UPDATE Nov 26,27 2021:
–Video by Eko Raharjo, Reflections on moose protest, footage of the Rocky lake area
(On Facebook)
– Province releases mainland moose recovery plan with “high priority” actions
ETHAN LYCAN-LANG in the Halifax Examiner “Part of the plan includes a baseline study of moose population status to start over the winter to give a clearer picture of the current state of the mainland moose… A day later [afte the protest] that plan was released. It identifies the “core habitat” of the moose, which spans three major regions of the province (The Tobeatic, Cumberland/Colchester, and Pictou/Antigonish/Guysborough areas). The ESA defines core habitat as “specific areas of habitat essential for the long-term survival and recovery of endangered or threatened species.” The logging operations near Rocky Point Lake are located within core habiat boundaries.”
– N.S. government releases mainland moose recovery plan at ‘critical juncture’
Michael Gorman · CBC News “Mark McGarrigle, a species-at-risk biologist with the province, said the plan validates what people working on the issue have observed for some time. The key is what happens with the plan, he said.”
–
– ‘Not too many options left’ for mainland moose, biologist says
Francis Campbell on saltwire.com “Bancroft, president of Nature Nova Scotia which enompasses 17 separate groups, said despite its recovery plan, the department has, through its actions, turned its back on the mainland moose…“We need a moratorium on forest cutting in known moose areas right now…Bancroft said he and a team of Nature Nova Scotia members and First Nations people worked up a list of known moose habitat areas, keeping it out of public hands to avoid poaching, and presented it to the natural resources department under the previous Liberal government. “They (government) just dismissed us, said it’s not good science.” A wildlife biologist for half a century, Bancroft said he knows the science.””
UPDATE Nov 25, 2021:
Logging threatens mainland moose, say opponents
WILL MCLERNON in signalhfx.ca Cites Bob Bancroft (retired wildlife biologist), Clifford Paul (Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources moose management co-ordinator) “Clifford Paul said the logging operation around Rocky Point Lake goes against Netukulimk and Mi’kmaq treaty rights “Proposing a clearcut to areas where the moose can make a comeback is counterproductive to Netukulimk,” Paul said. “It’s counterproductive to the perpetuity of not only the ecosystem for moose, but the moose population themselves. How can a species such as the mainland moose survive if we keep chipping away what’s good for them?” Between 2,500 and 4,000 moose roamed mainland Nova Scotia in the 1960s, according to the mainland moose recovery plan released on Thursday. The species was declared endangered in 2003. It’s unclear how many mainland moose remain, but the province will conduct a new survey this winter.
Bancroft used to record moose sightings, droppings and tracks for the province. He estimates there’s around 100 moose on the province’s mainland, but nobody knows for sure. A 2019 CBC investigation that included an aerial survey estimated there could be fewer than 100 mainland moose in the wild. Bancroft says the steep decline in the province’s mainland moose population can be attributed to human encroachment. He said about half of Nova Scotia’s forests have been cut over the past 35 years.
“Moose need forests,” Bancroft said. “They need to escape heat in the summer in mature forests, then they need to escape the cold in softwood forests during the winter. But they need to eat to in patches of younger forest nearby.””
– Province issues New Mainland Moose Recovery Plan
NS Government News Release
– Westfor Management: Rocky Point Lake forestry activity is a model of ecological forestry 24Nov2021 On FB, copied onto NSFN
– Nina Newington responds to WestFor on Rocky Lake 25Nov2021
On FB, copied onto NSFN
UPDATE Nov 25, 2021
– Protestors demand logging stop at Rocky Point Lake until recovery plan for mainland moose is in place
ETHAN LYCAN-LANG in the Haifax Examiner Nov 25, 2021
– Stop chopping on Crown land in mainland moose habitats, protesters say
Francis Campbell for Saltwire, Nov 25, 2021
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Original Post
Expressing anguish in the Final moments in the demonstration at NRR today (Nov 24, 2021). The Minister would not talk to protestors. “What does it take to get our government to obey its own laws?”
Action Alert from Forest Protectors and Extinction Rebellion Nova Scotia
:
Please join us this Wednesday, November 24th, at 1pm in front of the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables (used to be Lands and Forestry) at 1701 Hollis St, K’jipuktuk/Halifax.
The major rain storm should be over, and besides, there is no time to waste.
Moose can’t speak for themselves. We need to stand up for them and for ourselves. We need forests as much as they do. Stop Clearcutting Our Home!
WestFor’s contractor is clearcutting the forests around Rocky Point Lake right now. The new government is allowing this to happen. But they are under pressure to stop the cut. Enough pressure that the general manager of WestFor was out at the site last week with their community liaison person. They met three Mi’kmaw women who had come to see for themselves and to gather medicines. MLAs and journalists are visiting the site. Lots of other people have too.
The Minister, Tory Rushton, was asked about the cutting on CBC on Friday. He sounded rattled. Squeezed out the department lines – hey, the other guys approved it; people had a chance to comment (two years ago); all the boxes were ticked; oh and no, he hadn’t seen the letter from the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs. That’s the letter where the Chiefs assert their constitutional right to moose stewardship, demand consultation AND an immediate halt to harvesting operations in the area until a full mainland moose study has been completed. Did the department really believe this letter was so insignificant that they didn’t bother to show it to the new Minister?
Our job is to keep adding pressure and drawing attention to the issue.
Our plans for Wednesday are both funny and deadly serious. The moose are coming to town. Costumes welcome. Antlers will be available. Dress moosily if you can. Wear brown, be prepared for cold and damp. No arrests expected.
Bring signs. A few ideas: Stop Clearcutting Our Home; Stop the Cut at Rocky Point Lake; Respect Indigenous Rights; Moose Need Forests. So Do We; Protect Endangered Species – It’s the Law; Climate Crisis/Biodiversity Crisis: Solve Both or Solve Neither – UN report, June 2021
ALSO, please talk to your MLAs. Follow up if you already visited them. We know some of them are listening. The PC MLA for the Digby County, Jill Balser, is not sure what to do. Help her decide: Stop the Cut.
