Copied from post by NN on Annapolis Royal & Area – Environment & Ecology Facebook (public group) Page Oct 17, 2020:
The pale green patches on this map are Crown Land. The grey-green is private land. The blue-green is the Tobeatic Wilderness to the east and the Silver River Wilderness Area to the west. The big lake to the north is Fourth Lake. This Crown Land is known habitat for the endangered Mainland Moose. Recently posted photographs of a Moose cow and her calf were taken in this area. The Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruled this summer that our provincial government has failed in its obligation to protect endangered species. Meanwhile, the federal government has committed to protecting 25% of Canada’s lands and oceans by 2025 and 30% by 2030.
So why not protect this whole area of Crown land?
See those olive lines outlining clusters of irregular shaped patches on the Crown land? Those are parcels that have been approved for cutting by the Department of Lands and Forestry in the last 4 years. Almost all the cuts shown are clearcuts (by various names). Some have already happened. Many have not, but they are about to. WestFor, the consortium that has the contract to harvest on our Crown land, included Northern Pulp. You might have thought the closure of Northern Pulp would give our over-harvested woods a break but no, the province is allowing Irving to cut Northern Pulp’s allocation.
So the government is encouraging clearcutting of this Crown land even though it is known moose habitat? There must be lots of jobs for Nova Scotians then.
According to local information in Digby County, Irving is bringing in 20-22 crews from New Brunswick and Quebec to clearcut Crown land all across the province. No jobs there. Are the workers coming in from Quebec quarantining for 14 days?
Local information also has it that the wood Irving cuts from our Crown lands is hauled straight to the ferry in Digby. Trucks unhitch their trailers and pick up empty ones. Meanwhile the full trailers are hitched up to trucks from New Brunswick and taken across the Bay. The trucks don’t even fill up with fuel in Nova Scotia.
Perhaps it’s not true that Irving is taking the wood from Crown land in Southwest Nova straight to New Brunswick. After all, it would be illegal to haul Hemlock out of the five county area, and saw logs cut by members of the Westfor consortium are supposed to go to Nova Scotia sawmills. Still we have to ask why?
Why is this Mainland Moose habitat not a top priority for protection? Why, when the single best and cheapest way to address the climate and ecological emergency is to keep natural forests standing, is our government encouraging the destruction of these forests?
Please, if any of these questions ring a bell with you, write to the new Minister of Lands and Forests, Derek Mombourquette, and ask him those questions. Mindnr@novascotia.ca will reach him. Cc Stephen McNeil Premier@novascotia.ca and Gordon Wilson Minister.Environment@novascotia.ca, plus your MLA and the leader of the opposition, Tim Houston, pictoueastamanda@gmail.com, and the Auditor General, Terry.Spicer@novascotia.ca, while you are at it.
And please, do it right away. We need to stop this madness now. See Less