Nova Scotia L&F searching for Manager, Innovation & Business Development

Posted on December 11, 2018 by admin

Developing biofuels and the like remains a high priority of L&F

Addendum Dec 12, 2018: In today’s Chronicle Herald: N.S. adjusts refinery environmental assessment regulations By Stuart Peddle. “The province is changing environmental assessment regulations for small oil refineries after receiving inquiries about the production of hydrocarbons from wood fibre…Stephen Thomas, energy campaign co-ordinator with the Ecology Action Centre, said the move took them by surprise…for us, our question is what is Nova Scotia trying to attract by these changes and why are they weakening environmental regulations to try and attract these oil refineries?”

So it seems that government is well on its way to “recommending changes to laws, regulations..[for] facilitating economic development and reducing regulatory and administrative barriers to business” (from the job description).

The DNR Company Men are still driving priorities at NSDNR/L&F.
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Nova Scotia L&F searching for Director, Corporate Development

Posted on December 9, 2018 by admin

Will developing “a culture of transparency and accountability” (Lahey Report) be amongst the responsibilities?

View Job Description.
A copy of the text is pasted below.

The position was posted Dec 4, 2018, “Apply By: 12/18/2018”.

It’s not clear if this is a replacement for Peter Geddes, Executive Director of Policy, Planning and Support Services at Lands and Forestry (L&F), or a new position.

Given the very short interval between posting the position and the deadline for applying, it seems likely they have already identified a desired candidate.

The diagram below is contained in a document released under a FOIPOP (July 27, 2018) in response to a request for “A copy of the briefing book created for the new minister in July 2018”.
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Australian songwriter & visual artist Mark Lang on Boat Harbour

Posted on December 6, 2018 by admin

Australian songwriter & visual artist Mark Lang has released a 6 min video highlighting pollution and environmental racism associated with Boat Harbour.

PICTOU LANDING FILM – BOAT HARBOUR & THE MILL, posted without ads on YouTube on Dec 5, 2018, had over 3000 views within one day.

It includes some dramatic drone footage and asks viewers to declare their support for the closure of Boat Harbour on schedule via Friends of the Northumberland Strait.


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The Nova Scotia Government responds to The Lahey Report

Posted on December 3, 2018 by admin

The extension of forestry licensing agreements by one year, given what’s going on and Minister’s recent defence of it, is not a good sign.
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ADDENDUM (Dec 4, 2018) Comments from CBC Report
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An elderly reader of NS Forest Notes started to weep when he realized the abuse of our forests is not about to stop

Three documents of 10 pages in total have been issued:

1. Press release

2. Government Response To the Independent Review of Forest Practices in Nova Scotia
Dec 3, 2018, 5 pages

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Clearcutting forges ahead on the St. Margaret’s Bay Bowater-Mersey lands while we wait for the Government’s response to the Independent Review of Forest Practices in Nova Scotia

Posted on December 3, 2018 by admin

“I couldn’t get the drone high enough to capture all of the cut, this is about 60% of the whole thing and there is another clearcut across the road from it.”(referring to a previous clearcuts on St. Margaret’s Bay Bowater-Mersey Lands)


UPDATE Dec 11. 2018: Additional Comments from St. Margaret’s Bay folks
———————
Folks in the St. Margaret’s Bay area who spearheaded the successful campaign to see the people of Nova Scotia “Buy Back the Mersey Lands”, then to see a Community Forest on the St. Margaret’s Bowater Mersey lands rebuffed, then to witness the disastrous cut on sensitive lands just east of Panuke Lake and work with government and others to develop better management, then fought further cuts, then started working towards protection of lands in the Ingram River Watershed – and still expressed optimism based on the impending Lahey Report* – could be forgiven for being upset with that latest announced proposed harvests on Crown lands.
_______
*View An optimistic perspective about the future of Nova Scotia forests and forestry from “The Boot” (Post Apr 4, 2018)””

Writes M.L. on the Healthy Forest Coalition (Facebook page):

“More clearcuts announced within a proposed Wilderness Area for the second time in three years!
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If the Nova Scotia Government changes direction of its Crown land forestry management, how will it deal with cuts approved but not implemented in the meantime?

Posted on December 1, 2018 by admin

If the major recommendations of the Lahey Report are accepted, surely the government is obliged to reconsider all outstanding harvests on Crown lands, i.e. including all blocks approved but for which harvesting has not begun.

Wagner’s Lake & Environs on Harvest Plan Map Viewer (left) and Google Earth (right)
Click on image for a larger version

This question came to mind as I read a post by Shelly Hipson on Annapolis Royal & Area – Environment & Ecology (public Facebook Page), having just seen the announcement that the government will issue a response to the “Lahey Report” on Monday Dec 3, 2018.

From S.H.:

The Forest at Wagner Lake, Shelburne County approved to be clear-cut: It’s not like we didn’t try. We wrote Premier Stephen McNeil – we wrote ALL the MLAs – We wrote two different DNR ministers – Miller and Rankin – we asked for a meeting and no one responded – we had basically everyone in the community sign a petition in two days to meet the DNR Forestry Maps comment deadline – we had media coverage on radio and in papers – we talked about the endangered mainland moose and Canada Warbler – we talked about our way of life, that we enjoy hunting, fishing, camping and four-wheeling, and the damages that clear-cutting can do to the entire eco-system and the wildlife. We stated that the system for providing input and comment was flawed, difficult and did not inform the local people. We wrote our municipality and they wrote a letter on our behalf to ex- DNR Minister Miller saying the system to inform local residents was not sufficient nor effective.
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Nova Scotia Government will issue response to Forest Practices Recommendations on Mon Dec 3, 2018

Posted on December 1, 2018 by admin

Apologies for the date error in the title of a previous post about this event (now deleted)

In late November, a reader of NS Forest Notes waits outside the Legislature for a government response to the Report on the Independent Review of Forestry Practices (released Aug 21, 2018).

From: CNS Release (release@gov.ns.ca)
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2018 11:52 AM

NOTE TO EDITORS–Government Response to Forest Practices Recommendations
—————————————————————-
Government’s response to University of King’s College president Bill Lahey’s independent review of Nova Scotia forest practices will be released on Monday, Dec. 3 at 11 a.m.
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Dec 8 & 15, 2018: Workshops at MTRI, Bear River, Nova Scotia on how to ID Hemlock Wooly Adelgid

Posted on November 29, 2018 by admin

I was relieved a few days ago not to see signs of the “Hemlock Vampire” on this hemlock in Halifax Co., but will keep on looking.

Received from MTRI today: “We will be hosting 2 workshops on identifying Hemlock Woolly Adelgid on December 8th at MTRI, and on December 15th at Bear River! Join us if you are interested in learning how to identify this invasive species, especially if you have hemlock that could be at risk on your property!

Click here for a larger version of the poster.

Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. “Their name comes from waxy white filaments they make to protect themselves from drying out. In a heavy infestation, hemlock trees can look gray from all the “wool” on twigs and branches. They can’t fly, but are spread by wind and also hitch rides on the feet of birds, which can carry hemlock wooly adelgids for long distances. These “hemlock vampires” were first discovered in 1951 in Virginia, and by 2005 had spread to fifteen other states.
Source: Paul Hetzler, Cornell Cooperative Extension
Photo source: Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, Bugwood.org


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We need a cost-benefit analysis of the Northern Pulp situation

Posted on November 27, 2018 by admin

So comments Paul Pross in an op-ed in the Chronicle Herald yesterday (Nov 26, 2018), responding to a CH editorial on Nov 22 titled “N.S. stuck in a muddle”.

Unfortunately, neither item is publicly available. Here are a couple of extracts from the CH editorial:

The Northern Pulp cost-benefit equation gets harder to evaluate by the day. Since 1967, the kraft pulp mill at Abercrombie Point has represented an uneasy balance between employment and environment in an economically precarious region…

If Northern Pulp misses the 2020 deadline, would the province really order a shutdown? History suggests otherwise. Governments of all stripes have bent every effort to keep pulp and paper alive in Nova Scotia. It is too big to fail.

So unless it becomes an election issue, the province will likely muddle along, spending money but never escaping survival mode for an industry perpetually under pressure.

I asked Paul Pross if he would send me a copy of his original submission to post on NSFN. Here it is as submitted:

Your editorial ‘Northern Pulp Dilemma’ (November 22, 2018) is as muddled as the situation it describes.
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New manager of biodiversity for the Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry downplays significance of clearcutting for biodiversity losses

Posted on November 27, 2018 by admin

Forest cover loss in a section of land just south of New Glascow, Nova Scotia, from map at forests.foundryspatial.com
Click on image for larger version.
Is it conceivable that clearcutting in Nova Scotia, likely the most intensive in Canada, is not a major threat to biodiversity?

Early in the year, I attended the first stakeholder meeting held by DNR (now L&F) for the new Biodiversity Act (still to be hatched) as a rep for Nature Nova Scotia. The potential areas for Regulation Development were listed as
– Invasive Species
– Biodiversity Management Sites
– Wildlife health and disease
– Non-traditional use of biodiversity
(View Slides)

I expressed some dismay that “habitat loss” (mainly associated with clearcutting) was not in that list. Several others participating also expressed concern and there followed an extended discussion around this topic.

There was no acknowledgment from DNR/NSE staff that loss of biodiversity associated with clearcutting is a matter of concern. Nor did they see any need for it to be addressed in the Biodiversity Act – DNR staff said that was not necessary because there are already regulations that address this issue, the Report of the AG apparently notwithstanding.
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