New BrunswickA family dispute left 17-year-old Robin Hanson owning 400 acres of land. Fifty years later, he’s turned it into a nature preserve so that others can enjoy it too.The new Hanson Nature Preserve is located at French Lake, southeast of FrederictonJordan Gill · CBC News · Posted: Sep 25, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoArtist and gallery owner Robin Hanson has turned a 400-acre parcel of land he’s owned since he was 17 into a nature preserve. (Michael Heenan/CBC)If you want to experience nature, you can do a lot worse than the newly opened Hanson Nature Preserve near French Lake in Rusagonis, about 20 kilometres southeast of Fredericton.The 400-acre preserve includes a pine tree estimated to be 260 years old, a large pond with a watch tower for viewing ducks and geese, and even animals who will occasionally interrupt interviews with the media.”There’s a deer walking right in front of my vehicle right now,” Robin Hanson, who owns the preserve, said as he was speaking with Information Morning Fredericton.Hanson, an artist, often combines his love of art and nature. He has an art gallery and a sculpture garden featuring a reproduction fort trading post and several large carvings and other works of art. He also owns an adventure company that offers dragonboat rides and kayak rentals.WATCH | ‘For me it’s like a dream come true’:Meet the New Brunswick man who opened his own nature preserve to the publicRobin Hanson is celebrating the opening of Hanson Nature Preserve in French Lake. The 162-hectare park southeast of Fredericton has been decades in the making — and all in the name of having everyone enjoy the outdoors. The story of the nature preserve began over 50 years ago. That’s when a 17-year-old Hanson got himself mixed up in a family dispute about some land.”It went up for a tax sale with my two uncles,” he said of the property. “They got a kind of an argument on who was going to pay it and neither one would pay.”I came in… and said, ‘Hey, listen, how about if I buy the property?’ And they said, ‘You pay the taxes… and you’ve got it.'”Selective about harvesting treesThe young man ended up paying for the site using the proceeds from harvesting spruce trees and other kinds of pulpwood. His father, a lumberman, assumed that would be the fate of the older and more valuable trees as well. He was wrong.”[He] said, ‘Gee, Robin, you got to take and cut the pine. You got to cut the hardwood,'” said Hanson. “I said, ‘No, Dad. I just really enjoy this part of nature and I’m not going to do that.”Information Morning – Fredericton9:27Hanson nature preserveA new nature preserve is opening in French Lake today, including a bird watching tower and a 260-year old pine tree. Colleen Kitts-Goguen spoke to Robin Hanson, owner of the preserve.Hanson has kept the land mostly untouched ever since. Now his family is on board to make sure it stays that way.”My daughter Tanya is very interested in preservation and I want to keep it in the family,” he said. “Our family is committed to have this preserved forever and a day.”Hanson’s lumberman father expected his son to cut the hardwood trees on the land to pay for its upkeep, but the young man had no desire to do that. (Michael Heenan/CBC)One of the highlights of the property is its 10-metre-high watchtower, offering panoramic views of a marsh.”Right now the leaves are changing and it is a photographer’s dream,” said Hanson. It’s a hot spot for bird watchers… It’s just heartwarming to see people enjoying it.— Robin Hanson”There’s hundreds of ducks. The other night there had to be close to 100 geese that flew in. You’ll see the blue herons… It’s a hot spot for bird watchers.”Calling the preserve a “dream come true,” Hanson said he was happy to see lots of people already enjoying it.”We’ve seen families spend, you know, several hours in our preserve. So it’s just heartwarming to see people enjoying it,” he said.ABOUT THE AUTHORJordan Gill is a CBC reporter based out of Fredericton. He can be reached at jordan.gill@cbc.ca.With files from Information Morning Fredericton and Michael Heenan
Nature preserve on family land is a ‘dream come true’ for Rusagonis artist
