–
This page provides a list of links to news items related to forests and forestry in Nova Scotia beginning Jan 1, 2020 to Dec 31, 2020 as I was able to catch them.
For More recent news, see
- In the News (Current News)
- In the News Jan-May 2022
- In the News 2021
For older items (June 21, 2016 to Dec 31, 2019), view
Older News.
The dates cited below are the dates of publication of the news items (not the dates on which I accessed them).
View Also:
– Social Media Posts
– All NSFN Posts
– GHGs in the News
- Dec 31, 2020:
– N.S. man donates parcel of land to mark 50 years since immigrating to Canada
CBC News “‘I thought it should be public. And now it is, so I’m a happy camper,’ says Dusan Soudek” - Dec 30, 2020:
– BILL BLACK: Rankin’s policies tack far to the left of McNeil
Bill Black in the Chronicle Herald, Subscription Required “Noting the significant level of local support, he believes that that an environmentally sensitive proposal for a golf resort at Owls Head could be approved” - Dec 29, 2020:
– ‘We cannot make it without science’: Greta Thunberg says climate experts are being ignored
The Guardian
– Acquisition of Blue Mountain connector property a big piece of wilderness park puzzle
Francis Campbell in Chronicle Herald. Subscription required. View WWNS image “The land was acquired from landpwners Robin Wilbur and Bill Fenton, who agreed to see and donate the wilderness lots” Also view NS Nature Trust Announcement, and CBC News: Nature Trust completes purchase of Halifax wilderness area - Dec 23, 2020:
– Nova Scotia has laid charges for 32 environmental infractions against Atlantic Gold
Joan Baxter in the Halifax Examiner Subscription ($10/mo) required - Dec 22, 2020:
– $50M forestry trust begins paying out funds
Michael Gorman · CBC News “…The trust is also going to hire a facilitator to work with several groups that submitted similar proposals to help private woodlot owners adopt sustainable management practices. One of those groups is the Family Forest Centre, a collective of seven organizations representing 5,000 small woodlot owners that’s helping implement the recommendations of the Lahey Report on private land.” - Dec 21, 2020:
– Forestry Innovation Transition Trust Approves Projects
NS Gov News Release. Also this document: Forestry Transition Team Update to the Forestry Sector December 2020 - Dec 20, 2020
– Maple syrup industry sounds alarm over new Quebec lumber policy
By Benson Cook Global News - Dec 19, 2020
– 30,000+ sign petition, Province Refuses to Respond, Arrests Protesters Instead
Nature Nova Scotia Petition on change.org - Dec 18, 2020:
– Where are wood prices going?
By Gene “The Wood Doctor” Wengert for Woodworking Network ” Softwood construction lumber prices are 183 percent higher now than about two years ago. They seem to be rising further with the strong new housing numbers…”
– Exclusive: A $5 billion foundation literally founded on oil money is saying goodbye to fossil fuels
By Matt Egan, CNN Business “The Rockefeller Foundation, a 107-year-old philanthropy built by oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, is breaking up with fossil fuels in an effort to save the planet. Beyond pledging to dump its fossil fuel holdings, the $5 billion endowment is also promising not to make any new investments in the beleaguered sector. The moves make the Rockefeller Foundation the largest US foundation to embrace the rapidly growing divestment movement.”
– Letter to the province : This era of autocratic governance and environmental degradation must end
By Lindsay Lee in the Nova Scotia Advocate “I had never before thought of myself as an activist. However, I understand the escalating threats of climate change and biodiversity loss. I recognize that urgent action is needed. I expect our government to make well-researched decisions that reflect the best available science. If trusting in science makes one an activist, then I will wear that label with pride.”
– Ecojustice defends Extinction Rebellion Nova Scotia Association against injunction
On ecojustice.ca “James Gunvaldsen Klaassen, lawyer for Ecojustice, said: “Members of Extinction Rebellion Nova Scotia Association have been peacefully protesting to draw attention to the risks that forestry activity will have on endangered Mainland Moose and the habitat on which they depend. They have a legal right to do so. “Habitat loss is putting the survival of Nova Scotia’s iconic Mainland moose at risk. It’s time for the Government of Nova Scotia to stop prioritizing the interests of the province’s forestry industry, including companies such as WestFor Management, and start fulfilling its legal duty to protect these animals before it’s too late.”
– Province complicit in tragedy of mainland moose
Bev Wigney in the Chronicle Herald. View on WWNS
– Protestor takes issue to city hall
Francis Campbell in the Chronicle Herald
- Dec 17, 2020:
– SHANNI BALE: WestFor statement on mainland moose challenged
Chronicle Herald - Dec 16, 2020:
– Police arrest 9 protesters impeding logging project after court-ordered injunction
Alex Cooke · CBC News
– Logging protestors arrested (Audio)
CBC Info AM “The RCMP arrested nine people who were blocking a logging road in Digby County. We hear from one of them.” - Dec 15, 2020:
– News brief: Forest defenders arrested
RobertDevet in The Nova Scotia Advocate
– Mainland Moose, forestry can co-exist
Marcus Zwicker in the Chronicle Herald. Image on WWNS - Dec 14, 2020:
– Why we should worry about the few remaining mainland moose, now more than ever
By RobertDevet in the Nova Scotia Advocate
– Wildlife biologist calls highway tree-cutting ‘excessive’
Katie Hartai in Halifax Today. “Kilometres of tree coverage lining parts of 100 series highways have been significantly cut back”
– Westfor granted injunction to remove Southwest Nova protesters (Audio)
CBC Info AM talks to Lawyer Jamie Simpson is representing one of the protesters. - Dec 12, 2020:
– Analysis-As Paris climate pact turns five, leaders urged to make more space for nature
By Megan Rowling for Reuters “Global leaders can no longer deal with the climate and biodiversity crises in isolation if we are to be successful in addressing either of them”– Court extends Northern Pulp creditor protection
Aaron Beswick in the Journal Pioneer “Northern Pulp is safe from its creditors for another five months…The Nova Scotian taxpayer is its largest secured creditor – holding about $86 million in loans to five companies associated with the Pictou County Pulp Mill…That $50 million pot set up by Northern Pulp’s parent company, upon which it has already drawn $15 million, comes with strings attached. The money is being provided in the form of advances based upon the following milestones being reached by December 2022.
– An environmental approval to build a replacement effluent treatment plant;
– An agreement with the province to help fund its design and construction.
– A court decision or negotiated settlement with the province paying lost profits and damages associated with the idling of the kraft pulp mill.” - Dec 11, 2020:
– N.S. judge issues temporary injunction against forestry protest aimed at protecting mainland moose habitat
By Michael Tutton The Canadian Press on CTV News - Dec 10, 2020:
– Rainbow Forest president on protesters blocking logging roads (Audio)
CBC Info AM
– In photos: see old-growth go from stand to stump on B.C.’s Vancouver Island
Caroll Linitt in The Narwhal
– WestFor asks for injunction to remove protesters concerned about endangered moose
Emma Smith, Phlis McGregor · CBC News
– Press release: Westfor applies for injunction against mainland moose blockades
Nova Scotia Advocate - Dec 9, 2020:
– Northern Pulp is misleading the court about how the environmental assessment process works in Nova Scotia
Joan baxter in the Halifax Examiner - Dec 8, 2020:
– Small dam, big controversy
Joan Baxter in the Halifax Examiner “How the contentious aboiteau at the Windsor Causeway could generate a national conversation about fish passage.”
– Northern Pulp to seek new effluent treatment plant
By Aaron Beswick in The Chronicle Herald, subscription required. View photo on WWNS
– Free ‘forest baths’ meant to reduce pandemic-related stress for B.C. health care workers
By Kevin Griffin, Vancouver Sun “The idea is inspired by the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku or forest bathing” - Dec 5, 2020:
– Business and Schools
PHILIP MOSCOVITCH in the Halifax Examiner “Education is underfunded, and donations from businesses help fill gaps. But when do corporate donations — and the schools’ acknowledgement of them — cross an ethical line?…WestFor has a page on its website devoted to its work building outdoor classrooms. It’s right in there alongside pieces on how more of the forest dies off naturally than is harvested by WestFor in any given year, and shows a smiling crew member in a “Nova Scotia needs forestry” t-shirt.” - Dec 3, 2020:
– Nothing done 2 years after province promised to implement Lahey forestry recommendations, critics say
Francis Campbell in the Chronicle Herald, subscription required.
– Proposed clearcut in Cape Breton threatens endangered martens’ habitat, local naturalist fears
By RobertDevet in the Nova Scotia Advocate - Dec 1, 2020:
A new policy platform is thinking big on forests and climate (USA)
By Kylie Clay & Lauren Cooper for grrenbiz.com “The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has sent a clear message: to keep catastrophic climate change impacts at bay, we need to keep our warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, and the land sector must play a central role in achieving that. We need to stop emissions from deforestation and forest degradation while simultaneously bolstering the carbon sequestration capacity of healthy, growing forests…Following the recent U.S. presidential election, the Forest-Climate Working Group (FCWG) released an ambitious federal policy platform..Amongst the specific proposals:
– Create a new forest conservation easement program
– Create a landowner tax credit for private forest carbon actions.
– Create a low carbon footprint building tax credit. - Nov 30, 2020:
– Saint John prepares for critics as it sets 2021 industrial water rates
By Robert Jones for CBC News “The communications challenge arises because… the $6 million in charges works out to an average of 11.6 cents per 1,000 litres. That is a small fraction of what other city water users pay…. Industrial water rates have been the source of political controversy in Saint John since at least 1958 when it signed a 25-year agreement with industrialist K.C. Irving to supply Irving Pulp and Paper.”
–A picture is worth a thousand words: How clearcutting erodes connectivity between wilderness areas in Digby County
Robert Devet in the Nova Scotia Advocate - Nov 28, 2020:
– JIM VIBERT: McNeil turns blind eye to endangered moose, deaf ear to protests
Jim Vibert in the Chronicle Herald. Subscription required. View image on WWNS Vibert talks with Bob Bancroft on Moose ecology; it closes “when Nova Scotians call out the government for its failures and pressure it to meet its responsibilities, the McNeil government reverts to form: first, it ignores them and, should they have the nerve to actually show up, the government calls the cops. Nova Scotians have said repeatedly that they want a government that cares about nature and seriously addresses pressing environmental concerns. The available evidence suggests that this isn’t it.”
– Future of Lahey report rests in the hands of Nova Scotia’s next premier
Michael Gorman · CBC News “All 3 candidates pledge support for sustainable forestry practices” - Nov 27, 2020:
On the SW Nova Scotia Biosphere Reserve
– ANNOUNCEMENT: Striking the Balance: Episode 9: Southwest Nova coming Nov. 29 at 8pm
- Nov 26, 2020:
– Nova Scotia ‘whacking away’ at mainland moose habitat, wildlife biologist says
Francis Campbell for the Chronicle Herald. (Subscription required) - Nov 25, 2020:
– Silence, the sound of stonewalling: Letter on the province’s unwillingness to meet with the mainland moose defenders
Bev Wigney in the Nova Scotia Advocate - Nov 24, 2020:
– Double-pronged clearcutting protest results in two arrests at government office
Francis Campbell in the Chronicle Herald “The long-running protest against clearcutting Crown land and further endangering mainland moose in the province resulted in two arrests Tuesday at the Lands and Forestry office in downtown Halifax. While members of the group Extinction Rebellion continued their camp and blockade of loggers in Southwest Nova Scotia, four protesters staged a sit-in at the minister’s office at Founders Square. “They gave us clear warning that they were going to arrest us,” said Eleanor of the Extinction Rebellion group. Eleanor, who preferred not to have her last name used, said the four were sitting on the floor outside the office and asked to speak to Minister Derek Mombourquette but were told he wasn’t in. They then said they would leave peacefully if the minister would call Nina Newington, spokeswoman for the Extinction Rebellion group that is blocking access for logging equipment in Digby County but were told by reception that they didn’t have the minister’s contact number. Eleanor said she was handcuffed and dragged down the hall, to the elevator and through the building atrium to a police car… ”
– Blockade continues to stop Digby County clearcuts
Joan baxter in the Halifax Examiner. (No subscription required for this article.) “Moose habitat protectors still waiting for word from the Department of Lands and Forestry – or is it the Department of Silence?” - Nov 21, 2020:
–
JIM VIBERT: McNeil’s environmental record a litany of broken promises
Jim Vibert in the Chronicle Herald. Subscription required. “With the singular exception of the Boat Harbour cleanup, Premier Stephen McNeil’s government has broken virtually every significant promise it’s made to Nova Scotians on the environment.” - Nov 20, 2020:
– Extinction Rebellion group says province making a mockery of UNESCO
CBC Info AM “All the counties in Southwest Nova Scotia are part of a huge UNESCO biosphere reserve. Members of the group extinction rebellion say if mainland moose become extinct in Nova Scotia, UNESCO will be compliant.” - Nov 19, 2020:
– A New UN Push Aims to Feed the World’s Rabid Hunger for Carbon Credits
Eric Roston on www.bloombergquint.com/ Many companies bent on zeroing out carbon emissions by mid-century or sooner are seeing their ambitions run up against the same big obstacle: there aren’t enough trees. One of the most popular ways for businesses to reduce their net emissions is to buy carbon-reduction credits, or “offsets,” for things like protecting forests from destruction or regrowing them. Offset programs are arduous and expensive to establish. Governments must develop comprehensive conservation strategies and invest in technologies and practices to verify and monitor them. Consequently, the number of trustworthy offsets programs is a small fraction of what’s possible.
– Crews douse smokestack fire at Upper Musquodoboit pellet mill
The Chronicle Herald
Is more of Canada burning in forest fires? New research says no
CBC News · Posted: Nov 19, 2020 “Study’s author says he’s not disputing climate change, just public perceptions about wildfires”. References Fraser Institute Document - Nov 18, 2020:
–Provincial Parks Filled with Local Visitors in 2020
L&F Press Release “Nova Scotia’s provincial parks had another successful year, welcoming more than 247,000 visitors at camping parks and over one million at day-use parks.” - Nov 17, 2020:
–Land donation signs new hope for N.S. moose population (Video)
CBC “The Nature Conservancy is celebrating a major land donation along the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick border. The hope is the protected wilderness will help the endangered mainland moose. CBC’s Colleen Jones explains.” - Nov 16, 2020:
– Woodlot owners say N.B. pricing system keeps them from cashing in on high lumber demand
Connell Smith · CBC News - Nov 15, 2020:
– Pictou County beachgoers win right to challenge minister’s decision
Haley Ryan · CBC News “Residents say case could set precedent when it comes to public beach access” (It may also set precedents re: private versus public interest and nature conservation more broadly.) - Nov 13, 2020:
– Can carbon caches help us preserve a moderate climate? (podcast)
Jordan Heath-Rawlings on thebigstorypodcast.ca
– News brief: Wilderness designation of unique ecological area near Halifax reaches critical stage
By RobertDevet in the Nova Scotia Advocate. About the Ingram River Wilderness Area near St. Margaret’s Bay - Nov 12, 2020:
–
Letter: A meeting request from the Moose Country Blockade
Nina Newington/Extinction Rebellion Nova Scotia in the Nova Scotia Advocate - Nov 10, 2020:
– Aid package that saved N.S. paper mill goes before trade tribunal
Paul Withers · CBC News “Resolute Forest Products is claiming $100M in damages from Canada”
– Open letter to Iain Rankin: “How are voters to trust you with a record like that?”
By Shanni Bale in the Nova Scotia Advocate. “Mr. Rankin, your pledges need to be trustworthy if you want them to translate into votes, and how are voters to trust you with a record like that? More needs to be done to restore credibility, and clearly, much more needs to be done towards a sustainable future in this province. I have three propositions that have the potential to go a good way towards both.” - Nov 8, 2020:
– Letter: Stop the clearcutting
By Sydnee McKay in The NS Advocate - Nov 7, 2020:
– Northern Pulp falls behind in Boat Harbour cleanup
Paul Withers · CBC News
– BOB BANCROFT: Clearcuts squeeze out beleaguered mainland moose
Bob Bancroft in the Chronicle Herald. View image on WWNS - Nov 5, 2020:
– Aluminum concentrations in Nova Scotia rivers too high for fish health, study finds
Francis Campbell in saltwire.com/news/
– Ignoring the Forest Protectors won’t make them go away
Bev Wigney in the Chronicle Herald, subscription required. View photo on WWNS
– Forestry coalition calls for halt on some types of harvesting on N.S. Crown land
Alex Cooke · CBC News “‘We’re losing a lot of these high-conservation-value forests,’ says co-ordinator of Healthy Forest Coalition”
– Healthy Forest Coalition calls for moratorium on certain types of logging on Crown land (audio)
CBC Info AM
– The biggest trees capture the most carbon: Large trees dominate carbon storage in forests
by Frontiers on phys.org - Nov 3, 2020:
– BOB BANCROFT: Clearcuts squeeze out beleaguered mainland moose
Bob Bancroft in the Chronicle Herald. Subscription required.
– Letter: The clock is ticking – Lands and Forestry must address its “chronic and systemic failure” to protect mainland moose
By Lindsay Lee in the Nova Scotia Advocate
– XR calls for an immediate moratorium on all proposed and current logging on Crown lands from Fourth Lake south to the Napier River in Digby County
Extinction Rebellion NS
– CLEARCUTTING MUST STOP – HEALTHY FOREST COALITION ALARMED BY ‘CUTTING FRENZY’
Press Release from Healthy Forest Coalition
– Documents give details about controversial golf development in coastal N.S.
Michael Gorman · CBC News “Record filed in N.S. Supreme Court by province includes value of Owls Head provincial park” - Nov 2, 2020:
– CO2 emissions from forestry are a surging climate threat. Ottawa needs to act
By Barry Saxifrage in the National Observer. - Oct 30, 2020:
– Conservation group makes pitch to Parks Canada for St. Marys River designation
Jean Laroche · CBC News
– Applications Open for Second Round of Forestry Innovation Fund Nov. 1
NS Government News Release “Additional Resources: Government’s forestry sector support website is at: https://novascotia.ca/forestry-sector-support/. A new vision for the forestry sector, developed by the Forestry Transition Team, is available at https://novascotia.ca/forestry-sector-support/transition.asp”
– Environmentalist furious, foresters frustrated Biodiversity Act still stalled
Jean Laroche · CBC News - Oct 29, 2020:
– Still no timeline for when N.S. government could pass proposed Biodiversity Act
Michael Gorman · CBC
– Mike Lancaster on Lands and Forestry and protecting the mainland moose: “Something is not working, that much is clear”
By RobertDevet in The Nova Scotia Advocate 
Oct 28, 2020
– CBC Evening News on ‘The Blockade’ in Mainland Moose Habitat
It’s about 11 min in- Oct 27, 2020:
– Protesters block logging road, say endangered moose at risk
Emma Smith, Phlis McGregor · CBC News
– Checking in with the blockade for mainland moose (audio)
CBC Info AM - Oct 24, 2020:
– Soul-soothing Mik’maw special places now preserved
MELISSA LABRADOR in the Chronicle Herald, subscription may be required. “This is where my ancestors’ memories are strong. I’m speaking about two very special places located in the Mi’kmaq District of Kespukwitk, in southwestern Nova Scotia, called Katewe’katik and Pu’tlaqne’katik. Both of these places were formerly protected by the Nova Scotia government last week. In these very difficult times, this little bit of good news was welcome. I’d like to tell you a little bit about these places, and why protecting them is so important…” - Oct 23, 2020:
– e-petition 2675 re: Fish Passage at Windsor Causeway, tabled in House of Commons
Presented by Gord Johns Courtenay—Alberni, BC
– Annapolis County to involve stakeholders in objective look at Glyphosate
Lawrence Powell on annapoliscounty.ca
“Annapolis County will form an ad-hoc committee to study the herbicide Glyphosate with a mandate to bring back a report to municipal council within a year. Councillor Michael Gunn delivered a report to council Oct. 20 after he and councillors Bruce Prout and Gregory Heming had been tasked with looking into the issue of the defoliant’s use within the county. They recommended that a formal committee be set up to study Glyphosate.”
– News brief: Mainland moose habitat in Digby County occupied to protect it from clearcutting
By RobertDevet in the NS Advocate
– Protesters block logging road over mainland moose protections (audio)
CBC Info AM - Oct 22, 2020:
– A place of time and space: proposed Ingram Wilderness Area seeks ascension
Zack Metcalfe on hubnow.ca/
– 2020 Report Measuring the Benefits of BC’s Community Forests Released
BC Community Forest Association “Community forests are creating more jobs in rural communities. This year’s results show that community forests are creating 85% more jobs/ m3 than the industry average in their forestry, logging and support services. They operate in sensitive areas and are reliably supplying logs to both major processing facilities and small manufacturers. They are generating economic activity, while contributing to local projects.”
– Dyer: Wood pellets cause carbon emissions in more ways than one
Kristy Dyer in www.summerlandreview.com/ (B.C.)
– Under this N.S. highway, deer find safe passage away from cars
Paul Palmeter · CBC News “$1.29M tunnel meant to prevent collisions between vehicles, deer…”It allows for more connectivity between habitats,” said Doucette. “The wildlife will be able to safely cross under the highway so it won’t become a barrier, which means they won’t get stuck in fragmented habitats which could increase competition in food resources for them.” - Oct 21, 2020:
– British Columbians want more parks, even if it means less mining and logging: survey
Liam Harrap in revelstokereview.com
– Montreal-based GHGSat unveils global map of methane concentrations
By Jean−Benoit Legault in the National Observer - Oct 20, 2020:
– A letter from SRES Professors to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Karen Beazley & others on www.dal.ca “True to the spirit and intent of the Treaties, the Constitution Acts 1867 and 1982, Supreme Court rulings, recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and other laws, signatory agreements and promises, we urge strong action in support of the Mi’kmaq and all Indigenous persons and Indigenous governments within Canada. We urge immediate attention to the escalating situation related to the Mi’kmaw lobster fishery in southwestern Nova Scotia. We are all treaty people, and as such we all have the responsibility to live up to our Treaty obligations.”
– Cape Breton wilderness area grows with Nature Conservancy of Canada land purchase
By Christopher Connors, Cape Breton Post
– ‘Significant improvements’ in province’s lumber market system, says auditor general
Jacques Poitras · CBC News. New Brunswick “Last year the Higgs government announced plans to give private woodlots a larger share of the market to supply large mills in New Brunswick, while freezing the amount coming from Crown land.”
– Digby resident says province is logging endangered mainland moose habitat (audio)
CBC Information Morning – NS with Louise Renault, Portia Clark
– Richard Amero shows the moose track by the side of a logging road on crown land near the Tobeatic Wilderness Area.
CBC Info AM on Twitter
– ANNOUNCEMENT: Natural Solutions: How Canada can fight climate change and wildlife loss – Meghan Leslie Wed Oct 28th
St. Mary’s University School of Environment Presentation. View details. - Oct 19, 2020:
– Dutch to phase out subsidies for wood-fired power stations
www.dutchnews.nl - Oct 16, 2020
– Expert: Beware Of Simple Solutions – Tree Planting Won’t Solve Climate Change
By Erik Kobayashi-Solomon Forbes Magazine
– East Coast Environmental Law Publishes New Legal Toolkits on Environmental Impact Assessment Processes in Atlantic Canada
On ECELAW website - Oct 15, 2020:
– Where They Stand: The Parties on Saving Old Growth
Amanda Follett Hosgood in The Tyee “What BC’s platforms say — and don’t say — about protecting ancient forests…According to Coste, logging continues in some of B.C.’s rarest, most valuable old-growth forests, with only about one per cent of them protected within the deferral areas…Olsen calls it the NDP’s “talk and log” approach to forestry.” Reverberations of Talk and Log, Study and Log… in Nova Scotia
– ANNOUNCEMENT: Bob Bancroft on Where Have All the Good Forests Gone? FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2020 AT 9 AM UTC-03 – 10 AM UTC-03
–Horgan commits to ‘paradigm shift’ in old growth forest management (British Columbia)
Fran Yanor , Local Journalism Initiative Reporter / The Rocky Mountain Goat “John Horgan has committed an NDP government to enacting independent review recommendations calling for a ‘paradigm shift’ in old growth forest management, including legislation to make ecosystem health and biodiversity an overarching, all-sector priority. The report, A New Future for Old Forests, was commissioned by the Province to engage British Columbians in a review of B.C.’s old growth strategy.[The process was announced July 17, 2019; the report was submitted on April 30, 2020] It revealed a ‘paradigm shift’ in how society viewed the natural environment, and recommended forest management needed to adapt accordingly… Merkel and forester/consultant Al Gorley made up the two-person panel that conducted the old growth review.” – Gorley was also an adviser to Lahey in our Independent Review of Forestry Practices. - Oct 14, 2020:
– Satellites could soon map every tree on Earth
Niall P. Hanan & Julius Y. Anchang in Nature
– Greater Land Protection Across Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia Environment News Release “Government is committed to protecting the province’s land and waterways with the addition of 10 more designated protected areas. Two of the areas will be recognized with Mi’kmaw names… these will bring the province’s total protected land to about 12.83 per cent” View also Summary Report:What we heard during Nova Scotia Wilderness Areas Consultations January 9th through March 9th, 2020.
– JOHN DeMONT: Breathe deep and bathe in Nova Scotia’s forests
John DeMont in the Chronicle Herald, subscription required. Cited on WWNS - Oct 13, 2020:
– Rethinking the way we view Nova Scotia’s Crown land
CBC Info AM “A former director with Nova Scotia’s Department of Environment says the forestry industry has too much control over forested crown land. Dale Smith is now retired from public service.”
Researchers look into the effects of repeated droughts on different kinds of forests
by Harrison Tasoff, University of California – Santa Barbara on phys.org/news. “cientists are only beginning to understand how the effects of multiple droughts can compound to affect forests differently than a single drought alone.” The article cites this paper in Nature Climate Change published 28 September 2020:Divergent forest sensitivity to repeated extreme droughts by William R. L. Anderegg et al.
– Derek Mombourquette, MLA for Sydney Whitney Pier and Minister of Energy and Mines, also becomes Minister of the Department of Lands and Forestry
NS Government Press Release. This is to replace Iain Rankin who resigned earlier to run for the Premier’s position (Premier McNeil announced in August he would be resigning; A new Liberal leader will be selected electronically by voting delegates and announced at the Nova Scotia Liberal Party’s leadership convention on February 6, 2021 (Liberal Party announcement). - Oct 11, 2020:
– The non-traditional idea that’s part of how one couple manage their woodlot
Michael Gorman · CBC News About the restorative approach of a Cumberland County couple to managing 40 hectares of land they purchased in 2012. “Prior to the couple buying it, the approximately 40 hectares of land in Shinimicas had two clearcuts in the previous 25 years, and it showed…The couple’s approach earned them the provincial woodlot owner of the year award for 2020, a nod that more often goes to people managing a piece of land that’s been in the family for multiple generations.” - Oct 9, 2020:
– B.C. gives Pacific BioEnergy green light to log rare inland rainforest for wood pellets
Matt Simmons in The Narwhal - Oct 8, 2020
Not expressed in SK’s feel-good-about-gold-mining-in-NS: his efforts to allow gold mining in Game Sanctuaries and Protected Areas. View Gold Miners encroaching on The Big Animals’ Lands
– We need gold and better to mine it here
Sean Kirby in the Chronicle Herald. Kirby is identified as the Executive Director of the Mining Association of Nova Scotia. Interestingly, access to this item does not require a subscription, at least not this morning. Does the CH take a payment to allow such public access, or is just consistent with their byline: “Local, trusted news matters now more than ever. And so does your support.” Apologies for inserting a snarky comment. I cannot access most items by the CH that are of interest; after subscribing for 8 mos and experiencing only sporadic access the CH and other Saltwire publications, and with little help from CH/Saltwire (phone and wait forever), I recently gave up, only adding to my earlier frustrations with the CH.
– Announcement: JOIN US FOR HALF-EARTH DAY® 2020
www.half-earthproject.org. Oct 22, 2020 – 11 am to 3:15pm ET. Opening presentation is by EO Wilson (the’Father of Biodiversity’) and and Paula J. Ehrlich (President and CEO of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation): How to save the Natural World. ‘Need to Register (it’s free)
– Grand Challenges in Global Biodiversity Threats
CJAB On conservationbytes.com/
– Contributions of forest and water sectors overlooked in policy processes
Sandra Cordon on forestsnews.citfor.org “Webinars to explore impact of integrated management…“A transformation is needed, from conventional forest management approaches focused on biomass production, to the recognition of forests as natural infrastructure where ecosystem services delivery, especially water, is a primary management objective,” said Elaine Springgay, a forestry officer with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).”
– A Place of Time and Space
“The proposed Ingram River Wilderness is a natural treasure just outside Halifax – efforts to advance the plan continue”
Zack Metcalfe in Halifax Magazine - Oct 7, 2020:
– Renewed Loan Board Provides Greater Access to Financing to Forestry Sector
NS Agriculture / Lands and Forestry Press release
–
– No lumber? ‘Goodwood’ made from plastic waste
CTV News, about Goodwood Plastics based in Fort Ellis, NS.
– Resolute’s attempt to obtain confidential info from Port Hawkesbury Paper rejected
By Paul Withers CBC News “Montreal-based Resolute Forest Products sought business information from Port Hawkesbury Paper”
– The Great Miramichi Fire may be the biggest forest fire ever, but few have heard of it
CBC. “Fire burned for a day and a half destroying one-fifth of the province’s forests.”
– Courts in Canada weighing climate constitutional challenges
By Ian Burns in The Lawyer’s Daily “Moving the needle on climate change may soon no longer be the exclusive domain of politicians as courts across the country consider whether to move ahead with a number of lawsuits…”
– Letter: Towards a forestry that restores nature, stores carbon and creates jobs
Sydnee McKay in NS Advocate
– Unfinished Homework
Lindsay Lee in Chronicle Herald. View on WWNS
– Andrew Oliver Area Forester, Western Woodlot Services Co-operative, Bridgewater, N.S. cited in CFI’s eighth annual Top 10 Under 40
Canadian Forest Industries
– Wildfire losses up in Nova Scotia for first time since 2016
Ian Fairclough in Chronicle Herald, subscription required. View on WWNS - Oct 5, 2020:
– 2nd Liberal to enter N.S. leadership race wants more action on climate change
Jean Laroche · CBC News “Rankin served as environment minister for a year before being shuffled in 2018 to lands and forestry. He has resigned from cabinet in order to enter the race to replace Stephen McNeil, who announced in August that he will step down as Nova Scotia premier once a new leader is chosen”
| BIODIVERSITY LOSS News Cluster, Sep 28-Oct 5, 2020
|
| CLIMATE CHANGE/FOREST BIOMASS News Cluster, Sep 29-30, 2020
|
- Sep29, 2020 continued:
– Forest Trickery, Forest Massacre
By Raymond Plourde. Syd Damarseq, Letters in the Chronicle Herald. Subscription required. Cited on WWNS
– Activists “occupied” North Mountain to stop herbicide spraying, but how big of a victory was it?
JOAN BAXTER in the Halifax Examiner “43 sites comprising 1,498 hectares across the province were approved for spraying. All but 4 were sprayed.” - Sep 28, 2020:
– Protestors celebrate early end to glyphosate spraying season in Nova Scotia
Taryn Grant · CBC News “Province says spraying cancelled because of Hurricane Teddy”
– Why Nova Scotia wants to poison a lake to kill off invasive species
Paul Withers · CBC News
– Colchester County Couple Named Woodland Owners of the Year
Lands & Forestry Press Release “A commitment to sustainable forest practises and an eye for innovation have earned Colchester County couple Stacey and Norman Paupin of Folly Lake the title of provincial Woodland Owners of the Year for 2020. In 2012, the Paupins bought a 40 hectare woodlot near Shinimicas Cumberland Co. with the goal of restoring the forest to harvest firewood and non-timber forest products. Using treatments like thinning, they have improved the forest health by encouraging growth of native species. Stacey and Norman use solar powered pumps to collect sap and have adapted technology to make birch syrup, which sells for a higher price than maple syrup.” - Sep 27, 2020:
– Northern Pulp receives new funding to pay employees more severance, retiree benefits
Cassidy Chisholm · CBC News ” “The good thing about the funding is that obviously one of the things we wanted to do is ensure that people stay in the community and they’re able to go back to work when the mill restarts…” - Sep 26, 2020:
– Dry summer shrinks N.S. lake, revealing ‘works of art’ in ancient Mi’kmaw artifacts
Jon Tattrie · CBC News “Point, arrowhead offer glimpses into the long human history in Mi’kma’ki” - Sep 25, 2020:
– The climate crisis is still here
By Feleshia Chandler in The Coast. “Hundreds gather in downtown Halifax in the name of intersectional climate justice…A group called Stop Spraying & Clear-Cutting Nova Scotia (SSACCNS)which focuses on stopping the spraying of harmful herbicides and the cutting down of Canadian forestry also spoke. “So far we’ve been able to stop four spray-cuttings which has never been known to happen,” says Sydnee Lynn, SSACCNS organizer.” - Sep 24, 2020:
– What the Petitcodiac River can teach us about Windsor’s controversial causeway
Carole Morris-Underhill on the Valley Journal Advertiser.
– Why forest harvests did not decline after Northern Pulp closed
Michael Gorman · CBC News “Iain Rankin says sawmills still need supply, supply chain must be maintained” - Sep 23, 2020:
– A for Adventure: Appreciating the beauty of trees
CBC Info AM “Our A for Adventure team tells us about some of the best places in Nova Scotia to appreciate the majesty of the hemlock, and the beautiful fall foliage this time of year.”
– Climate rally highlights need for forestry reform
By Nova Scotia Advocate , Press Release from Stop Spraying and Clear-Cutting Nova Scotia/ “Members of Stop Spraying and Clear-Cutting Nova Scotia (SSCCNS) will be attending the student-led Climate Strike on Friday, September 25, 2020. Protestors will meet at 12:00 PM at Halifax City Hall/Grand Parade…On this day of global climate action, SSCCNS would like to highlight the vital role that healthy forests play in fighting climate change. Science shows that forests stabilize our climate by absorbing and storing carbon, which prevents that carbon from further warming our atmosphere. This is a significant consideration in Nova Scotia, where forests cover 75% of our province.”
– EU climate plan blows hot and cold on forestry, biomass
By Frédéric Simon | EURACTIV.com. “… it wants guarantees that biomass used in Europe is genuinely sustainable. Although it keeps the door open to bioenergies in general, the Commission’s 2030 climate plan says “a shift towards growing woody biomass,” and “advanced biogas and biofuels” could alleviate the situation” and help restore healthy forests.” - Sep 22, 2020:
– Nature trust launches ambitious effort to double its protected land in three years
Franic Campbell in the Chronicle Herald. Cited on WWNS
– Climate explained: humans have dealt with plenty of climate variability
John Long, Flinders University on www.theconversation.com/ “Climate fluctuations that used to take millennia are now occurring in less than 100 years, affecting fresh water availability, food supply, health, and environmental integrity. Past climate changes set the stage for people to demonstrate immense adaptability and resilience by developing new skills, farming techniques, trading patterns and political structures, but most importantly by leaving their old, unsustainable ways of life behind” - Sep 20, 2020
– Habinski calls for province to make policy decision to ban glyphosate use
By LAWRENCE POWELL For Annapolis County - Sep 19, 2020:
– Could 80,000 family woodlot owners be the key to saving the Acadian forest?
Lindsay Jones in the Narwhal. “Only remnants of this carbon-rich forest in the Maritimes remain after centuries of clear-cutting. Thousands of family forest owners have a stake in its survival. The question is: can they earn revenue from its protection rather than its destruction?” - Sep 18, 2020:
– Forest Connectivity in Nova Scotia
Dalhousie University In partnership with Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry. Caitlin Cunningham, Dalhousie University; Karen Beazley, Dalhousie University; Peter Bush, Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry; John Brazner, Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry. The document is dated Sep 18, 2020. It was posted on the L&F website on that date or sometime after that; accessed Oct 2, 2020
– Feds allow Canadian loggers to threaten Maine jobs, Senate president says in complaint
by Josh Keefe in Bangor Daily News ““What we are seeing along the Maine-Canadian border is the practice of Canadian companies filing for shell corporations in the U.S., finding a building to slap their sign-on, regardless of the condition, and then turning around and hiring H2A Canadian workers,” Jackson wrote.” - Sep 17, 2020:
– JEFF BISHOP: Bancroft makes selective arguments in forestry opus
Jeff Bishop in the Chronicle Herald. Subscription required. Cited on WWNS
– Herbicide spraying cancelled again in Nova Scotia due to protests
Emma Smith · CBC News “Province says 377 hectares of woodland in Annapolis County won’t be sprayed this year”
– Wood prices dismal, says logger
On CBC Info AM “Lumber prices are up in the stores, but a man who cuts wood on private land for a living says lumber mills are offering 1990s prices for his logs. He says mills are over-supplied with cheap wood from clear cut Crown land.” - Sep 16, 2020:
– The intersection of habitat loss and climate change
Zack Metcalfe in Halifax Magazine
- Sep 15, 2020:
– A ‘Crossroads’ for Humanity: Earth’s Biodiversity Is Still Collapsing
By Catrin Einhorn for the NY Times. “The world is failing to address a catastrophic biodiversity collapse that not only threatens to wipe out beloved species and invaluable genetic diversity, but endangers humanity’s food supply, health and security, according to a sweeping United Nations report issued on Tuesday.
When governments act to protect and restore nature, the authors found, it works. But despite commitments made 10 years ago, nations have not come close to meeting the scale of the crisis, which continues to worsen . - Sep 14, 2020:
– Clear as mud: How the government’s reports on Nova Scotia forests obfuscate and confuse the data
Linda Pannozzo in the Halifax Examiner (subscription required, $10/mo) “Instead of improving the state of the province’s forests, the Nova Scotia government conducts a survey about improving The State of the Forest reporting. The Halifax Examiner takes the survey.”
– Lumber boom helps N.S. forest industry offset loss of Northern Pulp
Michael Gorman · CBC News
– Grand Forks flooding victims file class-action lawsuit against B.C. government, forestry companies
Ben Parfitt in The Narwhal “Excessive logging in British Columbia interior has ‘increased the frequency, duration and magnitude’ of floods, according to civil claim” - Sep 11, 2020:
– DALE SMITH: A lasting legacy within the premier’s grasp
Dale Smith in the Chronicle Herald (subscription required) - Sep 10, 2020:
How Climate Change is Impacting Maine’s Forests & Industries that Depend on Them
Melanie Sturm, Forests & Wildlife Director, Natural Resources Council of Maine. With links to detailed reports.
–WWF Living Planet Report 2020 reveals 68% drop in wildlife populations
WWF. Also view Living Planet Report Canada 2020 and Living Planet Report Canada 2020 Technical Supplement - Sep 9, 2020:
– What’s an intact forest worth? The tricky task of quantifying Canada’s nature-based climate solutions
James Wilt in www.thenarwhal.ca Carbon offsets, explained, the sixth part of Carbon Cache, an ongoing series about nature-based climate solutions - Sep 7, 2020:
– Paper Excellence proposed to fund remaining severance, other payments to Northern Pulp workforce
Paper Excellence release in Pictou Advocate. “Paper Excellence remains committed to resuming mill operations…”
–
Remembering Dorian: Storm last September left trail of destruction
Ryan Snoddon · CBC News “With a track from southwest to northeast through the centre of the Maritimes, Dorian delivered wind gusts greater than 100 km/h across much of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and also southern New Brunswick. “ - Sep 5, 2020:
– RALPH SURETTE: Drought and other grim climate horsemen assault southwest Nova Scotia, aim at rest of Maritimes
Ralph Surette in the Chronicle Herald. Subscription required to access the full article. “Summers are increasingly dry throughout the southern Maritimes, with the southern tip, essentially Yarmouth and Shelburne counties as ground zero…what we’re talking about is climate change, the real challenge beyond the coronavirus, Trump and whatnot…Federal studies indicate that Maritime softwood forests will decline as the climate warms. If you add drought to that, it gets worse. This is unscientific, but my observation is that hardly anything is growing anew on the clearcuts of the last 10-20 years around me, except drought-hardy bushes and ferns and the suckers of well rooted maple stumps (making the spraying of clearcuts to kill off hardwoods all the more absurd). Indeed, spruce turning suddenly brown and dead is unusually common here. .. The flip side of summer drought (and unusually calm days) is that every weather front that comes from December to March seems to try to reach 100 kn a hour with trees down and shingles flying.” - Sep 3, 2020:
– Protesters win local battle against herbicide spraying, want forestry practice banned
Paul Palmeter · CBC News “They started out as a few families from Burlington, N.S., opposed to woods in their area of the Annapolis Valley being sprayed by herbicide, but within a few days they gathered support from all over the province.” - Sep 1, 2020:
– Kings County residents opposed to aerial herbicide spraying on a Northern Pulp clearcut
By Joan Baxter in The Halifax Examiner “Residents who live close to a piece of land on North Mountain in Kings County that was clearcut two years ago and is now slated for aerial spraying of a glyphosate-based herbicide, have “occupied” the site, and they tell the Halifax Examiner that they don’t intend to leave until the spraying is cancelled or the permit expires at the end of 2020.” - Aug 31, 2020:
– Are forests the new coal? Global alarm sounds as biomass burning surges
BY JUSTIN CATANOSO in news.mongabay.com
– New Brunswick party leaders promise action to stop use of industrial herbicide
By Kevin Bissett The Canadian Press in Ottawa Matters “The Liberals and Greens promised to eliminate the use of industrial herbicide on public land across the province Monday, as New Brunswick’s election campaign entered its final two weeks.”
– A sacred spot: why goldmining threatens Nova Scotia’s ‘wildest’ river
Zack Metcalfe in The Guardian
– Where grows the king of hemlocks
Zack Metcalfe in the Pictou Advocate - Aug 29, 2020:
– Environment Canada warns of high levels of air pollution amid multiple wildfires in western N.S.
CBC News “Lands and Forestry have responded to at least 16 fires since Wednesday” - Aug 27, 2020:
– Anti-spray group gives 4 political parties failing grades on glyphosate
Kate Letterick · CBC News “Stop Spraying New Brunswick group hands out 4th annual report card” - Aug 25, 2020:
– Nova Scotia to hold virtual forestry missions
The Chronicle Herald, for subscribers. - Aug 24, 2020:
– WTO decision on softwood lumber cheered by Canadian producers, denounced in U.S.
By James McCarten The Canadian Press in CBC News
– Summary of US Countervailing Measures on Softwood Lumber from Canada
The World Trade Organization - Aug 22, 2020:
– BOB BANCROFT: Forest plantations defy science, ignore economics
Bob Bancroft in the Chronicle Herald; there is also a Bruce MacKinnon Editorial Cartoon from Sept 2, 2016 depicting Premier McNeil giving the forest a haircut. Says Bancroft: “The Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry and the forestry industry are planning to replace more than 800,000 acres of fertile public forest land with softwood plantations that are simplified, even-aged crop rotation systems largely devoid of nature. This feat will be accomplished at tremendous public and environmental expense. Ignoring long-term economic and scientific realities, it flies in the face of history and will produce only short-term, private profits. Clearcutting followed by even-aged softwood plantings on former hardwood and mixed hardwood-softwood sites severely degrades these sites over a short period of time. The resulting ecological imbalance promotes pest infestations, disease, vulnerability to strong winds and stresses caused by hot, dry weather….” View Cartoon on Web Archive; View NSFN post, Sep 2, 2016
– This barren N.S. ecosystem is a rare biodiversity hotspot. Scientists want to preserve it
Moira Donovan · CBC News “Only 3% of intact Annapolis Valley sand barrens are left” - Aug 20, 2020:
– It’s spraying time again in Nova Scotia, and that makes one cancer patient in the province “incredibly angry”
Joan baxter in the Halifax Examiner. Subscription required ($10/mo) “Although glyphosate has been found to be a probable carcinogen, the province just approved its aerial spraying on nearly 1500 hectares of forest and continues to allow its widespread use on farms and lawns, insisting it is safe. “ - Aug 19, 2020:
– Forestry Minister Responds (audio)
CBC Information Morning “As we near the second anniversary of the release of the Lahey Report, Minister Iain Rankin responds to criticisms that not much has been done in the interim.”
– Lawyer seeking review after Crown land removed from list of pending protected areas
Canadian Press on nationalobserver.com “The lawyer for a retired biologist and an environmental group is seeking judicial review of Nova Scotia’s decision to remove a section of Crown land along the province’s Eastern Shore from a list of pending protected areas.”
– Lands and Forestry minister says province committed to Lahey Report recommendations
Michael Gorman · CBC News “Iain Rankin says progress is being made, but concedes it’s difficult work…”We’re talking about leveraging higher volumes of that low-value pulp wood, both private and Crown land,” he said. “When those things are in place, then you’ll see more opportunity for partial harvesting on both private and Crown [land].” - Aug 18, 2020:
– Opponents to Owls Head golf proposal will seek judicial review
Michael Gorman · CBC News - Aug 17, 2020
– Nova Scotia approves aerial herbicide spray of 1,500 hectares of forest
Nova Scotia approves aerial herbicide spray of 1,500 hectares of forest
Francis Campbell in the Chronicle Herald. Subscription may be required.
– Annapolis County group raising funds to protect forest
Lawrence Powell for Annapolis Co. - Aug 13, 2020:
– Restoring a healthy wood supply system
NB Federation of Woodlot Owners
– 2 years after Lahey Report, advocates say very little has changed in N.S. forests
Emma Smith · CBC News - Aug 11, 2020:
– Nova Scotia government fought against severance for Northern Pulp workers
By Aaron Beswick in The Chronicle Herald (subscription may be required)
– Activists concerned with delays in implementing Lahey Report recommendations (audio)
CBC Information Morning. “Raymond Plourde on why activists are saying the lack of action on the Lahey report, two years after its release, is repeating a familiar pattern for forestry in this province.” - Aug 10, 2020:
– Discussing NS forestry on second anniversary of Lahey report (audio)
CBC Information Morning. “It’s been two years since the Lahey report was released, promising a new way forward for forestry in Nova Scotia. As we approach the anniversary, some are saying nothing has changed. Community activist Shelly Hipson weighs in.”
– Researchers race to protect Nova Scotia’s hemlocks from invasive pest
By Moira Donovan, CBC News - Aug 8, 2020:
– British Columbia judge approves Northern Pulp loan
By Aaron Beswick in Cape Breton Post “Nova Scotia taxpayers are out another $15 million unless the province grants Northern Pulp an environmental approval of the mill’s controversial proposed effluent treatment plant.” - Aug 7, 2020:
– Lumber rallies to record high as coronavirus sparks building boom
On seekingalpha.com/
– Boat Harbour Act decision likely Premier Stephen McNeil’s toughest, but telling for his legacy
By Jesse Thomas Global News
– McNeil government punishes Northern Pulp workers for its own historical wrong-doings
UNIFOR to www.newswire.ca/ - Aug 6, 2020:
– Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil to step down after 17 years in politics
Taryn Grant · CBC News - Aug 5, 2020:
–N.S. Supreme Court grants environmentalists more time to appeal cabinet decision
Blair Rhodes · CBC News “Battle is over Owls Head, a 285-hectare piece of Crown land on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore” - Aug 3, 2020:
– New online tool helps Nova Scotians manage tick risk
Moira Donovan · CBC News - July 31, 2020:
– Landmark economic analysis shows 5:1 return on protected area investments
In theenergymix.com “The most comprehensive cost-benefit analysis ever on nature protections has found that the economic, ecological, and spiritual benefits of protecting 30% of the world’s marine and terrestrial ecosystems will outweigh the costs by a factor of at least five to one. At an average annual cost of US$140 billion, “investing to protect nature would represent less than one-third of the amount that governments spend on subsidies to activities that destroy nature,” said report co-author Enric Sala, explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society. “It would represent 0.16% of global GDP and require less investment than the world spends on video games every year.”” - July 29, 2020:
– Forestry Innovation Fund Opens July 31
NS Gov. news Release. “Applications for the $50-million Forestry Innovation Transition Trust will open Friday, July 31. Applications for the first round will be accepted until Monday, Aug. 31. The fund was announced in February to continue to advance the transition and development of Nova Scotia’s forestry sector. The trust may be used by companies, organizations or post-secondary institutions working and researching in the forestry and biological resources sectors. A three-member trustee board will review submissions and make spending decisions. An application guide and forms are online at http://novascotia.ca/forestry-trust/ “The trustees and I are excited to see fresh new and innovative proposals to develop new markets and products that advance ecological forestry and secure the future of the forestry sector in Nova Scotia”- Sandra McKenzie, chair, Forestry Innovation Transition Trust board - July 28, 2020:
– Automated harvesting with robots in the forest
FPInnovations “FPInnovations is moving full speed ahead with its automated-harvesting project to usher in a new era of forestry machinery with an eye to one day operating fully autonomous machines.”
– Northern Pulp cried poor while paying parent company nearly $60 million, Nova Scotia officials argue in court documents
By Aaron Beswick in the Chronicle Herald. Subscription required for access to the full article. “The province has accused Northern Pulp of misappropriating taxpayer funds and misrepresenting its financial state to allow it to funnel more money back to its parent company. The accusations are found in affidavits filed by high-level Nova Scotia government officials in the British Columbia Supreme Court in which they argue Northern Pulp shouldn’t be allowed to accept a $50-million loan from Paper Excellence Canada and related company Pacific Harbour North American Resources… According to Duff MacKay Montgomery, deputy minister at the Department of Labour and Advanced Education, Northern Pulp has soured the well with the province by playing loose with taxpayer funds. “ - July 27, 2020:
– Sawmills struggle with shortage of logs
James Risdonin Chronicle Herald. Subscription required.” Lumber mills in Nova Scotia are being squeezed by a double whammy of higher prices for logs and lower revenues for the wood chips and sawdust they produce as a byproduct of their operations. “The closure of Northern Pulp has dramatically affected our profitability,” said Robin Wilber, president of Elmsdale Lumber Co. “Now, we’re selling our chips to a wood pellet manufacturer at half the value of what we used to get.” …The closure of Northern Pulp has… meant woodlot owners, who used to sell their low-quality wood for pulp, no longer have that market, and it has made it less economically viable for them to have their land logged. …That shortage is coming at a time when home renovation stores throughout Atlantic Canada are short of lumber.” - July 21, 2020:
– Province opposes Northern Pulp bailout deal
By Aaron Beswick in The Telegram
– Corporate Shell Game Part2
Joan Baxter in the Halifax Examiner. (Subscription required, $10/mo). “Northern Pulp-affiliated companies say that without major concessions, they won’t be able to pay back nearly $86 million they owe the Province of Nova Scotia. So far, however, the Government has not caved, and is not agreeing to new financing - July 19, 2020:
– Corporate Shell Game
Joan Baxter in the Halifax Examiner. (Subscription required, $10/mo). “Northern Pulp seeks protection from creditors in a BC court- and its largest creditor is its owner, Paper Excellence” - July 16, 2020:
– Canada is failing to track the true climate cost of clearcut logging in boreal: report
Matt Simmons in The Narwhal “Organizations calls on the Canadian government to properly record and regulate greenhouse gas emissions connected to forestry and align its forest management policies with climate targets” - July 14, 2020:
– Port of Belledune and New Brunswick’s greatest resource
Jessica Casey in Dry Bulk Magazine “The lush green forests of New Brunswick are the envy of many who are surrounded by concrete walls in population-dense cities. However, a lot of its own residents may not even know exactly how rich of a commodity the abundance of woods in their own backyards produce. Enter forest biomass – the wood waste left as a result of strategic forest management and local sawmill processing. In being resourceful and taking that ‘waste’ and turning it into value-added product, the wood pellet can be produced and thus, a source of clean energy is created. It is arguably New Brunswick’s greatest underutilised resource…It is not something always at the forefront, but it is important to recognise the impact New Brunswick has overseas by making the most of its greatest natural resource. New Brunswick has significantly played a helping role in the world’s quest for cleaner energy and reducing worldwide carbon emission output. ”
– Decks become the new hot pandemic project, creating a run on lumber
Dylan Dyson on ottawa.ctvnews.ca/ “First, it was toilet paper. Then, disinfectant wipes. Now, pressure-treated lumber is the hot commodity due to COVID-19.” - July 13, 2020:
‘Devastating’: 4 turtles run over, killed in Halifax-area park
Alex Cooke for CBC - July 10, 2020:
– Cliffs of Fundy, Bonavista Peninsula named UNESCO Global Geoparks
Emma Davie, Emily Chung · CBC News - July 9, 2020:
– Right-of-way win in Antigonish encourages defenders of old public roads
Jon Tattrie · CBC News “Province won’t sell Seabright Road, but does little to maintain abandoned rights-of-way across Nova Scotia” - July 8, 2020:
– Investing in conservation generates huge returns for economy, study finds
Thomson Reuters for CBC. “Released as the United Nations lobbies governments to set aside 30 per cent of their land and sea by 2030, the report aims to challenge the notion that conservation is costly. “You cannot put a price tag on nature, but the economic numbers point to its protection,” said Anthony Waldron, an ecologist at the University of Cambridge who lead the group examining the economic implications of designating a third of the Earth as a nature reserve.”
– Hemlock woolly adelgid on the move in Nova Scotia, pest spotted in Lunenburg
Carole Morris-Underhill on saltwire.com. Subscription may be required. “An invasive insect from Asia appears to now have a foothold in southwestern Nova Scotia — and it is on the move…The pest was first identified in the province in the summer of 2017 in five counties: Digby, Yarmouth, Shelburne, Queens and Annapolis….This year, the CFIA has confirmed its presence in Lunenburg…“We encourage people to buy their firewood where they burn it”… Neville suggests residents with hemlocks on or near their property inspect them regularly. “Flip over the branches and look at the underside of the branches. Look for these small, white, cottony balls,” said Neville. “They look just like cotton balls that are stuck to the twig at the base of the needles. If they see that, I’d encourage them to take a picture and please report it to their local CFIA office.” - July 6, 2020:
– GEO BON moves headquarters to Montréal, Québec, Canada to capitalize on the city’s research environment and AI expertise
On geobon.org “The Group on Earth Observations – Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON), a global research network and community of practice dedicated to improve monitoring of Earth’s biodiversity, announces the relocation of its headquarters from Leipzig, Germany, to Montréal, Canada.” - July 2, 2020:
– THE BOREALIZATION OF ACADIA
Joan Baxter in the Halifax Examiner. Subscription ($10/mo) required for access to full article. “Due to climate change, warm weather-friendly trees should be dominating our forests; instead, cold-weather species are taking over. We now understand why — thanks to a phone call from the Irving company to lean on a professor’s dean” - July 1, 2020:
– SFI’s Proposed Updates Offer Greenwashing, Not Solutions
Courtenay Lewis on www.nrdc.org/ Amongst the concerns: “SFI Allows Conversion of Natural Forests into Plantations”.
– Cliffs of Fundy set to become UNESCO Global Geopark this month
Emma Davie for CBC News
– Northern Pulp lines up loan to keep lights on
Aaron Beswick in the Chronicle Herald - June 29, 2020:
– Moose being squeezed
Bob Bancroft in the Chronicle Herald. “I’d like to thank the many citizens who rose up to support, both financially and morally, the collective effort to hold the government accountable for its own Species at Risk laws…However, changes made after this decision by the Department of Lands and Forestry for mainland moose forest management are discouraging.Moose need at least a 60-metre-wide band of trees left between clearcuts and waterways before they will use them. The 20-metre buffers are inadequate. Moose also require diverse, nutritious hardwood browse, a fact that the pulpers, chippers and our government continue to ignore. Concerned citizens should keep a watchful eye on Lands and Forestry-sanctioned forest harvests of public lands.” - June 28, 2020:
– Lawyer: Roughly half of N.S. provincial parks awaiting designation, like Owls Head was before delisting
Nicole Munro in Cape Breton Post “Of the 206 provincial parks in Nova Scotia, 102 are awaiting official designation. “So roughly half of what we think of as Nova Scotia’s provincial parks, such as Herring Cove Provincial Park Reserve, turns out are not technically a provincial park and the exact same state that befell Owls Head could potentially happen … and we have no assurance that the department would let the public know that a sale was pending for it,” Simpson said. - June 26, 2020:
– Northern Pulp owes $309M to creditors, document shows
CBC News “..Most of the money is owed to B.C.-based Paper Excellence, Northern Pulp’s parent company, as well as the province of Nova Scotia. Paper Excellence is owed $213 million and the province $84 million…The full list of creditors can be found here. - June 25, 2020:
– Call for ban on forestry during hot dry weather (audio)
CBC Info AM “Some people think it’s too risky to have forestry machinery in the woods during hot dry weather. Sparks caused by machinery in the forests caused two recent woods fires in Kings County.” View related CBC post by Emma Smith, Phlis McGregor
– Finding Nova Scotia’s history and future in the drowned forests of the Minas Basin
BY SUZANNE RENT In Halifax Examiner Morning File. Also view YouTube Video by Northeast Archaeological Research, posted May 9, 2020
– Northern Pulp’s creditor protection leaves air of uncertainty in Pictou County
Adam MacInnis in Chronicle Herald, subscription required - June 24, 2020:
– MARILYN CAMERON: Tree grinders a blight on our beautiful roadways
In the Chronicle Herald. “…The only problem that we have with our road is the potholes. A few weeks ago, we noticed some highway workers putting stakes in our lawn and asked what was being done. We were only told that the road will be resurfaced. No other consultation with the residents of the road was undertaken to inform us what road surfacing entailed. Then I discovered that one of those new tree grinders had arrived and was busy ripping and tearing out all the vegetation along one side of our road. It tore into all the vegetation at the edge of the road, down into the ditches and ground its way up at least 10 feet on the other side of the ditch. Trees and debris flew all over the road along with dirt…How can this practice be permitted in this age of environmental enlightenment where we know the true value of trees and their related ecosystems?…The regional manager reported that his department had been using this sort of equipment for “thousands of years” and that the land along the roads is theirs to do as they wish. The practice is “perfectly normal” and “well supported by the public.”…Our road is only a few kilometres in length, but thousands of young trees are being ground out of existence so the department can get that sanitized look that they seem to like so much. Honestly, I would much rather live with the potholes…Perhaps it is just me who thinks that roadside vegetation removal in Nova Scotia has gone overboard? When one asks around, it seems everyone is just as disgusted as I am with the new, industrial appearance of the 100-series highways and on many of our rural roads. “ - June 22, 2020:
– When planting trees threatens the forest
By Standford University on phys.org; article cites Impacts of Chilean forest subsidies on forest cover, carbon and biodiversity by Robert Heilmayr et al., 2020 in nature Sustainability. relevant to HPF component of Nova Scotia’s Forest Triad.
– How Nova Scotia naturalists forced the province to uphold its Endangered Species Act
By Zack Metcalfe in the National Observer “There is a 30 day-period after Justice Brothers formally signs her decision in which the provincial government will be able to appeal… In the meantime, Juniper Law is preparing for another lawsuit against the Department of Land and Forestry for its controversial decision to delist Owls Head Provincial Park on the province’s eastern shore, and attempt to sell it to a developer for the construction of three golf courses, thus undermining the sanctity of other protected areas across the province.” - June 20, 2020:
– Province offered to defer Northern Pulp loans
Aaron Beswick in The Guardian (PEI) “It also include a warning that if Northern Pulp stopped participating in the environmental assessment process for its controversial proposed effluent treatment facility, the province would demand it resume interest and principal payments on its in loans. Five days after receiving the letter, Northern Pulp did just that – announcing on June 8 that it was pausing its participation in the environmental assessment process for the effluent treatment plant it wants to build adjacent to its Abercrombie Point kraft pulp mill.” - June 19, 2020:
– Northern Pulp gets creditor protection
Aaron Beswick in Chronicle Herald, subscription required
– N.S. forestry transition team outlines new plan for the sector
By P&PC Staff on www.woodbusiness.ca - June 18, 2020:
– N.S. agrees to meet with Hope for Wildlife on black bear euthanizing policy
GRAEME BENJAMIN GLOBAL NEWS - June 17, 2020:
– Controversial mill treatment facility at Boat Harbour ‘did its job’ removing contaminants
Paul Withers · CBC News This scientific paper is cited: Baseline characterization of sediments and marine biota near industrial effluent discharge in Northumberland Strait, Nova Scotia, Canada, by Meenakshi Chaudhary et al., 2020 Marine Pollution Bulletin Volume 157, August 2020, 111372
– Nova Scotia names board to oversee $50M forestry trust
Michael Gorman · CBC News “3-person board will begin accepting funding applications next month” View L&F Press release - June 16, 2020:
– Forestry Innovation Rebate Program Disclosures – 2020/21
https://novascotiabusiness.com/ “Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI) has approved a business development incentive in the form of a forestry innovation rebate for The Shaw Group Limited. Based in Hardwood Lands, Nova Scotia, The Shaw Group Limited under its Eastern Embers brand, manufactures wood pellets for residential and commercial heating. Eastern Embers has been manufacturing premium wood pellets made from local sawmill residuals for over 25 years. The company will be proceeding with a $1,287,650 capital investment to upgrade the Eastern Embers wood pellet manufacturing facility. “ - June 12, 2020:
– Provincial parks in Nova Scotia reopen next week with COVID-19 guidelines
JESSE THOMAS GLOBAL NEWS
– Bear cub euthanized by Lands and Forestry heightens calls for policy change
Katie Hartai in Halifax Today
– As salmon dwindle in LaHave River, calls grow for DFO to focus on St. Marys River
Paul Withers · CBC New - June 10, 2020:
– Burning wood increasingly out of favour as a source of green energy
On www.dutchnews.nl/ “Support for the use of wood pellets to generate electricity is crumbling in The Hague and there is now a majority in parliament for ending subsidies for new biomass power plants, the Telegraaf said on Wednesday afternoon.”
– More bears looking for dinner in Amherst, other Cumberland County communities
Darrell on saltwire.com - June 9, 2020:
– Advocate holds vigil at Windsor causeway, fighting for fish passage
Aaron Beswick in Chronicle Herald (subscription may be required)
– Northern Pulp pauses environmental assessment, appeals ministerial order
Aaron Beswick on Chronicle Herald - June 7, 2020:
– Logging and severe fire both make forests more flammable
By Dr. Jamie Kirkpatrick, geography/spatial sciences, University of Tasmania in Sydney Morning Herald “The clear and overwhelming evidence is that logging makes forests more flammable.” - June 6, 2020:
– Forest fire suppression measures can actually increase risks around communities, scientist says
Tom Spears in ottawacitizen.com/ - June 5, 2020:
– 2020 North American mass timber state of industry report released
Lesprom Network
– Canada’s managed forests have turned into super-emitters, and 2018 set a record
Barry Saxifrage | Opinion in nationalobserver.com - June 3, 2020:
– Province to buy land from struggling forestry sector members
Michael Gorman · CBC News
– Jane Goodall: humanity is finished if it fails to adapt after Covid-19
Fiona Harvey in The Guardian “Humanity will be “finished” if we fail to drastically change our food systems in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the climate crisis, the prominent naturalist Jane Goodall has warned. She blamed the emergence of Covid-19 on the over-exploitation of the natural world, which has seen forests cut down, species made extinct and natural habitats destroyed. The coronavirus is thought to have made the jump from animals to humans late last year, possibly originating in a meat market in Wuhan, China. Intensive farming was also creating a reservoir of animal diseases that would spill over and hurt human society, said Goodall…”
– Media release: Alton Gas ignores Supreme Court ruling, continues work without Indigenous consultation
NS Advocate
– JAMIE SIMPSON: Up to citizens to challenge government when laws not followed
Chronicle Herald - June 1, 2020:
Back Road Deal: ART 2: NOVA SCOTIA’S POLICIES TO CONSERVE THE PROVINCE’S ENDANGERED FORESTS MIGHT BE DOING MORE HARM THAN GOOD
Linda Pannozzo in the Halifax Examiner
– Cape Breton author, environmentalist Silver Donald Cameron dies at 82
Emma Davie · CBC News
–Nova Scotia’s lands and forestry minister says he’ll strengthen conservation work
Taryn Grant · CBC News
– Province to buy land from struggling forestry sector members
Michael Gorman · CBC News. View related TCA Land Acquisition Program to Support Forestry Businesses (NS Gov doc)
2020/2021
– NS court says the province is not living up to its obligations to endangered species (audio)
CBC Information Morning Cape Breton - May 31, 2020:
– Healthy Forest Coalition launches initiative calling for the upholding of the international laws of the Migratory Birds Convention Act.
Healthy Forest Coalition. Also view For the Birds (on HFC Facebook Page) - May 29, 2020:
– Cumberland County forest stakeholders planning industry’s future
Darrell Cole on saltwire.com “Future of Forestry group to update community via Zoom on Sunday [May 31]…The session begins at 7 p.m. and people can join by going to https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81731265321 (meeting ID: 81731265321) or by calling 1-647-558-0588.” Hosted by Athol Forestry Co-op
– Top court rules province broke endangered species law
Francis Campbell on saltwire.com “The case marked the first time the Endangered Species Act, enacted in the province in 1999, was interpreted by a Nova Scotia court.” - May 28, 2020:
– Groups fighting open-pen fish farms form alliance
Matt Brand in Halifax Today “Groups around the province have joined forces to form an new alliance against open-net pen fish farms. They’re called the Healthy Bays Network, and consist of The St. Mary’s Bay Protectors, Protect Liverpool Bay, the Twin Bays Coalition representing Mahone and St. Margaret’s Bays, the Association for the Preservation of the Eastern Shore, with support from the Ecology Action Centre, the Atlantic Salmon Federation, and the Nova Scotia Salmon Association.”
– HELGA GUDERLEY: Stop logging, protect migratory birds during nesting season
Helga Guderley in the Chronicle Herald - May 27, 2020:
– N.S. man with non-Hodgkin lymphoma a lead in class action against Monsanto, Bayer
Aaron Beswick on saltwire.com - May 26, 2020:
– Federal Land at Owls Head Park Goes to Environment and Climate Change Canada
On saveowlshead.org “We are excited to announce that the federal parcel of land at Owls Head Park has officially been transferred to Environment and Climate Change Canada … a monumental step in the Save Owls Head Park campaign.”
– 2nd Public Consultation: Small-Scale, Low Intensity and Community Forest Standard for Canada
Forest Stewardship Council Canada “The draft requirements follow the basic forest management certification requirements but have important procedural differences and take into account the size and intensity of these operations. For example, the new smallholder requirements include: – overall reduction in the number of indicators, – reduced requirements for conservation areas networks, – a modified approach to obtain Free, prior and informed consent for smallholder, – simpler administration processes, – a reduction in the number of external reviews needed.”
– BOB BANCROFT: Politicians must stop selectively listening to science
Bob Bancroft on saltwire.com 
May 25, 2020:
– Crews dealing with multiple out-of-control wildfires in Nova Scotia
BY GRAEME BENJAMIN GLOBAL NEWS- May 24, 2020:
– Fire crews tackling 2 Cape Breton fires
Cassidy Chisholm · CBC News - May 23, 2020:
– Forest fire forces evacuation of 1,000 people, closes highway in N.S.
Allan April & Brandon Young on atlantic.ctvnews.ca/
– Crews return Saturday to battle Nova Scotia wildfire near Chester Grant
THE CANADIAN PRESS on atlantic.ctvnews.ca/ - May 22, 2020:
– UPDATE: New Freedom of Information Request Reveals Government Process to Facilitate Sale of Owls Head
On www.saveowlshead.org/ - May 21, 2020:
– Northern Pulp says N.S. ministerial order could cause site to emit odour
By P&PC Staff on www.woodbusiness.ca/ - May 20, 2020:
– Something beautiful is happening in Nova Scotia’s forests
Aaron Beswick in the Chronicle Herald, subscription may be required.If you are wise enough to find yourself wandering a river under old hardwoods over the coming days, look down. Because while it is good to be wise, it is better to be lucky. And if you are both, you will see a wide carpet of flowering blood root….” - May 18, 2020:
– Backroad Deal
Linda Pannozzo in the Halifax Examiner “PART 1: THE DECISION TO BUILD THE INGRAM ACCESS ROAD, WHICH SLASHES THROUGH WHAT CONSERVATIONISTS SAY IS AN OLD GROWTH FOREST, WAS MADE IN PART TO REDUCE TRANSPORTATION COSTS FOR SCOTIAN MATERIALS, AND IN PART TO INCREASE ACCESS TO CROWN FORESTS FOR LOGGING COMPANIES.” Subscription ($10/mo) required. The “Company Men” are involved, and says Pannozzo “…while our attention is focused on Scotian Materials — which is undoubtedly a beneficiary in the road deal — the real beneficiary is Westfor. Making use of the existing road or constructing the parallel road would never have provided the forestry consortium with the access to some of the nicest crown land left in the province… Once the Ingram Access Road is completed, forests that have been thus far out of reach — like the old ones Lancaster was marveling over on that crisp October day — will be opened up.”
– Freeman Lumber on a roll
By by Gayle Wilson in Lighthouse Now 2020-05-20 “…Richard Freeman subsequently confirmed to LighthouseNOW the company is also looking into setting up a wood pellet business. “We continue to work hard on a potential wood pellet operation. These efforts are still at a relatively early stage. It will take about 18 months to finance, build and commission a pellet facility,” he advised.” - May 15, 2020:
– Report says best use of Owls Head land would be recreation, conservation
Michael Gorman · CBC News “Developer wants to buy Crown land from the province to build up to 3 golf courses”
– Great pellets: Nova Scotia wood pellet plant invests in safety and versatility
By Maria Church in Canadian Biomass ““It’s an older mill but it’s in good shape and we have good people,” says Miles Wright, operations manager for Great Northern Timber Resources’ pellet operation. The new owners are well-known players in the province’s forest industry and are committed to keeping the 100,000-tonne capacity industrial wood pellet plant running safely and efficiently for the long-term.”
Freeman Lumber no longer shutting down, eyes ‘solid leads’ for chip sales
Michael Gorman · CBC News”Five weeks after the largest sawmill west of Halifax said it was on the verge of shutting down, it’s mostly back to business as usual at Freeman Lumber in Greenfield, N.S.” - May 14, 2020:
– New ministerial order issued for Northern Pulp
Michael Gorman · CBC News - May 13, 2020:
– Over 200 Top U.S. Climate and Forest Scientists Urge Congress: Protect Forests to Mitigate Climate Crisis
Press Release, John Muir Project, referencing Letter to US Congress
– Halifax researchers working to turn wood pulp into N95 masks
By Paul Withers CBC News - May 12, 2020:
– Nova Scotia to split costs with Northern Pulp for pipe removal, cleanup
Michael Gorman · CBC News
– Report of the Auditor General to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly: Follow-up of 2015, 2016, and 2017 Performance Audit Recommendations
Includes reports on Species at Risk
– Auditor General finds Lands & Forestry and Health Departments slow to enact changes
JENNIFER HENDERSON in Halifax Examiner. Subscription required for full access ($10/mo) - May 7, 2020:
– What our best and brightest are pretty sure is happening with wildlife
By Zack Metcalfe in National Observer
– ‘Promiscuous treatment of nature’ will lead to more pandemics – scientists
Jonathan Watts in The Guardian “Deforestation and other forms of land conversion are driving exotic species out of their evolutionary niches and into manmade environments, where they interact and breed new strains of disease, the experts say. Three-quarters of new or emerging diseases that infect humans originate in animals, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but it is human activity that multiplies the risks of contagion…The paper says future sarbecovirus emergence will certainly take place in east Asia, but epidemics of other new diseases could be triggered elsewhere.” - May 6, 2020:
– Comprehensive review: Impact of variable retention forestry and restoration methods
by Natural Resources Institute Finland on phys.org “Finnish, Swedish and Russian researchers highlight the ecological effects of forestry in Fennoscandia in five review articles published in the journal Ecological Processes. The summarized research suggests that the amount of dead trees in commercial forests is not sufficient for the species requiring decaying wood. To improve the situation, the researchers propose retaining considerably more dead trees and old trees in felling, increasing the number of retention trees and prescribed burning, and improving the forest certification system.” Also view “Variable Retention” in the Journal Ecological Processes - Apr 29, 2020:
– Paper Excellence reviewing EA Terms of Reference for modernized effluent treatment facility at Northern Pulp
In Pictou Advocate - Apr 28, 2020:
– Terms of Reference for EA of Northern Pulp’s proposed Effluent Treatment Facility
NS Dept of Environment. View more about it. Also Chronicle Herald article
– ‘A new legacy’: Pictou Landing chief pleased with Boat Harbour efforts
Tom Ayers · CBC News. “‘For the young people … this won’t be a part of their legacy anymore,’ says Chief Andrea Paul” - Apr 27, 2020:
– Study Says Relentless Deforestation Demands New Carbon Credit Accounting
Press Release posted on www.marketwatch.com. “Planetary Emissions Management Inc. (PEM) today announces the publication of a study describing established universal scientific methods for forest carbon accounting, endorsing direct measurement of CO2 over estimation protocols for forest carbon credits. “The Direct Measurement Forest Carbon Protocol: A commercial system-of-systems to incentivize forest restoration and management,” described in the journal PeerJ, illustrates how the problems of existing protocols, which are uncertain, expensive and biased against landowners, can be resolved with innovative use of existing technology.” - Apr 21, 2020:
Spring flowers for those who passed so tragically in NS. Bloodroot flowers late April/early May on nutrient-rich floodplain woodlands in NS
– NS shooting victims: what we know about the people who died in Canada’s deadliest mass killing
The Canadian Press and National Post Staff. This is very much a story of loss of modest, generous people from rural NS. - Apr 20, 2020
– Why the construction industry is essential to local toilet paper stocks
Sponsored content on www.peninsuladailynews.com. “Diverse, interconnected forest products industry need all components working” - Apr 17, 2020:
– We have the oil lobby’s secret list of COVID demands – if approved, they would set environmental protection back decades
Dale Marshall on environmentaldefence.ca “As Canada faces an unprecedented health crisis, a leaked secret memo from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) to the federal government reveals the oil industry’s demands for exemptions from environmental laws, regulatory rollbacks, and increased secrecy. The 13-page memo asks for a massive rollback in regulatory oversight, a full stop to the development of any new climate policy, and for the industry to be exempted from the requirement to report on lobbying activity.” - – Apr 15, 2020:
– Market turmoil, COVID-19 push local forest producers to the brink
By Alec Bruce in the Guyborough Journal ““This is the worst it’s been in 40 years,” contends Luke McGrath, partner in L & E McGrath Bros. of Aspen, which typically cuts about 6,000 cords a year on private woodlots in Guysborough County. “There’s not a sawmill in Nova Scotia that’s taking wood right now. Every piece of gear we have is just sitting in the yard. We’re not doing a thing, because there’s nothing to do.” ”– Study projects 30% more forest cover if wood biomass is managed right; critics call it a disaster
by Lauren Crothers on 15 April 2020 on news.mongabay.com
Related: – Forests: Carbon sequestration, biomass energy, or both? by Alice Favero et al., 2020 in Science Advances 6 : eaay6792 25 March 2020
– New Study Shows Biofuels Smart Approach to Green Energy Policy
Posted to Energy April 09, 2020 by Michael Graham– Pictou Landing chief ‘shocked’ by look of Boat Harbour months after mill shutdown
By Emma Smith CBC News “‘It just gives you that glimpse of hope … of what we can get back to,’ says chief” - Apr 13, 2020
– Next step in possible Northern Pulp restart expected to come today
Aaron Beswick in the Chronicle Herald - Apr 11, 2020:
– Owls Head
Zack Metcalfe on zackmetcalfe.com
– A Flower for the Prosecution: Nova Scotia Naturalists Take Provincial Government to Court Over Species-at-Risk
Zack Metcalfe on zackmetcalfe.com - Apr 10, 2020:
– Western Regional Enterprise Network promotes biomass, other forestry ops
Pamphlet by Western Regional Enterprise Network View also their COVID-19 Resources page
– Northern Pulp statement off-base and ill-timed during the COVID-19 crisis
By Joan Baxter in the Halifax Examiner - Apr 9, 2020:
– Salmon farming giant Cermaq abandons controversial Nova Scotia expansion
Paul Withers · CBC News “Company says it could not find 15-20 sites needed to justify moving into province
– Northern Pulp prepared to invest in modernizing mill and revitalizing Nova Scotia’s forestry sector
Pictou Advocate. The article lists four requests regarding the Environmental Assessment Report processes and guidelines - Apr 8, 2020:
– Dale Smith: Implement Lahey and reform public land management
Saltwire.com. “For the triad model to achieve legitimacy, the zoning approach must be comprehensive, co-ordinated and coherent, and be open to public input and scrutiny. In essence, the need is for a credible process, for planning the use of public land, that is objective and fair in addressing the interests of multiple stakeholders. Public land use planning therefore is distinct from forestry management planning, which favours its own sectoral interests — as is the tendency of any sector-driven effort. Disappointingly, sectoral bias already is evident in Lands and Forestry’s early actions toward implementing Lahey. Unless addressed, and corrected, the triad model will prove ineffective, and amount to little more than a smoke screen.”
– From the Woodlot: New web series for woodlot owners wanting a climate resilient forest
by Tracy Glynn on www.nbmediacoop.org “With climate change weighing heavily on their minds, a couple in Nauwigewauk have launched the YouTube channel, “Mike and Debbie Hickey From the Woodlot,” to document their experiences restoring their family woodlot.”
– Nova Scotia’s second largest sawmill in peril without chip market
Aaron Beswick in the Chronicle Herald. Subscription may be required. “Those who supply this province’s second largest sawmill are warning that unless a market is found quickly for its woodchips, Harry Freeman and Son Ltd. will close. The second generation Greenfield, Queens County, mill gave notice two weeks ago that it would stop taking wood “indefinitely.” - Apr 7, 2020:
– Irving’s Valley sawmill resumes production following COVID-19 shutdown
Harry Sullivan in the Chronicle Herald - Apr 1, 2020:
– Conservation Committee of HFN comments on High Production Forestry Discussion Paper
Post on website of the Halifax Field Naturalists. - Mar 31, 2020:
– Cumberland County maple producers seeing fewer customers, less revenue
Darrell Cole in the Cape Breton Post “With restrictions in place because of the growing threat of COVID-19, people aren’t going to maple camps like they do every spring. And it’s hurting producers who have plenty of product but few customers.” - Mar 30, 2020:
– As Canada’s forests become carbon bombs, Ottawa pushes the crisis off the books
By Barry Saxifrage | Opinion on https://www.nationalobserver.com “In summary, the government’s own data shows that Canada’s managed forests, and the wood taken out of them each year, have become one of our country’s largest climate pollution sources. Logging now extracts vastly more carbon than is growing back — tipping our forests from weak CO2 sinks into massive CO2 emitters. Rather than taking responsibility for our actions that are driving this new threat, the government is trying to push it all off the books through “creative” accounting, generational burden shifting and fake “offsets” schemes.” - Mar 28, 2020:
– COVID and N.S. pulp mill closure a ‘perfect storm’ for province’s forestry sector
The Canadian Press on atlantic.ctvnews.ca “The global COVID-19 pandemic is being described as the latest addition to the “perfect storm” facing Nova Scotia’s beleaguered sawmill industry, leading some companies to cease purchasing fresh supplies of logs.” - Mar 26, 2020
– Port Hawkesbury Paper gets 4-year power rate discount
Paul Withers · CBC News
– No pellet operation for Steeltown
Jackie Jardine in www.pictouadvocate.com
– Northern Pulp: Supreme Court dismisses Nova Scotia’s appeal on duty to consult
Canadian Press Staff on atlantic.ctvnews.ca
– Hawkesbury Paper to stand trial in January
Cape Breton Post “A provincial court trial date has been set for a Cape Breton paper company charged with violating the Wildlife Habitat and Watercourse Protection Regulations. Port Hawkesbury Paper…is charged with three violations of the regulations that were alleged to have occurred between January and March 2019. The offences occurred during the harvesting of trees at Peggy Allan Lake in Grand Mira North. The company is charged with failing to leave 10 living or partially living trees for each hectare cut; failing to leave at least one clump of no fewer than 30 trees for each eight hectares cuts; and failing to ensure clumps of trees were situated at least 20 metres from the edge of the forest stand being cut…The company is the largest leaser holder of Crown land in eastern Nova Scotia managing more than 58 per cent of forested land in the region. The company entered a guilty plea to all the charges Wednesday during a provincial court appearance in Sydney…A trial is now scheduled for Jan. 18-20, 2021 - Mar 23, 2020:
– Unbalanced Approach
Paul Pross, Op-ed in the Chronicle Herald. “The future of our forest industry needs high-production forestry, but as Lahey warned, it must be done through silvicultural methods “consistent with ecological forestry.” Before the public can “discuss” HPF, we need to know the larger context: how much other Crown land will be set aside for harvesting biomass to fuel community heating plants? How will clearcutting be reduced? How will ecological forestry be implemented? It seems that the department’s efforts to introduce ecological forestry have not kept pace with its concern for maintaining wood production. Is the department working on the rest of the triad approach? If it is, let’s hear about it.”
– Nova Scotia government didn’t consult adequately with Sipekne’katik Band, judge rules
Francis Campbell in the Chronicle Herald - Mar 21, 2020:
–International Day of Forests – A time to reconnect with the Acadian Forest
Nova Scotia Nature Trust, posted on March 16,2020 to celebrate International Day of Forests on Mar 21, 2020.”This Saturday, March 21st marks the International Day of Forests. The Day was created by the United Nations in an effort to increase the public’s knowledge of forests and all they do for us, like filter the water we drink and supply the air we breathe. In honour of the Day, the Nature Trust would like to celebrate our very own Acadian Forest Region.” - Mar 20, 2020:
– Port Hawkesbury Paper cutting wood deliveries due to declining markets, COVID-1
Michael Gorman on CBC News - Mar 13, 2020:
Doubt replacing hope for proposed Hawke’s Bay pellet plant in Newfoundland
Stephen Roberts in thetelegarm.com. Take note, Pictou Co.: “The Western Star has also learned the current directors listed in the registry for Timberlands, Richard Spinks and Thomas Harty, are no longer with the company. Spinks, a former CEO of Active Energy, stepped down as director in May 2019.” - Mar 12, 2020:
– High production, ecosystem management: A glimpse of Nova Scotia forestry’s future
Aaron Beswick in the Chronicle Herald. Subscription required. - Mar 11, 2020:
– Nova Scotia to ease spring weight restrictions to assist forestry sector
THE CANADIAN PRESS on Global News
– Reader questions proposed pellet plant
Don Wilson in Pictou Advocate
– Northern Pulp shutdown could affect province’s approach to high-production forestry
Michael Gorman · CBC News “The loss of Northern Pulp, which was the largest buyer of low-grade wood in the province, could affect how much area is designated for high-production forestry, but Rankin said a mitigating factor is that sawmills operating in the province still need supply. “It’s not really the time to tell sawmills that they would be reduced in supply, especially given some of the private woodlot supply — we have private woodlot owners that are not selling. So [mills] require that Crown fibre.”
– The Nova Scotia government is planning for tree plantations
Jennifer Henderson in the Halifax Examiner. Subscription ($10/mo) required for full access - Mar 10, 2020:
– LETTER: Action needed on enviro-racism
Brooklyn Rawlyk in the Chronicle Herald. She references Nova Scotia MP’s bill targets environmental racism (CH Feb 28, 2020)
– Trenton hosts an open public consultation hosted by Richard Spinks from RMD Environmentals Inc (RMDE), in connection to their establishing a venture at the former Trenton Works location
Friday, March 13, 2020, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM Trenton Rink Annex, 75 Park Road, Trenton. Posted on www.facebook.com/TrentonNS/
– Trees on commercial UK plantations ‘not helping climate crisis’
By Patrick Barkham in The Guardian. “Commercial tree plantations in Britain do not store carbon to help the climate crisis because more than half of the harvested timber is used for less than 15 years and a quarter is burned, according to a new report. While fast-growing non-native conifers can sequester carbon more quickly than slow-growing broadleaved trees, that carbon is released again if the trees are harvested and the wood is burned or used in products with short lifespans, such as packaging, pallets and fencing. Of the UK’s 2018 timber harvest, 23% was used for wood fuel, while 56% was taken to sawmills. Only 33% of the wood used by sawmills was for construction, where wood used in permanent buildings can lock in carbon for decades. Much of sawmill wood was used for fencing (36%) with a service life of 15 years, or packaging and pallets (24%) or paper (4%).”
– ‘Don’t see how we can justify it’: Bushfire scientist wants immediate end to logging
By Miki Perkins in Sydney Morning Herald “A leading Australian bushfire recovery scientist has called for an immediate end to native forest logging in Victoria in the wake of the catastrophic summer bushfires. Professor David Lindenmayer, a world expert in forest ecology and conservation, says his research demonstrates that logging makes native forests more prone to fire…“And when a forest is young, because it has been cut down and re-grown, it burns at very high temperatures because it’s much denser,” he said. Young forests also have few large trees, which provide micro refuges for animals and aid the forest’s recovery.” - Mar 9, 2020:
– Cities Recognized Worldwide for Urban Forestry Management
On tdworld.com The 59 cities worldwide include 10 cities in Canada, amongst them Halifax, NS. - Mar 5, 2020:
– New Brunswick forests could have a whole new look by the end of the century
CBC News “If we know that into the future, into the latter part of the century, that climate change is going to have a negative effect on the abundance of balsam fir and these spruce species, then that could have ramifications for future wood supply and forest management.”- Anthony Taylor
– Canadian Bioeconomy Conference brings expertise from around the globe
By Cam McAlpine of The Canadian Bioeconomy Conference and Exhibition, on Tree Frog Forestry News - Mar 4, 2020:
– Biodiversity Act could return to Province House this session
Michael Gorman · CBC News - Feb 29, 2020:
– Big biomass plant would further maul our forests
Raymond Plourde in the Chronicle Herald print ed; an updated versions of an online post: RAYMOND PLOURDE: Dodge the pellet, spare the forest (Feb 24, 2020) - Feb 27, 2020:
– MIKE LANCASTER: We don’t need another monster mill for exporting wood pellets
Mike Lancaster in the Chronicle Herald
– Workers and environmentalists, unite! Labour-sponsored panel aims to build bridges
By RobertDevet in https://nsadvocate.org/ - Feb 26, 2020:
– It’s not just Mexico’s forests that need protecting for butterfly migration
On mexiconewsdaily.com/ “Their route from Canada is threatened by overuse of herbicides and climate change, among other factors” - Feb 25, 2020:
– Final Cut: Forestry of the future – the sustainable revolution
By Francis Charette, Research Lead, FPInnovations in www.woodbusiness.ca “For the past three years, I have led a research program at FPInnovations called Forestry 4.0. Our objective is to build momentum towards sustainability by bringing more automation to forest operations in Canada. I am talking about autonomous trucks, platooning systems and automated harvesting machines. Forestry 4.0 was developed to create solutions for challenges affecting the forest industry, such as labour shortages, high fibre-supply costs and forest connectivity, as well as to improve our environmental performance. …New computer technology such as automation, cyber-physical systems, augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things will drastically change the forest industry for the better and ensure its competitiveness. …The forest industry, through forest intensification, is among the few industries that can grow while reducing its GHG emissions and remain sustainable..”
– Nova Scotia coast chosen as potential home for retired whales raised in captivity
BY MICHAEL TUTTON THE CANADIAN PRESS on CTV News
– New edition of CLT Handbook now available
https://www.newswire.ca/FPInnovations. “Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is increasingly used in the sustainable construction of tall buildings and has a firm footing in the mass-timber-building global movement.” - Feb 24, 2020:
– Port Hawkesbury Paper importing pulpwood
Aaron Beswick for the Chronicle Herald. “For woodlot owners and harvesters in southern New Brunswick, it’s a windfall. They’ll be getting $93.05 a tonne for spruce and fir pulpwood delivered to Port Hawkesbury Paper. The board has opened a yard near Moncton to fill orders for the Port Hawkesbury mill as it attempts to fill its own yard before logging roads get soft and close for the spring. The deal is only good into early March. Meanwhile, the mill has also contracted to start bringing in barges of wood chips from Quebec for its own use and bark for Nova Scotia Power’s adjacent biomass boiler starting this spring. That’s all expensive wood. Particularly when private land contractors in northern Nova Scotia are getting the equivalent of about $60 per tonne for pulpwood delivered to the yard. “If they’re going to pay $93 a tonne to New Brunswick then why can’t they pay that locally,” said Cecil Blue, owner of C.D. Blue Forestry in Queensville.” - Feb 21, 2020:
– LETTER: Forests need a rest
Helga Guderley in the Chronicle Herald “How fleeting were those heady days of late summer during which the need to save the world from the climate emergency was so clear to all, including The Chronicle Herald…Fast-forward to February 2020: Post-Northern Pulp is the new reality, gone are the days of facing the climate emergency.,, The Chronicle Herald, in a Feb. 10 editorial, has embraced a proposal to have a wood-pellet mill that replaces Northern Pulp. The frightening description states: “every step of the forestry process would remain the same, up to the point of arriving at the gate. It would also keep shipments flowing out of the Port of Halifax.” Our depleted forests need a rest! We are supposedly starting an era of ecological forestry…”
– Putters, protests and politics: The battle over a golf resort at Owls Head
Bruce Frisko for CTV News
– Global warming to drastically reduce regrowth of key softwood species in Maritimes
By Michael Tutton THE CANADIAN PRESS on ATV News. It refers to this paper: Disentangling mechanisms of early succession following harvest: Implications for climate change adaptation in Canada’s boreal-temperate forests, by AR taylor et al., 2020. Forest Ecology and Management Volume 461, 1 April 2020 - Feb 20, 2020:
– Owls Head land sale paused, but Nova Scotia minister says he’s unawareThe Canadian Press on CTV News
– Protesters rally to protect Owls Head park
Francis Campbell in Chronicle Herald - Feb 19, 2020:
– An open letter to Northern Pulp
Jill Graham-Scanlan, President, Friends of the Northumberland Strait on saltwire.com
– Nova Scotia announces rebate for investments in forestry operations
Adam MacInnis in the Chronicle Herald. “The program has been endorsed by the Forestry Transition Team and will be administered by Nova Scotia Business Inc. It will apply to eligible capital projects worth between $1 million and $15 million. Companies could be eligible for a rebate of 25 per cent up to a maximum rebate of $3.75 million.Examples of eligible projects:improved production processes or by-product stream processing; establishing new forestry sector production facilities that strengthen regional economies; diversification of product range and value-added product; production capacity to enter new markets and/or for new products; identifying new uses and new markets for wood fibre and projects that enhance exports”
– Owls Head land sale put on hold as potential buyers explore their options
Michael Gorman · CBC News
– Université Sainte-Anne’s switch to wood heat shows potential for forest industry
Michael Gorman · CBC News “Church Point school cut fuel bill in half and stimulated local economy” - Feb 17, 2020:
After mill closure, anxiety mounts in N.S. rural communities dependent on forestry
By Michael Tutton for THE CANADIAN PRESS on atlantic.ctvnews.ca - Feb 14, 2020:
– Burning biomass in N.S. will speed up the climate crisis, warns MIT prof
Emma Smith · CBC News - Feb 14, 2020:
– A Nova Scotia ‘gold rush’ means more threats for at-risk Atlantic salmon, even in areas that are meant to be protected
Zack Metcalfe in The Narwhal
–Elmsdale Lumber’s Plan B: selling pellets will be the bridge until Northern Pulp reopens
JENNIFER HENDERSON in the Halifax Examiner. Subscription required
Family Sawmill Owner Robin Wilber’s company strategy for dealing with the loss of the NP market for low value wood, and behind-the scenes efforts to help NP re-open.
– ‘Stop the bleeding’: Emotions run high at Forest Nova Scotia AGM
By Maria Church in woodbusiness.ca “The AGM’s opening speaker, Laird Van Damme, an adjunct professor at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., made the importance of maintaining a strong supply chain abundantly clear. Van Damme’s talk presented three case studies of what happens when a forestry supply chain collapses. In all three cases, the takeaway is the same: “Find a way to hang on to your supply chain,” Van Damme said, “because rebuilding it is very difficult.” - Feb 13, 2020:
– Hug A Forester:
The Forest Industry Is Still A Growing Economic Sector
by David Campbell in huddle.today/. A New Brunswick perspective, noting that “The GDP contribution from forest products in Nova Scotia is already 75 percent less than it is in New Brunswick. As a share of the total economy, forest products in Nova Scotia is 80 percent below New Brunswick.” Graph show Forest Products-related GPP as share of total is 4.5% for NB (the highest in Canada), for NS it is 0.9% (4th highest after NB, BC, Que) - Feb 12, 2020:
– Nova Scotia’s forestry sector future hinges on investment, innovation: Mill exec
Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press on BNN Bloomberg
– Meteghan-based Robin Hoodies directing half their profits to buying land for rewilding
Carla Allen for The Tri County Vanguard
– Nova Scotia adding $13.5M to forestry transition fund
Taryn Grant, Michael Gorman · CBC News “…”Markets is the biggest thing right now for their chips at the sawmill,” Rankin said..He said they’d be looking at export markets and new, innovative ways of using wood chips…Innovation in the sector was at the heart of several presentations on the second day of Forest Nova Scotia’s annual general meeting…Allan Eddy, manager of business development for Port Hawkesbury Paper, talked about that mill’s plans for an eco-industrial park. The idea is to attract other businesses with similar interests to set up shop on the mill’s 120-hectare campus and be able to feed off one another for energy and other potential efficiencies…Beth MacNeil, assistant deputy minister of the Canadian Forest Service, said making that change will require all players in the sector and all levels of government to focus on how to diversify markets and products…She pointed to British Columbia, where in response to shrinking amounts of fibre, the industry has shifted to higher-value wood products. “Rather than the traditional sawlog industry, they’re looking at bioproducts: bioplastics, using biomass for heat, electricity [and] focusing on secondary marketing,” said MacNeil. She said those options could have potential in Nova Scotia, as could considering ideas in the context of using the forests to help transition to a low-carbon economy and address climate change. ”
– MIT prof says fossil and wood fuels should be replaced by solar energy (audio)
CBC Info AM. Related: Does replacing coal with wood lower CO2 emissions? Dynamic lifecycle analysis of wood bioenergy by John D Sterman et al., 2018 in Environmental Research Letters.
– Annual forest industry meeting contemplates life after Northern Pulp
Michael Gorman · CBC News
– Nova Scotia Power tells regulators why paper mill should be given discount
Paul Withers · CBC News · - Feb 11, 2020:
– COMMENTARY: Aquaculture a broken business model that’s ruinous for the environment
ROBERT CERVELLI and GREGORY HEMING in the Guardian (PEI)
– Nova Scotia’s last paper mill seeks new discount electricity rate
Paul Withers · CBC News “Port Hawkesbury Paper accounts for 10% of Nova Scotia’s electricity usage”
– Why burning biomass might not be good for the environment
CBC Info AM audio. Information Morning talks to John Sturman, a researcher from MIT about biomass burning and why it isn’t actually a very good direction for CO2 reduction. Part 1 of 2 interviews. - Feb 10, 2020:
– JOHN DeMONT: A new narrative in the jobs versus environment debate?
Chronicle Herald. Subscription may be required.
– EDITORIAL: Wood-burning initiative a glimmer of hope for forestry
Chronicle Herald. May require subscription for access. - Feb 8, 2020:
– JIM VIBERT: Forestry transition team needs broader reach
Jim Vibert in the Chronicle Herald - Feb 7, 2020
– N.S. government pressing ahead despite opposition to coastal land sale
By Keith Doucette for THE CANADIAN PRESS on atlantic.ctvnews.ca/
– JIM VIBERT: Public to be consulted on Owls Head
Jim Vibert in the Chronicle Herald. Subscription may be required. “The public consultation that should have taken place before the provincial government removed Owls Head from the parks and protected areas list will now fall to the prospective developer of the land…The government’s secrecy was not only disrespectful of the people of the Eastern Shore, it put the golf course proponent in a dreadful position. His well-intentioned vision was vilified before he ever had a chance to share it.”
– Forestry transition committee needs community voice, independent chair: NDP critic
By Andrew Rankin in The Chronicle Herald - February 6, 2020:
– Pictou County Chamber: ‘Green’ business proposal could spell jobs for county
Jackie Jardin in pictouadvocate.com/ About the wood pellet for biomass proposal
– Talks ongoing with Northern Pulp mill over millions in outstanding loans: premier
The Canadian Press in CTV News - Feb 5, 2020:
– Wood-pellet plant proposed for Pictou County
By Adam MacInnis in The Chronicle Herald
– N.S. government still coming to grips with impact of Northern Pulp shutdown
By Jean Laroche
CBC News - Feb 4, 2020:
– Former provincial biologist seeks judicial review of Owls Head decision
Michael Gorman · CBC News
– A community rallies to save Owls Head
SUZANNE RENT in Halifax Examiner Morning File Cited in the article: the OWLS HEAD–RESOURCE PAGE on the Eastern Shore Cooperator.
– Opponents of Province’s Secret Sale of Owls Head Provincial Park File Lawsuit
On Eastern Shore Cooperator
– Defaced Mi’kmaq billboard should raise an alarm
By RobertDevet in the nsadvocate.org
– RCMP INVESTIGATING DEFACED MI’KMAQ SIGN NEAR AMHERST
Jmaes_Faulkner for www.iheartradio.ca
– Province kicks in $7 million of forestry fund for silviculture, roadwork
Francis Campbell in the Chronicle Herald. Subscription may be required - Feb 3, 2020:
– A Mi’kmaq community’s fears of toxic water recede as Northern Pulp mill winds down
GREG MERCER in The Globe and Mail– Nova Scotia announces sites for 6 wood energy projects
Michael Gorman · CBC News.
– Nova Scotia pushes wood-chip heating systems in public buildings
Francis Campbell in Chronicle Herald
Also view: L&F Press Release; RFSQ – Wood Heat Service Providers: Award Memo: Wood4heating Canada Inc., ACFOR Energy Inc., SustainDriven Inc., Mira Forestry Development Ltd., Spec Resources Inc.; Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry SMALL SCALE WOOD ENERGY INITIATIVE– JIM VIBERT: Nova Scotia nearing target of protecting 13 per cent of land
Jim Vibert in Chronicle Herald. Subscription may be required. - Feb 1, 2020:
– ‘It looked like paradise’: Mi’kmaw elders reflect on how paper mill pollution changed their community
By Nic Meloney CBC News Video. “This feature video from CBC Indigenous explores the impact the pollution has had on the community and its elders and how their advocacy for the land and water resulted in change.”
– Harvesting plans for Crown land won’t change with Northern Pulp closure, says forestry minister
Michael Gorman · CBC News
– Province announces details of loan program for forestry contractors
By Michael Gorman CBC News. “People who qualify can get help for up to 3 months worth of equipment payments - Jan 31, 2020:
– MARIKE FINLAY-DE MONCHY: Conservationists have missed the boat on eco-tourism
Marike Finlay-de Monchy in the Chronicle Herald “I must conclude that unless we conservationists actively militate for and support the creation of sustainable economic activity deriving from the protected areas here, we will not prevail in keeping them out of the clutches of sleazy governments making backroom deals with self-serving corporations such as gold miners, open-pen fish farmers or golf course developers.”
– Press release: SuNNS congratulates Colchester County Council for voting to protect water resources
By Nova Scotia Advocate
– Forest entomologist visits Truro to share knowledge on invasive species
Lynn Curwin in the Chronicle Herald, Subscription may be required for access. - Jan 30, 2020
– Colchester to vote on proposal to ban mining near drinking-water source
Paul Palmeter · CBC News
– Northern Pulp issued ministerial order setting terms for orderly shutdown
The Canadian Press on CTV News
– Eastern Shore rallies behind Owls Head parklands
by Richard Bell in The Coast
– Turning the toxic tide on Northern Pulp and Boat Harbour
By Taryn Grant in The Coast
– Happy trails for friends of Sydney forest
Christopher Connors in www.thetelegram.com “It’s happy trails for a group of Cape Breton Regional Municipality residents who have been fighting to save a popular system of pathways and the urban forest that surrounds it.” Related: An alternative plan for the Baille Ard Trail [CBC RADIO AUDIO, Jan 29, 2020]
– Provincial parks legislation needs update on pending protected land
NDP Press Release “The NDP Caucus will table legislation this upcoming session to strengthen the Provincial Parks Act to ensure pending protected land cannot be delisted without public consultation.” - Jan 29, 2020:
– A chronological history of Boat Harbour, Nova Scotia
By MICHAEL TROMBETTA and SEYITAN MORITIWON in signalhfx.ca. “The Northern Pulp mill in Boat Harbour is scheduled to shut down at the end of the month amid concerns about pollution and environmental racism after decades of effluent treatment. But before 1960, Boat Harbour was an unpolluted tidal estuary on the Northumberland Strait in Pictou County, Nova Scotia. The estuary covered about 142 hectares and was used by the local Pictou Landing First Nation community for fishing, food and recreational purposes. Now, it is used as a waste treatment lagoon for a pulp mill. This began in the 1960s and has provided thousands of jobs.” - Jan 28, 2020:
– Municipality of Digby urged to stand in opposition with residents against salmon farming in St. Mary’s Bay
Tina Comeau in the Chronicle Herald
– Settler nations have failed as care-takers of nature. It’s time for a new approach.
Charlie G Sark in nationalobserver.com
– Sound Off: As Boat Harbour nears shut down, here’s what to expect in the short and long term
CBC Video with Mike Gorman and Jean Laroche. “With the constant flurry of news surrounding Boat Harbour and Northern Pulp, this Sound Off outlines where things currently stand and what we’ll likely see in the coming days, weeks and months” - Jan 27, 2020:
– Amid forestry struggles, panel finds ‘surprising’ consensus on old-growth logging concerns in B.C.
Sarah Cox in The Narwhal. “Two members of a government-appointed panel tell The Narwhal they heard an unexpected level of agreement about the need to ‘get back to the land’ and move past polarized political cycles when safeguarding the province’s last intact ancient forests, which are being cut down faster than the Amazon”. (One panel member – Al Gorely- was an expert adviser to Nova Scotia’s Independent review of Forest Practices.) - Jan 26, 2020
– Potential salmon farm operations raising concerns
Francis Campbell in the Chronicle Herald (pub jan 24, updated Jan 26, 2020). Subscription may be required. More loss of Social License to seriously pollute the commons in NS - Jan 25, 2020:
– Feds end talks that could have seen N.S. buy land for golf course development
Michael Gorman · CBC - Jan 24, 2020:
– Sipekne’katik motion in Alton Gas case dismissed
Francis Campbell in the Chronicle Herald
– Province guarantees loans for forestry contractors caught up in Northern Pulp shutdown
Jean Laroche · CBC News “Forestry contractors who need money to try to weather losses from the Northern Pulp shutdown are being offered up to $180,000 in short-term loans. It is an effort to tide them over while they search for new buyers for their wood. Jeff Bishop, executive director of Forest Nova Scotia, helped create the new program. He said much of the money would go to forest workers dealing with payments for equipment.” - Jan 23, 2020
– Premier rejects call for all-party committee to deal with Northern Pulp closure
Jean Laroche · CBC News “‘The last thing we need is to politicize this issue,’ says Stephen McNeil”
– Northern Pulp seeks judicial review of N.S. environment minister’s ruling
Michael Gorman · CBC News
– Unifor supports request for Northern Pulp decision Supreme Court review
NEWS PROVIDED BY Unifor on www.newswire.ca/
– Economic fallout of Northern Pulp closure will cut deep in Nova Scotia’s Pictou County
BY JESSE THOMAS GLOBAL NEWS
– N.S. remains committed to Lahey Report as province’s forestry industry is in limbo
Michael Gorman · CBC News
– Pink slips begin at Northern Pulp
www.ngnews.ca/ - Jan 22, 2020
– Tensions cooling over Boat Harbour
Aaron Beswick In thetelegram.com
– Northern Pulp workers brace for life after the paper mill closes
BY JESSE THOMAS GLOBAL NEWS
– LETTER: Are B.C.’s trees going the way of Newfoundland’s cod?
Taryn Skalbania in www.vernonmorningstar.com/ - Jan 21, 2020:
– TIMELINE: A brief history of Boat Harbour and Northern Pulp
CBC Video (6 min)
–
Jan 21, 2020:
– Sound Off: Digging deep into Owl’s Head park
CBC Facebook video. “Owl’s Head Provincial Park was delisted as a property slated for protection, likely for it to be used for development. CBC’s Mike Gorman and Jean Laroche dig into the lack of transparency.” They note that while there was a lot of consultation in initial identification of Owl’s Head as a place to be protected, there was no consultation in the decision to delist it…and that it was Michelle Samson, who touted the new Liberal government’s commitment to transparency in 2013; he was defeated in the 2017 election and a year later signed as lobbyist for the company that is seeking this development.
– Effluent pipe to Boat Harbour will stay on past Jan. 31 deadline
Brendan Ahern for www.ngnews.ca/ ““Of course, the community is disappointed”, said Chief Andrea Paul in a press release that had been issued on Jan. 21. “We were expecting a complete shutdown of the Boat Harbour treatment facility. Northern Pulp could have started draining the pipes weeks ago in order to complete the work before Jan. 31 and avoid the need to heat the mill after that.””
– Owls Head development would mean ‘complete destruction’ of its ecology, says biologist
Michael Gorman · CBC News - Jan 20, 2020:
– What Pictou County can learn from the Bowater paper mill closure
By Brittany Wentzel for CBC News
– UNIFOR frustrated they aren’t included in the forestry transition team
by Dave Heintzman for Halifax Today - Jan 18, 2020:
– BILL BLACK: From pulp to park, a perpetual tug of war between environment, economy
Bill Black in the Chronicle Herald. Subscription may be required. - Jan 17, 2020:
– Manager of forest owners coop takes role on transition team
Raissa Tetanish in tatamagouchelight.com - Jan 16, 2020:
– As Northern Pulp shutdown looms, workers seek new careers
Jack Julian · CBC News - Jan 14, 2020:
– N.S. forester concerned the woods are ‘taking a backseat to business‘
Michael Gorman · CBC
– ROBIN WILBER: Post-Northern Pulp, what will forestry industry do with its stranded assets?
RW in the Chronicle Herald
– Cumberland County wants to be a leader in response to forestry crisis
Darrell Cole in Chronicel Herald
– The Local Climate – Owls Head
Zack Metcalfe in pictouadvocate.com/ - Jan 13, 2020:
– Port Hawkesbury Paper power hearing to start Feb. 11
By Nancy King in The Cape Breton Post
– The province wants your input on six newly proposed wilderness areas
Halifax Examiner Morning File
– Northern Pulp
Halifax Examiner Morning File. “The Examiner is planning further reporting on the mill; I won’t get into that here, but Baxter writes: “Whatever the case, I was wrong when I wrote there was just one thing that is certain about the Northern Pulp story — namely, that it’s far from over. Something else is certain: Northern Pulp is going to spare no efforts to ensure that before it’s over, this is going to cost the people of Nova Scotia an enormous amount of money.” - Jan 11, 2020:
– An unrealistic timeline, an undefined process: setting the record straight on Northern Pulp
On paperexcellence.com - Jan 10, 2020:
– Northern Pulp, past and future: It ain’t over till it’s over
Joan Baxter in Halifax Examiner (subscription required for access to full article)
Northern Pulp says it will continue to operate as a business
Jennifer Henderson in Halifax Examiner (subscription required for access to full article) - Jan 9, 2020:
Nova Scotia’s forestry transition team to spend $7M on silviculture
Michael Gorman · CBC News “Premier says funding should allow up to 300 people to continue business as usual”
– Northern Pulp to mothball mill as it continues with environmental assessment process
Michael Gorman · CBC News
– Northern Pulp mill to move ahead with environmental assessment process
THE CANADIAN PRESS in www.theglobeandmail.com
– CHRIS BOND: A logger’s view — McNeil has made a big mess
Chris R. Bond, owner/operator, C & D Bond Forestry Ltd., Rawdon Gold Mines in the Chronicle Herald - Jan 8, 2020:
– Letters: Effluent still effluent, Beyond short-term pain, Reverse course on mill
Chronicle Herald
– Cumberland County foresters not going down without a fight
Darrell Cole for www.cumberlandnewsnow.com
– Nova Scotia Environment: Replacement Effluent Treatment Facility Project- draft terms of reference for public comment
It’s not clear what’s going on here, as The Mill announced on Dec 20, 2019 that it is closing. Regardless, the page with the pertinent info includes items such as Comments Received on Focus Report.
– Innovation not optional for Atlantic Canada’s forestry sector in 2020
Brett Bundale for /www.thetelegram.com/
– Forestry workers not ready to quit as Northern Pulp shutdown looms
Michael Gorman · CBC. Greg Watson, manager of North Nova Forest Owners Co-op and a member of the province’s forestry transition team: “Given how critical things are, he’s hoping everyone involved can come together in a productive and positive way to find a plan that would not only get people through this current downturn, but help things be environmentally and economically sustainable into the future.” - Jan 7, 2019:
– First there was the stench of the mill, now there is the stench of racism
By RobertDevet in the Nova Scotia Advovate
– Nova Scotia offering ’emotional support’ line for workers affected by mill closure
Canadian Press in Halifax Today
– Robin Wilber cut from forestry transition team after saying Northern Pulp considering a hot idle
In https://www.saltwire.com. “Robin Wilber, the president of Elmsdale Lumber, has been cut from the Nova Scotia government’s forestry transition team just days after he was appointed. Speaking on the Rick Howe show this morning, Jan. 7, Wilber said he was fired for wanting to talk about the possibility of a hot idle for Northern Pulp.” - Jan 6, 2019:
JIM VIBERT: ‘Sneaky’ government alarms Nova Scotia conservationists
Jim Vibert in the Chronicle Herald, Jan 6, 2019 - Jan 3, 2019:
– Premier announces forestry transition team members
The News (New Glascow). Also view NS Government News Release
– Nova Scotia’s forestry industry in ‘crisis mode,’ says Colchester County wood lot owner
BY JESSE THOMAS GLOBAL NEWS
– ‘We are against backroom deals’: Eastern Shore group against golf resort proposal
Michael Gorman · CBC News
– Northern Pulp considering hot idle option: Forestry transition team member
Adam MacInnis for The News (New Glascow) “Paper Excellence is considering the option of keeping Northern Pulp in a hot idle, says Robin Wilber, president of Elmsdale Lumber Company and a member of Nova Scotia’s newly appointed forestry transition team. But the company will need some co-operation to make it happen.” - Jan 2, 2020:
– Northern Pulp fallout continues
Aaron Beswick in Chronicle Herald. Subscription may be required. ““A clearcut or something closely resembling a clearcut is now the only type of harvest that’s really viable because they will need to take the best material out of each stand to make it viable,” said Tupper.”
– DERRICK KIMBALL: Government failed to get optimal result in Northern Pulp dilemma
In Chronicle Herald. Subscription may be required. “Derrick Kimball is a former MLA and lecturer in political science at Acadia University. He practises law in Wolfville.”
