I am guessing they were not happy about my critique of their letter to members urging them to lobby for an extension of the Boat Harbour deadline
In Jan 2019, the NSFTA wrote a letter to their members asking them to advocate for an extension of the Boat Harbour Act and providing a template letter.
I just went to view the Big Tree contest hosted by the Nova Scotia Forest Technicians Association, and found I was blocked. The message:
“Sorry, 000.000.00.00 has been banned.” (000… being my IP address).
The NSFTA Mandate, as viewable on Google:
The Nova Scotia Forest Technicians Association objectives are: To elevate the image of the Nova Scotia Forest Technicians in the eyes of the government, industry and the public in general. To foster high standards of efficiency. To promote the common interests of all Nova Scotia Forest Technicians.
I am guessing the NSFTA executive did not appreciate this post:
Nova Scotia Forest Technicians Association advocates extension of the Boat Harbour Act
NSFN January 23, 2019
From the text:
“I am in full favour of civil servants (if that’s who some of the Directors of NSFTA are) speaking out against government policy as private individuals if in good conscience one feels he/she is compelled to do so, however, a senior official of an organization such as this advising all members to do so is a different matter. How might they view an application for certification from an individual who had been well known to hold a different opinion?”
I wonder if they have also managed to block the authors of the Healthy Forest Coalition Facebook Page where I first read about the letter the NSFTA wrote to members urging them to lobby the government for an extension on the deadline for ending Northern Pulp’s piping of mill effluent into Boat Harbour.
And if they have also blocked the authors of the Halifax Examiner, also critical of the letter the FTANS wrote to members.
And then there is Woods and Waters Nova Scotia which has hosted Facebook discussion of the Boat Harbour issue.
Shades of The Registered Professional Foresters Association of Nova Scotia back in 2010 or so “lodging a formal breach-of-ethics complaint against Jamie Simpson for (1) criticizing fellow foresters and (2) acting in a manner that might damage the reputation of the profession of forestry. The allegations stem from Jamie’s comments against the recent whole-tree harvesting by Northern Pulp near Upper Musquodoboit”.
I think that organization has evolved, accepting L&F critic Bob Bancroft, after some initial trepidation, in the Nova Scotia Forestry Hall of Fame. (So has Jamie Simpson who now practices Environmental Law and has been handling the current lawsuit asking Nova Scotia L&F to enforce its own regulations for protecting Species-at-Risk.)
Anyway, I AM sorry to lose access to the records of the biggest trees in Nova Scotia, and other info on the NSFTA website. I am also sorry that the NSFTA executive could not have responded more constructively to the critiques of their letter to members on the issue of Boat Harbour.
I can say, that in spite of my frequent critiques of NS Lands and Forestry, most members of that department with whom I have conversed have been very cordial, which I appreciate. They are not yet comfortable to openly debate issues with outsiders, but I am hopeful that will come.
I am an academic and believe firmly in civil public discourse of issues without personalizing them. I have often changed my perspectives as a result of such discussion, rarely when it is red-faced.
——-
Postscript
Fortunately, I found that some of the Big Tree info is posted on Nature NS which, I think, at one time ran the whole deal. Perhaps they should again.
View
– List of Big Trees
– Project – Big Tree Survey
– Tree Locations
– Tree Measurement Methods
– N.S. Tree Species Todo
I do have a couple of candidate trees. I suppose I could go to the public library and submit them to NSFTA under a pen-name.
But they would need a name and contact info. Perhaps I’ll look for a sponsor to do it on behalf of ‘one who wishes to remain anonymous’.