The rural municipality of Stuartburn is trying its best to put the brakes on a land conservation organization that it feels is buying up too much valuable agricultural  land in the municipality.
    
Over the past two decades, the Nature Conservancy of Canada has purchased about 16,000 acres of land in the RM and local municipal officials want the practice stopped.

"We're an agricultural community, primarily livestock and if someone wants to grow a bit more by renting land or perhaps purchasing more land, if they're surrounded by the Nature Conservancy, expansion becomes very limited," said Stuartburn reeve Jim Swidersky.

Swidersky the Conservancy of Canada has become the largest landowner in the municipality and is threatening future economic growth in the municipality, especially when it comes to attracting more families into the municipality.

"Some of the lands that Nature Conservancy has purchased include previous yard sites which they have decommissioned. One year they decommissioned ten yard sites so that means ten less residences we'll have in the municipality, ten less families we'll have and ten less families that will use our hospital or schools, etc."

The RM of Stuartburn will raise the issue through a resolution at this week's annual convention of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities in Winnipeg. It's asking the province to place a moratorium on the purchase of agricultural land by the Nature Conservancy and to impose a recreational tax on the properties currently owned by the organization.

Swidersky anticipates strong support for the resolution from other AMM members. "There are a few other municipalities that are feeling the same way, but on a smaller scale, because in our municipality the Nature Conservancy is the number one land owner."