Antigonish filmmaker Peter Murphy and a group of four ACALA volunteers re-released what might be described as “the Nova Scotia version of Burned” on Vimeo a few days ago: It’s TOO Big – Biomass, 8 min 54 secs, with local footage, interviews with Danny George, Bob Bancroft.
“The assignment was to create a short film in 3 weeks…we decided to do something on our local biomass plant in Point Tupper”.
They did indeed.
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ECELAW Photo
Click on image for source page
Update Jan 29, 2019: Nova Scotia naturalists take province to court in attempt to enforce Endangered Species Act
Alexander Quon, Global News “It’s not trying to change policies; it’s trying to get them to actually enact the words that they have in their own legal system and are ignoring.” “Normally, naturalists are a quiet bunch that like to admire nature. In this particular case, they’ve seen too much,” – Bob Bancroft
Update Jan 28, 2019: GoFundMe Campaign: Legal action – Nova Scotia Species at Risk Act “ “For anyone wishing to contribute by cheque toward the Species at Risk lawsuit launched against the Government of Nova Scotia by Bob Bancroft and others, the mailing address is Blomidon Naturalists Society, c/o Ed Sulis, 107 Canaan Ave.,Kentville, NS B4N 2A7. Please make cheques payable to the Blomidon Naturalists Society.”
Update Jan 25, 2019: The Blomidon Field Naturalists, and NatureNS were cited in the Press Release below, but the third participating naturalist society was not identified. I have learned that “After intense deliberation, the board of the Halifax Field Naturalists has decided to support the lawsuit by becoming co-litigants, as has the Blomidon Naturalists Society.”
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Posted on Healthy Forest Coalition Facebook page Jan 24, 2019:
Wildlife biologist Bob Bancroft and nature organizations launch legal action for Nova Scotia’s species at risk
Mr. Bob Bancroft and three of Nova Scotia’s naturalists’ societies say it is time to ask the courts to intervene on behalf of Nova Scotia’s most at-risk wildlife and plants.
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Map with features on a map posted on a Northern Pulp website. “Our proposal is to construct an Effluent Treatment Facility on land at the mill property, and lay a pipeline on the bottom of Pictou Harbour…
Update Jan 25, 2019: View Department of Lands and Forestry employees are lobbying the government to delay cleanup of Boat Harbour in Halifax Examiner.
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Posted ~2000 hr Jan 23, 2019
Modified 2300, Jan 23, 2019
From a post on HFC, by ML, Jan 23, 2019:
“The Nova Scotia Forest Technicians Association is calling for their members to advocate for the extension of the Boat Harbour Act. They also provided a template letter for their members to use, if they wish.
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I suspect that virtually every Nova Scotian who has visited Maine (and that’s most of us) knows exactly where this photo was taken. There’s a lot of carbon sequestration going on here.
As a constructive contribution towards the discussions that follow, it seemed appropriate to repost this item, originally posted Jan 4, 2017:
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Mitch Lansky on managing forests to increase carbon capture and reduce carbon emissions
There is a lot of talk in the forest industry about using more wood in construction as a means of creating more markets and capturing more carbon to reduce climate warming. Unlike the claim that using forest biomass to generate energy can reduce carbon emission, there appears to be no controversy about the claim that using more wood in construction would be good for carbon capture.
If promoting wood for construction puts a higher premium on older trees/shade tolerant species, it could also help to reinvigorate the Acadian forest, thereby benefitting native biodiversity and ecosystem services. We could have our cake and eat it too. We don’t when our forestry is focussed on “low value wood” (early successional species harvested on short rotations) for pulp and paper, bioenergy, bioplastics and the like.
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Red-Tailed Hawk
‘As the GIS Administrator, you will be responsible for developing, translating and maintaining historical and current data systems to coordinate and link spatial and non spatial information from a variety of data sets. You will work with large volumes of forest research data collected over decades and use your specialized technical knowledge to develop and maintain data collection units and related systems. You will process provincial silviculture data submitted to the Department to ensure consistent structure of the data and the efficient and accurate storage and provision of Forestry Division’s research, harvest and silviculture data.”
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Hemlock stand in The Tusket ravaged by wooly adelgid
This a.m. I picked up a soggy letter from L&F containing the Winter 2018 ed. of Woodland Owner, a 4-page newsletter celebrating the Woodland Owner of the Year Awards (of which I am a big fan).
Page 4 contained a shock: a map of Positive Sites for Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, aka the Hemlock Vampires, in SW Nova Scotia. I couldn’t find it online (the last issue posted is for 2015), so here is the image that shocked me, click on it to bring up an image of Page 4:
I have added two new pages (or sets of pages) under the main menu: Social Media Posts and What is Old Growth?
Social Media Posts is a listing of newsy or especially informative posts and discussion threads on Social Media as I encounter them.
What is Old Growth? seemed timely, given the several cases in the last few months in which it has been have discovered that harvests proposed via the HPMV include patches of Old Growth (e.g., NSFN Post Dec 18, 2018), or dating back to Danny George in the spring of 2018 when he contended that Old growth on FSC certified Crown land in eastern Nova Scotia had actually been cut which was confirmed after some time by NSDNR/L&F.
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Forest Polygons in the Forest Stand Details layer on the Provincial Landscape Viewer. The box comes up when you click on an individual polygon and gives info stored in that particular layer.
An Old Growth stand in Nova Scotia does not necessarily a polygon make
There have been several instances recently of citizens recognizing that harvest plans posted on the HPMV include some Old Growth (e.g., Post Dec 18, 2019) this in spite of the lessons NSDNR said they learned earlier this year following Danny George’s highlighting of cuts of significant stands of Old Growth on FSC Certified Crown land in eastern Bova Scotia.
A constructive to and fro with L&F Minister Rankin on Social Media on the topic led to some acknowledgment that what’s generally being missed are patches of Old Growth smaller than whole Forest Polygons. The Minister promised some follow-up.
I have copied some of the discussion below.
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Yellow specklebelly lichen and mosses on old Red Maple
Lichens NS, “where a group of like-minded lichen enthusiasts of varying levels of expertise join together for the facilitation of lichen stewardship in Nova Scotia, where many lichen species are known to be rare or threatened” is holding a poll to vote for a Provincial lichen species.
Go to Lichens NS to vote and learn more about our lichens. (Poll closes end of January 23rd.)
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It’s good news for sure, but doesn’t reduce the demand to see changes, à la Lahey Report, in management of all Crown land currently subject to harvest
Photo from Protect the Ingram River Wilderness Area
On Healthy Forest Coalition Facebook Page:
ML: I hope that this case serves as an example of the benefits of engaging in the public process. Minister Iain Rankin, you have the utmost thanks of the St. Margaret’s Bay community for acknowledging the significance of this area to our community and ecological systems that are in such need of preservation.
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