Just how the Forestry EA process materializes and works could have a huge impact on the politics of forestry in NS. It’s definitely an item to keep an eye on.
EAs for Forestry are a key recommendation of the Lahey Report
It’s encouraging to see the EA (Environmental Assessment) process do at least some of what it is supposed to do (re: recent decision on The Pipe EA). Premier McNeil has been very consistent in his position on closing Boat Harbour come Hell or High Water, and I am sure that helped.
Regardless, The Pipe EA shows that even Class 1 EAs, which account for most Nova Scotia EAs, have a lot of internal rigour* and can be used effectively to ‘protect the environment’, if the political will is also there. In this age of Extinction Rebellion and the urgency to slow climate change, EAs are an existing tool we need to make work for us more broadly.
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*The published EAs involve field and literature surveys by people who really know their stuff and provide a lot of documentation on the geology, ecology, species etc; independently of the EA process and any politics involved, they are valuable sources of info on the natural history of the areas investigated.
Hence one item I looked for when L&F released its Mar 26, 2019 progress report on their work to implement recommendations of the “Lahey Report” was anything related to EAs for forestry. It was reported on as one of two items listed under ‘Other:
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