Thanks to WR for forwarding this NRR Twitter post of Nov 9, 2021 which reads:
DYK the Old Forest Policy protects the oldest tree in the Maritimes?
This 532-year old Eastern hemlock was discovered when we were collecting samples in the Panuke Lake area this summer.
Learn more about it here: https://novascotia.ca/natr/forestry/programs/ecosystems/oldgrowth.asp
I try to keep track of new job hires related to forests and forestry at DNR/L&F/NRR, as its one of the few public signals of what’s going on in that department. Once hired, we (the public) generally never hear about the appointee again. We don’t know who is hired, what they do or what they have accomplished in the year past. A year ago there was an advert for this appointee’s immediate boss, the Manager, Forest Management Planning – view NSFN Post Nov 12, 2020; that post also lists some of the other job adverts in last couple of years.
Extracts from the advertisement on jobs.novascotia.com
Competition # : 32717
Department: Natural Resources & Renewables
Location: TRURO
Type of Employment: Permanent
Union Status: NSGEU – NSPG
Closing Date: 11/23/2021 (Applications are accepted until 11:59 PM Atlantic Time) Continue reading
Old trees support biodiversity and store carbon. Raymond Plourde spotted this one. The tree is an old wind-twisted red maple in a patch of Old Growth Forest by Sandy Lake (Bedford, N.S.) on Sep 15, 2019. Will such patches of Old Growth on harvested Crown lands be protected under the revised Old Forest Policy?
UPDATE NOV 10, 2021: N.S. drafts updated old-growth forest policy, advocates say it doesn’t go far enough
Taryn Grant · CBC News, NOV. 9, 2021 “”They made the house a little prettier and tidier. But the foundation is still cracked and significant progress, I think, is still lacking.” – Alain Belliveau”
—————–
I suppose better late than never is possible.
From an announcement that came across my Google News feed this am:
Old-Growth Forest Policy: public consultation
(URL: https://novascotia.ca/old-forest-policy-consultation/)Old-Growth Forest Policy: public consultation
The Old-Growth Forest Policy supports the conservation and restoration of old-growth forests in the province. Nova Scotians are invited to give their feedback on proposed updates to the policy.You can submit your feedback until 8 December 2021.
Old-growth forests are an important part of the province’s biodiversity and must be maintained. Nova Scotia’s Old-Growth Forest Policy supports the conservation and restoration of old-growth forests.
Related information :Old-growth forests in Nova Scotia
The policy only applies to Crown land. Under the current policy, about 10% of forested Crown land has been identified as old-growth forest. Continue reading
| Update, Nov 3, 2021 – Presenter says government needs ‘courage to lead’ on environmental bill Michael Gorman · CBC News Nov 2, 2021 “While the Tory environment bill was lauded by most, all agreed it must go further” – N.S. environment minister says climate change bill will proceed as written Also view the many submissions on Bill 57 to the Law Amendments Committee on Nov 1, Oct 29, 30, 31, 2021. |
Original post (Nov 1, 2021)
On Oct 27, the new PC Government gave first reading to its Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act.
In broad terms it has been well received by environmental and social action groups, but they also say it needs to do much more, as illustrated by a joint statement by 10 groups in Nova Scotia/The Council of Canadians.
The Standing Committee on Law Amendments received comments on the Act at its meeting today, viewable on YouTube and ongoing as I write (9:30 pm).
In the early afternoon, Nina Newington, speaking on behalf of the Annapolis County chapter of Extinction Rebellion, urged that the Act recognize the necessity to take actions that simultaneously fight the climate and nature crises; the latter, she contends is not adequately addressed in the first reading of the Act. She gave NSFN permission to reproduce her submission here.
Presentation to Law Amendments Committee:
Bill 57 – Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act, Nov.1, 2021
Nina Newington, Mount Hanley, NS
Continue reading
UPDATE NOV 9, 2021: Unfortunately, it is NOT good news in the end: – Crown land considered habitat for endangered moose has been clear cut (audio)
CBC Info AM, Nov 9, 2020 “In Digby County, Crown land between the Silver River and Tobeatic Wilderness areas has been clear cut. That’s despite the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs asking the province to halt logging in the area. We hear from Nina Newington, who has been protesting the clearcutting.”
ORIGINAL POST
Good News in our small corner of the world!
Posted on Extinction Rebellion Nova Scotia (Public Facebook Group), circa 8 pm Oct 31, 2021
The cutting has stopped in the Rocky Point Lake area of Digby county where, last year, we blockaded the logging road. All the logging equipment has been pulled out. Not before they decimated some of the most ecologically valuable forest and chopped up more of it with multiple extraction roads, but most of the 638 acres approved for clearcutting has not been touched. Continue reading
Received today (Oct 29, 2021) from HFC:
 The HFC Demands Immediate Halt to Logging Operations in Moose Habitat at Rocky Point LakeLogging has begun near Rocky Point Lake in the New France area of Digby County. Over six hundred and thirty eight acres, or almost 500 football fields, are scheduled for clearcutting and other even-aged harvests. Crucial habitat for the endangered Mainland moose is being destroyed. Some of the last wildlife connectivity between the Tobeatic and Silver River Wilderness Areas will be lost.
The Healthy Forest Coalition (HFC) is calling on the Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables to halt this harvesting activity immediately. A year ago, the proposed clearcutting of these forests on Crown Land south of Fourth Lake was met with tremendous public opposition. Moose were known to frequent the area. They are still in the area. Nothing has changed except that another year has passed with no actions on the ground toward ecological forestry, nor the legally required identification and protection of core Mainland moose habitat. The biodiversity and climate crises are worsening. One thing has changed for the better: awareness of Canada’s shameful treatment of Indigenous peoples and the necessity of mending our ways. A year ago, the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs wrote to the Minister of Lands and Forestry regarding harvesting in this area. Included in the letter was the following crucial assertion of rights: “The Assembly demands that any operations at Fourth Lake halt until a full mainland moose assessment is done – taking into consideration new evidence that has come to light respecting habitat and breeding concerns in this area. The Assembly asserts s.35 rights to moose stewardship and therefore requires Consultation respecting potential moose activity in this area based on new evidence.” To the best of our knowledge no such Consultation has taken place. The Assembly’s demand is being ignored. Continue reading |
Nina Newington (Oct 25, 2021)
I am so sorry forest
I am so sorry Moose
I am so sorry Planet
We tried to protect you
This beautiful forest
That was the home of endangered moose
This, this is what our government allows
This is what our own government breaks its own laws to allow
We need to stop this. Now
Click on image for Video (on Facebook)
So much has changed and yet so little in one year. Continue reading
Andy Kekac at a Conform Limited/NSWOOA field day Oct 6, 2018
Finally some good news – if very modest from a financial perspective – for Ecological Forestry in Nova Scotia.
From Forestry trust fund doles out $12.4M to 2 projects by Michael Gorman for CBC News Oct 18, 2021:
The Family Forest Network is getting $9.8 million for a five-year pilot project that will involve ecologically sensitive forest treatments on about 200 small private woodlots around the province. The funding was announced last Friday.
Andy Kekacs, a member of the network’s steering committee, said the group will spend the next six to nine months reaching out to landowners and looking for people interested in participating.
“It really represents a new era for forest stewardship in our province,” he said.
“This is a departure from the practices of the last 50 years and a move toward saying that we can do economically viable forestry that also considers other values and protects them in the process of creating some income.”
A big part of the work will be exposing contractors to an approach promoted in the Lahey review of forestry practices, which called for a major reduction of clear cutting on Crown land.
The funding will help contractors become more comfortable with the costs of the work and how to make it financially viable, said Kekacs.
A “mini-forwarder” allows a more gentle touch on a privately owned woodlot
“Right now, Nova Scotia’s forest production system is built around clear cutting, and we’re suggesting that there’s a different way to do things consistent with what Bill Lahey recommended three years ago. And the number of contractors who are willing and able to do that at the moment is fairly small,” he said.
Something to celebrate this thanksgiving day. Announcement by Extinction Rebellion Mi’kma’ki / Nova Scotia on their Facebook page, Fri Oct 8, 2021 (photos from the FB page):
“Good News! Today we learned that the sites Don’t Spray Us campers have been protecting since September 13th will NOT be sprayed. Nova Scotia Environment told us this morning the spray program is over for this year.
“ARF, the helicopter company approved to spray these sites with a glyphosate based herbicide, did spray other forests in mainland Nova Scotia this fall, but not Otter Brook or Halfway Brook/Smithfield where we set up camp, nor the Upper Stewiacke site where Jacob Fillmore camped in a tree.
“It is absurd that, in 2021, we have to go to these lengths — and heights — to prevent the government-approved poisoning of natural forests in the service of a version of industrial forestry that science no longer supports. Continue reading
Kevin Smith posted these items on Facebook. I asked his permission to post them here. They are credible and concerning observations from the front lines of #StoptheSpray. – dp
Oct 5, 2021:
Coyote scat containing only grass and plastic. Click on image for larger version
This is likely the saddest thing I have come across since being out here. The first picture is coyote scat, containing only plastic and grass.
I have, for some time, made it a habit to check predator droppings, as it’s a good indicater of what is in and/or going on in the area. I’ve come across dozens of findings from coyotes since I’ve been here. Most are a mixture of seeds, roots, and berries. But NONE, have contained more than a trace amount of fur, likely their own.
This particular coyote ate plastic because it couldn’t find anything else but grass to eat. This is likely due to the fact that its habitat is disappearing before my eyes. Continue reading
