Comment on the revised SGEM for Nova Scotia: an inconvenient truth about our soils 16Feb2021

Posted on February 16, 2021 by admin

Soils over more than 50% of the forested landscape in Nova Scotia simply need time to recover if we are ever to achieve truly sustainable harvesting, and to conserve and restore forest and aquatic biodiversity. At a minimum, we need to reduce the harvest on Crown lands to 500,000 cubic meters per year (from 820,576 cubic metres in 2019).

Sharing concerns about our natural world. Photo from 12 Days of Action, Day 11

UPDATE:  Also View
– Comments by Karen Beazley (Feb 16, 2021)
Professor, Dalhousie School of Resource and Environmental Sciences
– Response to the draft: Nova Scotia Silvicultural Guidelines for the Ecological Matrix Lands by the Healthy Forest Coalition, Feb 15, 2021 comprehensive, 20 page document)
–Comments by Helga Guderley, Feb 17, 2021
– NatureNS response, Feb 18, 2021
– EAC Review of the Silvicultural Guide for the Ecological Matrix
Ecology Action Centre, Feb., 2021
– SGEM Response – Lindsay Lee (a fifth-generation woodlot owner and an avid hiker). Feb 2021
– and the previous three posts with submissions by Bev Wigney, Nina Newington, and Addie and Fred Campaigne

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I have written about these issues to Government many times going back to 2009 and on this website since 2016 and I was finding it difficult to drum up the enthusiasm to do it yet once again.

Events of past several months and the eloquent submissions on the SGEM shared recently on this website gave me the boost I needed, the sense that  it is even more urgent  to share our concerns about how we interact with the natural world that sustains us.

So here is what I sent to L&F today: Continue reading →

Posted in Acadian Forest, Conservation, Ind Rev Post-Report, Social Values | Comments Off on Comment on the revised SGEM for Nova Scotia: an inconvenient truth about our soils 16Feb2021

Bev Wigney on the revised SGEM for Nova Scotia: perspectives of a naturalist 15Feb2021

Posted on February 15, 2021 by admin

Bev Wigney’s depiction of “Super Canopy Trees” Mar 11, 2019

Bev Wigney is first and foremost a naturalist. She founded the Facebook Group Annapolis Royal and Area – Environment & Ecology in the fall of 2018, primarily to promote  natural history observation in the Annapolis area. She and others  became concerned when they learned about a  harvest planned for a Crown land forest they knew well, and eventually managed to get it stopped.   Subsequently,   Bev led the way, with Shelly Hipson in Shelburne Co,  in encouraging folks to get out on some of our Crown land parcels proposed for harvesting to see  what’s there.  The first one Bev & Co  visited  – The Corbett-Dalhousie Lakes forest – turned out to have been posted in error by L&F – and to host some biological treasures.  After a lot of followup by Bev & Co., and a camp-out on the lands by some very determined women, harvesting was  put on hold  (but  I  believe its fate is still unclear). Bev continues to inform herself  – and L&F – about what’s on our Crown lands and to talk about what we need to do to nurture their inhabitants.

Thanks for taking the time to do this Bev Wigney, and for sharing it. I know only too well that you would rather be collecting beetles from your wood pile or peering through binoculars…

Continue reading →

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Nina Newington on the revised SGEM for Nova Scotia: some big improvements and some trap doors 15Feb2021

Posted on February 15, 2021 by admin

Nina’s comments are another example of Nova Scotians taking the time to carefully examine proposed changes  in forest management on our Crown lands in response to the Lahey Report and to offer thoughtful, constructive suggestions on how to improve them.  The words also say, “We Care”, Please Listen to Us”.

Thank you, again, NN

Posted  today on Extinction Rebellion Nova Scotia (Public Facebook Group):

Comment on the revised Silvicultural Guides for the Ecological Matrix – February 14, 2021

The overarching priority
The Government of Nova Scotia has accepted the Lahey Report and has committed to implementing its recommendations. Specifically, the Government of Nova Scotia has stated that:

  •  “Government accepts Professor Lahey’s Independent Review of Forest Practices in Nova Scotia and agrees with the spirit and intent of his recommendations.”
  •  “The key to Professor Lahey’s report is the adoption of a new paradigm — ecological forestry”.
  •  “Nova Scotia will protect and enhance ecosystems and biodiversity as the overarching policy priority, as they are the foundation for other values”.
  •  “Nova Scotia’s forest policies and operational decision making will be guided by the practice of ecological forestry through a triad model. This will represent a significant change in the way Nova Scotia’s forest will be managed and will require modelling for habitat and wood supply”[1].

The triad model points to three different approaches to different areas of Crown land: Continue reading →

Posted in Acadian Forest, clearcuts, Ind Rev Post-Report, L&F, Landscape Level Planning | Comments Off on Nina Newington on the revised SGEM for Nova Scotia: some big improvements and some trap doors 15Feb2021

Addie & Fred Campaigne on the revised Silvicultural Guide for Nova Scotia: Carbon-based silviculture is paramount 12Feb2021

Posted on February 12, 2021 by admin

Youngster observing tree moss  on a forest outing on a NS Park Event  in 2014. We must all be given opportunities to enjoy and contribute to healthy Crown land  forests say Addie & Fred Campaigne

And a lot else

Just under a year ago I needed some inspiration to comment on the High Production Forestry Discussion Paper, and it came from Addie and Fred Campaigne who had posted their thoughtful comments on a social media site. (I didn’t know them otherwise.) They gave me permission to post it on NSFN (view post).

Now a year later and for the same reasons, I am again in need of inspiration to comment, this time, on the draft  SGEM (the  “Silvicultural Guide for the Ecological Matrix” renamed from Forest Management Guide or FMG) which was released on Jan 21, 2021 with comments due by Feb 19, 2021 (view post).

That inspiration again came from comments by Addie & Fred. Their comments on the proposed SGEM illustrate so well the depth of concern, both passionate and reasoned, that so many Nova Scotians have about our natural world, and about our forests in particular. And I especially like that their vision is an inclusive one, it is not “us against them”. Continue reading →

Posted in Acadian Forest, Citizen Science, Climate Change, Conservation, Ind Rev Post-Report, Social Media, Social Values | Comments Off on Addie & Fred Campaigne on the revised Silvicultural Guide for Nova Scotia: Carbon-based silviculture is paramount 12Feb2021

Nina Newington Notes from Court #2 — the Illusion of Consent, February 5th, 2021

Posted on February 5, 2021 by admin

Nina Newington’s post on Extinction rebellion Nova Scotia (Public Facebook Page) today:

“XR NS strives to stand in solidarity with Mi’kmaw and other Indigenous Peoples and acknowledges we are in Mi’kma’ki, the traditional and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaw people.”
View Nina Newington’s Post #1 here

“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. Our cases will be heard on March 15th in Provincial Court in Digby. We are all forbidden, under the terms of the undertaking we signed when we were arrested, 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.

“I plan to write several different notes covering different aspects of the hearing. This second one has to do with the Province’s Harvest Plan Map Viewer and the illusion of consent. Continue reading →

Posted in Acadian Forest, clearcuts, Conservation, Ind Rev Post-Report, Landscape Level Planning, Social Media, Social Values, WestFor, Wildlife | Comments Off on Nina Newington Notes from Court #2 — the Illusion of Consent, February 5th, 2021

Mike Lancaster’s thoughtful words about the Westfor video defending their forestry practices/moose management 31Jan2021

Posted on January 31, 2021 by admin

Following their day in court on Jan 26, 2021 to argue their case for “continuance of a court order against protesters who have been trying to stop clear cutting in public forests” (CBC, Jan 26, 2021), WestFor posted a video on YouTube defending its practices:

Mike Lancaster, spokesperson for the Healthy Forest Coalition, comments on the HFC Facebook page, Jan 28, 2021, as follows:

“The issue is not with forestry, writ large, but instead with the HOW majority forestry is being done on public land and within known habitat for Species At Risk.
Continue reading →

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Announcement: Spring Woodland Conferences (Nova Scotia) 30 Jan2021

Posted on January 30, 2021 by admin

From  nswoods.ca:

“With the continued uncertainty around COVID-19 in the province, the 2021 Spring Woodland Conferences will be held online through a series of free webinars. Based on the results of our recent public survey, we have decided on short sessions (about 60 minutes each) which will be held twice per month, starting in February…”

Read more

 



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Cutting Moose Country# 1 in Nina Newington’s Notes From Court 30Jan2021

Posted on January 30, 2021 by admin

Nina Newington with anonymous supporter during lunch break at the courts on Jan 26, 2021

From a post by Nina Newington on Extinction Rebellion  Nova Scotia (public Facebook Group):

“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.

“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. Our cases will be heard on March 15th in Provincial Court in Digby. We are all forbidden, under the terms of the undertaking we signed when we were arrested, 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.
Continue reading →

Posted in clearcuts, Conservation, Ind Rev Post-Report, Landscape Level Planning, Show Us the Science, Social Media, Social Values | Comments Off on Cutting Moose Country# 1 in Nina Newington’s Notes From Court 30Jan2021

Bev Wigney on Parcel ID # IN205583 (Cape Breton Highlands) 25Jan2021

Posted on January 25, 2021 by admin

Says Bev Wigney, “Why don’t you leave something for dessert?”
Or, just perhaps, for the Next Seven Generations.

Bev Wigney, today, on Annapolis Royal & Area – Environment & Ecology, a public Facebook Group. (Bolding inserted):

Hello Forestry Maps Entity,

I wish to comment on Parcel # IN205583 by email and not via the HPMV as I am including several maps and there is no way to do so using the HPMV platform. I’m including some maps as they are relevant to my comment.

While there are a number of reasons that this proposed harvest is objectionable, I’m going to focus on a matter that greatly concerns me and that has to do with the arboreal landscape mining that is taking place in the Cape Breton Highlands. Parcel # IN205583 provides a good example. Continue reading →

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Forest Nova Scotia’s “simple math” underscores key issue for success or failure of Government’s implementation of Lahey Recommendations: How much wood is to be taken from Crown lands? 22Jan 2021

Posted on January 22, 2021 by admin

UPDATE; Comment by Nina Newington on ‘what I actually said”

From the Executive Summary  for the Registry of Buyers of Primary Forest Products Report FOR 2020-1.  In 2005, ~12% of the volume came from Crown lands. It was 25% in 2019, while the contribution from Industrial lands (large Big Forestry  holdings) declined from  37% in 2005 to only 9% in 2019. Most of these  lands were sold to the Crown and in turn  Big Forestry  was given access to most of those lands. Mr. Burgess/Forest NS make it clear that  they anticipate no reduction  in wood volumes from Crown lands regardless of how the wood is cut  when the Lahey Recommendations are implemented. Click on image for larger version

Big Forestry in Nova Scotia, well represented by Forest Nova Scotia, and WestFor and  their individual advocates rarely comment in public in any detail on controversial  issues except for the  platitudes and pretty pictures  and seem to eschew any participation in topical discussions in public forums or on social media.

I wish they would participate in public discussions.   Likewise I wish Lands and Forestry would allow its professionals to be actively “out there”, highlighting and  explaining L&F practices and policies  and   joining discussions about them – and being prepared to modify them based on the public dialogue and the facts and figures, science, and social values.

So  I welcomed the comments by Todd Burgess, forestry outreach coordinator with Forest Nova Scotia,  for his comments in the Chronicle Herald (Wrong Take in Forestry, CH Jan 19, 2021). Those were made in response  to Facts and Figures cited earlier in the CH by Nina Newington (Forest Workers Dwindle, CH Jan 15, 2021) those in turn, responding to earlier letters to the Ed.
Continue reading →

Posted in clearcuts, Conservation, Ind Rev Post-Report, L&F, Landscape Level Planning, Social Values | Comments Off on Forest Nova Scotia’s “simple math” underscores key issue for success or failure of Government’s implementation of Lahey Recommendations: How much wood is to be taken from Crown lands? 22Jan 2021