring, and then they’ll have “a blank slate and we can start to bring back nature in a real way.”
“One of the exciting things about this announcement is that we’re bringing a full kilometre of the Bruce Trail into permanent protection,” McDonald says. “Not only are we protecting species, but we’re allowing a place for people to go spend time in nature so that they fall in love with it and they want to protect more.”
Ontario’s Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks Todd McCarthy adds in a statement: “The Bruce Trail is one of Ontario’s greatest natural treasures, and adding a new, permanently protected nature reserve along its route is a generational opportunity to expand on our natural heritage while breathing new life into local tourism economies. Through the Species Conservation Program, our government is proud to support the Bruce Trail Conservancy as it restores crucial habitat for species at risk and expands public access to nature, leaving a lasting legacy for generations to come.”