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

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.
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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

Nova Scotia L&F releases draft Forest Management Guide for comment 21Jan2021

A Figure from L&F’s summary description of the new FMG

From Forest Management Guide: public consultation

Nova Scotians are invited to provide their feedback on the new Forest Management Guide, which outlines the silviculture prescriptions and timber harvest methods allowed on Crown land. You can submit your feedback by 19 February 2021.

They have provided an informative summary and a feel-good video.

Under How to Participate

Read the draft guide: Silvicultural Guide for the Ecological Matrix.
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Nova Scotia PI204568 (Pictou Co.) Landscape level High-grading continued, and thinking about alternatives

In Nova Scotia, we set up windmills to reduce fossil fuel use and GHG emissions; then we clearcut around them to reduce carbon sequestration so we can be sure the planet keeps getting warmer anyway. Or something like that.

Apologies, ‘published’ in error while I was drafting it; ‘should be up in a few days.**

For info on the site in question (today is last day it’s open for comment on the HPMV), see

PI204568 atop Dalhousie Mountain 15Jan2021
On nswildflora.ca

My comment, submitted today:

On top of a mountain, 100 m from a nature reserve, the largest patch of multi-aged/old growth in the area (outside of PAs), sugar maple dominant, a popular area for hikers..ignores effects on old forest biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration (how ironical.. next to a windmill); to harvest it at all is flagrant disregard for the many alternative values Nova Scotians have for such areas, also to the basic spirit of the Lahey Report

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Landscape-level “Log the best and leave the rest” on Nova Scotia’s Crown land forests 10Jan 2021

Prevalence of  early forest development stages in central Nova Scotia can be attributed to “High-grading at the Landscape Level” over the last 60 years.  Map from the Provincial Landscape Viewer Click on image for a larger version.

Examples from the two most recent Harvest Plan Notifications, one in Queens Co. in SW Nova Scotia and one in the area of the proposed Ingram River Wilderness Area (Halifax Co.)  illustrate how the practice of “log the best and leave the rest” (high-grading) continues to operate at a landscape scale on Nova Scotia’s Crown lands, the Lahey Recommendations (2018) and those of the Natural Resources Strategy (2010) notwithstanding. 

Supposedly the crime of previous generations of foresters was to “log the best and leave the rest”, so-called “high-grading”.
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Posted in Acadian Forest, clearcuts, Climate Change, Conservation, herbicides, Ind Rev Post-Report, L&F, Landscape Level Planning | Comments Off on Landscape-level “Log the best and leave the rest” on Nova Scotia’s Crown land forests 10Jan 2021

One year after closure of the NP Mill, NSWOOA’s Kekacs asks “…why would we ever allow such a situation to develop again?” 8Jan2021

In response to a CBC piece titled Fear of looming economic blow remains 1 year after Northern Pulp closure (Emma Smith · CBC News, Jan 7, 2021), Andy Kekacs, Executive Director of the Nova Scotia Woodlot Owners and Operators Association asks : If the failure of one, keystone wood buyer could potentially wreak such havoc on a critically important part of the provincial economy, why would we ever allow such a situation to develop again?

Kekac’s full comment,  from the Facebook Page for the Nova Scotia Woodlot Owners and Operators Association (links inserted):
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Posted in Biomass, clearcuts, Pulp & Paper | Comments Off on One year after closure of the NP Mill, NSWOOA’s Kekacs asks “…why would we ever allow such a situation to develop again?” 8Jan2021

Liberal Leadership Candidate’s Responses to Question re: 30% Protection for Nova Scotia by 2030 6Jan 2021

UPDATE Jan 7, 2021: Same question posed to leaders of NS Green, NDP, Conservative parties.

From NS Protected areas Interactive map We currently stand at just under 13% Protected Areas. I have estimated that if the additional 17% were to come entirely from Crown lands, 74% of Crown lands that are not now protected would have to be protected and most of it would have to come from forested lands which make up 75% of our landscape. That would significantly reduce the Crown lands available for forestry, by my calculation to at best 310,998 ha of working forest down from approximately 687,000 ha.

Note:  The Final Candidate Forum is this evening at 7:00 p.m. It can be viewed livestream at liberal.ns.ca.  I have submitted this question to the forum.

The Question

A question to the Nova Scotia Liberal Leadership Candidates: How do you plan to align Nova Scotia with the federal Liberal Government’s commitment to 30% Protected Area by 2030? 2Jan 2021
To Randy Delorey, Labi Kousoulis and Iain Rankin, Nova Scotia MLAs and Candidates for leadership of NS Liberal party/Premier of Nova Scotia, to be elected on February 6, 2021 :
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Posted in Climate Change, Conservation, Ecosystem Services, Parks & Protected Areas, Social Values | Comments Off on Liberal Leadership Candidate’s Responses to Question re: 30% Protection for Nova Scotia by 2030 6Jan 2021

A question to the Nova Scotia Liberal Leadership Candidates: How do you plan to align Nova Scotia with the federal Liberal Government’s commitment to 30% Protected Area by 2030? 2Jan 2021

Extensive clearcutting over much of NS – which is 75% forested, down from probably >90% in pre-Columbian times – has ensured survival of early succession forest species but has come at the expense of old forest species and of species requiring large areas of intact forest. It has also reduced carbon storage in the trees and in the soil, thereby contributing to global warming. It also alters hydrological regimes and reduces other ‘Ecological Services‘, and may even have contributed to spread of lyme disease. Surely it is time to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

To Randy Delorey, Labi Kousoulis and Iain Rankin, Nova Scotia MLAs and Candidates for leadership of NS Liberal party/Premier of Nova Scotia, to be elected  on February 6, 2021 :

I ask you to give some serious thought to this question. I invite you to respond and if you do, I will post your response on NS Forest Notes.  No limits on length. I know this is a difficult one to address. Please let me know soon if I can expect a response, and more or less when (I will add a note announcing the expected response at the top of this post.)

Thx,

David P
Nova Scotia Forest Notes
(e-mail sent)
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UPDATE Jan 4, 2020: Received from Labi Kousoulis: “Thank you for posing this question as it’s a very important question that does need to be addressed. A Kousoulis government will work with federal counterparts to ensure both governments are aligned on this subject. As leader, I will expect my minister responsible, to have an open dialog with the federal counterpart responsible. The environment does not adhere to political boundaries, meaning we all must work together to preserve what we have. View Full Response
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original post continues:

I am offering a few numbers from a previous post on this topic, below, to help inform your responses.
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Posted in Acadian Forest, Conservation, Landscape Level Planning, Parks & Protected Areas, Social Values, Wildlife | Comments Off on A question to the Nova Scotia Liberal Leadership Candidates: How do you plan to align Nova Scotia with the federal Liberal Government’s commitment to 30% Protected Area by 2030? 2Jan 2021

A New Year’s Day Wish 1Jan2021




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“The real cure for COVID is renewing our fractured relationship with the planet” 31Dec2020


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Elmsdale Biochar initiative provides some good news on the forestry front, but we still need rigorous forest & forestry carbon accounting for Nova Scotia 28Dec2020

Biochar in preparation as a soil amendment. USDA Forest Service photo by Deborah Page-Dumroese posted  on Wikipedia .

UPDATE DEC 30, 2020: Another good news item involving Mr. Wilbur appeared in the news yesterday: view NS Nature Trust Wild Blue Announcement
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Kudos are due to oft-outspoken Robin Wilbur of Elmsdale Lumber for his seriously pursuing production of biochar from wood chips and low-grade wood, as reported by CBC: How biochar could be good business for N.S. lumber company Michael Gorman · CBC News Dec 27, 2020:

Elmsdale Lumber wants to rezone some of its property to make way for the construction of a biochar facility.

The process uses wood chips to create a type of organic charcoal using a process called pyrolysis, or heating the chips at extreme temperatures without oxygen.

“This technology from Europe came to us, we listened to a presentation and our team kind of looked at each other and said, ‘Well, why would we not look into this,'” company president Robin Wilber said in a recent interview.

The company has been exploring new opportunities for wood chips and low-grade wood since Northern Pulp, the largest consumer of such products in Nova Scotia, shut down a little less than a year ago. Wilber said it would augment other markets for chips, such as pellet production.
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Posted in Biomass, Climate Change, Economics, softwood lumber | Comments Off on Elmsdale Biochar initiative provides some good news on the forestry front, but we still need rigorous forest & forestry carbon accounting for Nova Scotia 28Dec2020