Asks Aaron Beswick in the Chronicle Herald: “So what happens to the Lahey Report’s lofty goals if a million tonnes a year of demand for softwood chips and low quality wood disappears from the market on Jan. 31, 2020?”
Report from the Independent Review of Forest Practices in Nova Scotia released (Post, Aug 21, 2018)
Independent Review Press Release
Good overview in Bill Lahey Slide Set from UNB presentation Nov 19, 2018
View L&F: Ecological Forestry Implementation for the related reports and updates.
Good question. View:
Province silent on implementing Lahey report without Northern Pulp
Aaron Beswick in Chronicle Herald Sep 16, 2019
A few extracts from the article:
Northern Pulp’s owner has been vague about whether the corresponding mill closure will be permanent if it doesn’t get an extension to the Boat Harbour Act to allow it to continue operations while it builds (if granted environmental approval) a highly controversial new facility that would dump treated effluent into the Northumberland Strait.
…Harvesting contractors have told The Chronicle Herald that Lands and Forestry staff have told them that they are forbidden from discussing the impacts of a Northern Pulp closure with industry.
…the report’s premise is that the forestry work that will push Crown forests toward longer lived, higher value species living in mixed stands that are cut in patches rather than large swaths will in the short term produce a larger percentage of pulp wood.
…The argument of Tupper and West is with no market for low quality wood and silviculture funding drying up the ecological forestry leg of Lahey’s three-part management regime is not economically viable.
…But not everyone in the industry shares their logic.
“If the people at the top want to interpret the situation as negative or that it’s impossible to implement Lahey’s recommendations then that doesn’t help,” said Wade Prest, a Mooseland harvester and advocate for ecological forest management.
There’s lots more in the Chronicle Herald.
Thx Aaron Beswick for good investigative reporting.
Thx Chronicle Herald for making this item publicly available.