Proposed Harvests. Screen Capture from HPMV, Mar 23, 2022
UPDATE May 10 2022: Reprieve for critically endangered Atlantic whitefish as logging plans halted by Paul Withers for CBC News “N.S. government cites concerns road construction needed to access area near Bridgewater could harm lakes”
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I just received, as a subscriber to The Quaking Swamp Journal, a link to this post by Linda Pannozzo:
Department puts “indefinite hold” on proposed harvests in Atlantic whitefish territory
Linda Pannozzo
The Department of Natural Resources and Renewables has placed an “indefinite hold on a proposed harvest plan, consisting of three areas of Crown land, near Minamkeak Lake, Lunenburg County.”
In an email to The Quaking Swamp Journal it stated:
“The department has determined the proposed harvest plan does not meet all requirements for operating on Crown lands. The primary concern is potential impact to the lakes, where the endangered Atlantic whitefish are located, due to road construction needed to access the proposed harvest area. The department has also confirmed the presence of rare lichens in one area of the proposed harvest plan after it was reported through the public comment process.
Read more on The Quaking Swamp Journal
Some background
Hebbs Cross resident George Buranyi raised the alarm on this one – posted by NRR Mar 14, 2022 – in a Facebook post on March 23, 2022. From GB’s post
Need your help. WestFor is proposing to harvest in the Town of Bridgewater watershed on Minamkeak Lake…
1. This could affect the water supply…
2. The harvest could affect the planet’s last remaining Atlantic whitefish…
3. This area needs to be off limits to any harvesting, ie placed under protection…
4. The harvest proposal conflicts with the goals of protecting the designated watershed that both MODL and the Town of Bridgewater, and the Public Services Commission of Bridgewater have been working on and that many residents support as the area is part of their water supply.
5. This forest needs to be part of the 330,000 hectares that would need to be protected to meet the Premier’s 2030 commitment to protect 20% of lands and seas.
Read more in NSFN post, Apr 15, 2022
Investigative journalist Linda Pannozzo has been delving into this issue in her usual thorough manner. See:
– The Atlantic Whitefish Whitewash
Linda Pannozzo in The Quaking Swamp Journal, Apr 20, 2022:– The Atlantic Whitefish Whitewash Part 2: The case of the missing water quality science gets even murkier
Linda Pannozzo in The Quaking Swamp Journal, Apr 27, 2022
& Subscribe to The Quaking Swamp Journal for updates (and lots more) – it won’t cost a nickel or even a tree!
Thx George, Thx Linda, Thx Bridgewater, Thx to many more who have raised their concerns. That’s what it takes in Nova Scotia, the Department’s comments (“In our efforts to be fair and transparent, the department applies the same process to all proposed forest harvest plans”) notwithstanding.
Coregonus huntsmani Photo by Ian Manning, posted on Wikipedia
