Big Forestry versus the Nova Scotia Biodiversity Act, round II 16Mar2021

Posted on March 16, 2021 by admin

Ad thanking  supporters in campaign against the Biodiversity Act in the Masthead News Apr 1, 2021. “The fight isn’t over. The Halifax Activists won’t give up”

UPDATES:
– Biodiversity Act passes at Province House, regulations still to come
Michael Gorman · CBC News Apr 14, 2021. “…The changes Rankin announced to the bill came in the face of a highly co-ordinated lobby effort bankrolled by industry lobbyists that attempted to pit landowners and environmentalists against each other. NDP forestry critic Lisa Roberts noted it was left to landowners, environmentalists and others who supported the bill in its original form to find a way to push back against the lobby effort…NDP Leader Gary Burrill said the changes the Liberals made to the bill, reducing it from 19 pages to seven, robbed it of its promise..urrill accused the Tories of buying into the lobby effort talking points, posturing for the sake of politics and being outdated and out of touch with the realities of climate change and the requirements to respond. Houston, meanwhile, shot back that his party was the only one willing to stand up for rural landowners and questioned the relevance of the NDP.” Continue reading →

Posted in Conservation, Rankin | Comments Off on Big Forestry versus the Nova Scotia Biodiversity Act, round II 16Mar2021

Two tales of Environmental Justice versus the Economy in Nova Scotia 14Mar2021

Posted on March 14, 2021 by admin

Environmental justice embraces the principle that all people and communities are entitled to equal protection of environmental and public health laws and regulations.
— ROBERT D. BULLARD, cited on environmentaljustice.ca

This city block with the once iconic & upscale Mills Brothers (above) disappeared (below) sometime recently. Is its resting place on the North Mountain of the Annapolis Valley?

Tale # 1 has a good if highly protracted ending that we all know about: the closure of Boat Harbour. A good ending justice-wise, that is. Not so good economically in the short term for the forest industry  but the government quickly opened our coffers to soften the blow.

A little over a year later and at least some sectors of the forest industry are doing just fine: our sawmills are thriving, an unpredicted outcome of the unpredicted pandemic, and it seems there is no sign of the demand for lumber declining. Many suspect that pressure from the sawmills/WestFor is the reason that L&F/our government chose not to talk to the moose protestors or otherwise strengthen its protection of mainland moose;  the government was still smarting from the beating it took from some of its traditional  supporters over its stand on Boat Harbour.

Tale # 2 is still in progress and seems to have resided largely below the radar of environmental activists in NS: the disposal of “fluff” and other toxic wastes – mostly from Halifax – at the Arlington dump on the North Mountain overlooking the community of St. Croix Cove. Continue reading →

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Nova Scotia Forestry Map Issues…continued 12Mar2021

Posted on March 12, 2021 by admin

The PTA was requested one month before and received 33 days after the Comment Period closed

Posted in L&F, WestFor | Comments Off on Nova Scotia Forestry Map Issues…continued 12Mar2021

Is High Production Forestry compatible with the Nova Scotia Premier’s commitment to carbon neutrality? 11Mar2021

Posted on March 11, 2021 by admin

Simply put, one cannot make the assumption that “implementing the Lahey recommendations” will help to mitigate climate change

Candidate Rankin and now Premier Rankin continues to voice loudly his commitment to addressing climate change, in the Speech from the Throne promising that “Nova Scotia will be the first province in Canada to achieve carbon neutrality.”

In the same context he cites changes in forestry:

In the forestry sector, my government will accelerate the implementation of the recommendations of the report of Professor William Lahey to adopt ecological forestry principles, placing protection of the ecosystem and biodiversity in the forefront of forest management practices.

My government is committed to higher value production with lower ecological impacts as we innovate away from industrial forestry to ecological forestry.

It is pertinent to note that the Lahey Report did not cite or even highlight how the proposed changes in forest practices would affect carbon emissions. To illustrate, the word “climate”is cited 9 times, 8 of them referring to effects of climate change and adapting to climate change, 1 to the “business climate”;  there is nothing on climate change mitigation. Continue reading →

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Equating survival of Mainland Moose and Humans in Nova Scotia 9Mar2021

Posted on March 9, 2021 by admin

Jacob Fillmore (right) at the law courts on Jan 26, 2021, joined by Heather Moore (left).

When I first read the headline about Jacob Fillmore’s hunger strike, I didn’t get the dietary connection Jacob was making.

I have had an unsuccessful relationship with the Chronicle Herald over the last couple of years, unable to get an electronic subscription that makes content consistently available and I gave up trying. So I couldn’t read the content of the article.

Then I read a post on the Extinction Rebellion Nova Scotia Facebook page that explained it all:

Fillmore said he will survive on water, soup broth for nutrients and a homemade electrolyte mix while the moose searches for its approximate daily intake of 25 kilograms of saplings, twigs, leaves and aquatic vegetation.

Continue reading →

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WestFor advertising for General Manager 3Mar2021

Posted on March 3, 2021 by admin

From notice received via indeed.com:

Apply on Company Site
WestFor Management Inc.
Bridgewater, NS
POSITION: General Manger
LENGTH OF EMPLOYMENT: Full-time, Salaried.
LOCATION: Western Nova Scotia – WestFor Management Inc. is based in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia and conducts forestmanagement and operations across the western 9 counties of the province.
APPLICATION CLOSING DATE: March 21st, 2021 Continue reading →

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Nina Newington Notes from Court #3 — ‘Irreparable Harm’ and the ‘Balance of Convenience’, February 25th, 2021

Posted on February 27, 2021 by admin

“What is the value of a standing forest?” asks Nina Newington. And, “What price a lost forest? And who pays that price? Whose forest was it, in the first place?”

Contemplative moments at Rocky Point Lake Forest.

By Nina Newington
Originally posted on Annapolis Royal & Area – Environment & Ecology 

Earlier posts in this series:
– Nina Newington Notes from Court #2 — the Illusion of Consent, February 5th, 2021
– Cutting Moose Country# 1 in Nina Newington’s Notes From Court 30Jan2021

———-

Background: I spent the day in the Nova Scotia Supreme Court on January 26th, observing WestFor’s application to extend the temporary injunction they were granted in December against the Extinction Rebellion Nova Scotia Association and John and Jane Doe. WestFor is a consortium of 13 sawmills.

Nine Moose Country forest protectors — including me — were arrested for failing to obey this injunction. The injunction barred anyone from blocking any logging road anywhere on Crown land that WestFor has a license to harvest. We face criminal charges of disobeying a court order. On March 15th we will find out when exactly we are to enter our pleas in Provincial Court in Digby. Sometime later our cases will go to trial. In the meantime we are barred from setting foot on any of the crown lands covered by the injunction.

Due to COVID regulations, I was the sole representative in the public gallery of the people who blockaded logging roads in Digby County for 8 weeks. I submitted an affidavit but WestFor’s lawyers chose not to cross-examine me.

This is the third in a series of notes covering different aspects of the hearing. The first looked at the use WestFor made of ‘Moose Concentration Area’ maps. The second focused on the role of the province’s Harvest Plan Map Viewer in creating the illusion of consent. This third one has to do with the legal tests for turning an interim injunction into a more permanent interlocutory one. Perhaps we will have a ruling on the case by the time I write a fourth. Continue reading →

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Nova Scotia L&F looking for Senior Development Officer 27Feb2021

Posted on February 27, 2021 by admin

From the NS Job Notice:

About Our Opportunity
As the Senior Development Officer, you will be responsible for researching, planning and implementing forestry economic and resources development and trade projects and initiatives, within the mandate of the department.

Primary Accountabilities Continue reading →

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For the record: Rankin’s first comments as premier of Nova Scotia on implementing the Lahey Report & Owl’s Head 25Feb 2021

Posted on February 25, 2021 by admin

UPDATE Feb 27, 2021: About golf courses in protected areas (“A legacy of the past”)
————–

Iain Rankin, sworn in an Premier on Tuesday Feb 23rd was interviewed on CBC’s Information Morning the next day.

For the record, an ‘abbreviated transcript’ of the section when he was asked first about implementation of the Lahey Report and then about Owl’s Head (3:17 to 6:38) is given below.

CBC: Will the Lahey report be implemented before the next election? Continue reading →

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Bill Lahey on Rick Howe Show comments on where we are with his recommendations 24Feb2021

Posted on February 24, 2021 by admin

From News 95.7:  “The Rick Howe Show with Jordi Morgan – Monday, February 22, 2021 Iain Rankin has vowed to bring the Lahey report into action this year. We talk about it with author of the report Bill Lahey.”

An Abbreviated Transcript* follows:

Jordi Morgan: Iain Rankin was the Minister of Lands and Forestry and said at the time he was in favour of fully implementing the Lahey Report….written by William Lahey… WL joins us this am.

JM: …Has it been a little disheartening to you that the recommendations.. have yet to be implemented?

WL: I would describe it as discouraging. There has been much good policy and planning work that has been done but we are past the point and we should be seeing actual changes on the landscape in how forestry is conducted particularly on Crown land. I am enthusiastic that the Premier designate made it a high profile part of his platform and I am encouraged and excited by the prospect now of action starting at a much faster pace. Continue reading →

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