Nova Scotia Forest Notes will “retire” on June 21, 2022

The first blog post, on June 22, 2016. View All Posts for a chronological list of all posts on NSFN

I began this blog/website on June 21, 2016, and will “retire” it on its 6th anniversary which is on June 21, 2022.

The website will remain on the web as it is now at www.nsforestnotes.ca until renewal of the domain name becomes due on July 21, 2023, then I will not renew the domain name.

The site is archived regularly on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine so by July 2023 all of the material currently on the site will be in that archive. The website on the archive is essentially a perfect replica of this one, and is searchable.

By retiring the site on June 21, 2022, the archive will provide a discrete 6-year record, albeit biased,  of goings-on related to forests and forestry in Nova Scotia, from 2016 to 2021.

There are a few reasons  I want to retire the site now rather than later. One is that the WordPress Platform has a got a bit unwieldy, I think in part because of the many pages and the long lengths of some of the pages; combine that with some slowing down of the internet in my area as well as of my brain,  it has been taking me a lot longer to write and post items  than it did earlier-on.

Another is that I have kind of got out of it what I wanted to in the beginning, which was to gain a better understand of forestry in NS. I could still learn more, but at this point I feel I have a basic grasp of what it’s  about.

At the same time, I have now expressed most or all of my concerns about forest & forestry in NS many times over, so I think I have contributed what I can on that front.

I am not leaving the topic entirely. I have set up a new blog/website at www.versicolor.ca/nstriad which will focus the unfolding of the Triad in NS over the next year or so. That seems appropriate as nsforestnotes began before the Lahey process was conceived, and I have followed it for now almost 4 years beyond when the Lahey Report was tabled (Aug 21,  2018).

The Houston Government has promised to fully implement  the Triad by 2023. As it stands right now, there remain some major unknowns about how it will unfold. So the new site will enable me to complete a record from “before to after Lahey”. Then I may retire from trying to keep a tab on  forestry in NS entirely, but who knows?

Finally, I have been a bit over-consumed with forestry issues to the detriment of a lot else around me, personally and physically, and I need to gain some balance again, for the nth time. I know, that’s hardly a unique situation to be in.

I plan to spend a lot more time on the land and waters of the Chebucto Peninsula & Environs which I consider my home territory. There are some really wonderful places that I still want to explore for the first time, and others to visit again just for the pleasure but just perhaps as well,   to keep some  tab on how much they might have changed from earlier visits. I can’t really let my propensity to want to document everything go entirely – so look for some of it at www. versicolor.ca/chebuctomm

According to stats at the top right of the page, there are currently 845 subscribers to the blog. I have never looked to find out who they are, and be reassured, that’s not going to change and the list will extinguish with the website. I do check visitor stats every now and then which cite the location of ISPs  for people accessing the website. From those  I know the  subscribers include journalists and people accessing the site from NS Government servers (before Covid, I would have upticks Mon to Fri roughly 8:30 am  to 4:40 pm),  some from Federal Government (Canada) servers; and many others. Ninety  plus % of the visits are from sites in Nova Scotia.

Thanks to the many people who have helped shape my perspectives, to  several people who have contributed directly to the contents and to many who have participated in  discussions via social media. A special wave to Woods and Waters Nova Scotia (public Facebook page) which has faithfully posted links to my posts and hosted at times, extensive discussions related to the posts.

I have had compliments from both side of the ‘forestry debate’.  “‘Don’t always agree with you”, said one, but I appreciate the website”. That’s good enough for me! We progress together when we talk to each other, not when we yell at each other or ignore each other.