Port Hawkesbury Paper responds to concerns about harvesting in the Loon Lake area

Posted on March 10, 2018 by admin

Controversy has arisen over the age/Old Growth status of yellow birch harvested on Crown lands in the Loon Lake area, whether the harvesting methods and follow-up treatments are sufficient to maintain yellow birch, and about the fate of the harvested wood.

I received today PHP’s public response to concerns about harvesting in the Loon Lake area. It is provided below as received (except that the PDF text is converted to WordPress text).

We (the public) and PHP (as cited below) are now awaiting on NSDNR for a report on their assessments of stands said to be Old Growth in the area but not currently classified as such by NSDNR. (At least we are hoping that NSDNR will provide such a report in a timely fashion; there have been no promises.)

View the following posts for background:

Danny George rings the alarm bell (again) on Loon Lake Nova Scotia clearcuts of Old Growth
Posted on February 23, 2018

PHP to issue a public response to concerns about harvesting near Loon Lake Nature Reserve
Posted on March 1, 2018
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Posted in Acadian Forest, Biomass, Conservation, Forest Certification, hardwoods, herbicides, Loon Lake, Parks & Protected Areas, Pulp & Paper | Comments Off on Port Hawkesbury Paper responds to concerns about harvesting in the Loon Lake area

Old Acadian forest/salmon watercourse and forested wetland in Halifax-Dartmouth at risk

Posted on March 10, 2018 by admin

The Sandy Lake area (top) stretches between the Sackville River and Hammonds Plains Road of Bedford. The small forested in Dartmouth stands out in Google images.
Click on image for a larger version

While loss of old forest habitat associated with extensive clearcutting on short rotations in more rural areas is considered by ecologists to be the #1 threat to forest biodiversity in Nova Scotia, bulldozers in and around the more urban areas continue to do their part. The areas may be relatively small on a provincial basis and compared to clearcuts, but they can be important ecologically, and socially – and the losses are permanent.

Developers are aware of the social aspect and where valued old trees are involved, some have chosen to cut first and respond  to (or ignore) outrage later, all empowered by the lack of any regulations on cutting trees on private land in Nova Scotia even in urban areas.
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Linda Pannozzo zeroes in on the air pollution by Northern Pulp Mill

Posted on March 9, 2018 by admin

We’ve heard a lot recently about pollution of Boat Harbour and the Northmberland Strait now and potentially long into the future by effluent from the Northern Pulp Mill in Pictou, but the air pollution is no less omni-present. In her her two earlier “Dirty Dealing” articles, investigative journalist Linda Pannozzo focussed on the liquid effluent:

– Dirty Dealing: Northern Pulp Mill and the province are set to roll the dice with Boat Harbour’s replacement, but a cleaner alternative exists ( Halifax Examiner, Nov 22, 2017)
– Dirty Dealing, Part 2: Wading Through the Quagmire of Northern Pulp’s Fast-tracked Environmental Assessment (Halifax Examiner, Feb 13, 2018)

Now Pannozzo tackles the facts and issues surrounding the air emissions in Dirty Dealing Part 3: Elevated Levels of Cancer-Causing Air Emissions Coming from Abercrombie Pulp Mill, Peer-Reviewed study reveals (Halifax Examiner, Mar 8, 2018 currently behind a paywall, $10 to access the article is well worth it).
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Anti-Clearcut Billboards go up in Halifax

Posted on March 6, 2018 by admin

The Margaree Environmental Association is “Keepin’ on”

UPDATE, Mar 3, 2018: Environmental group calls for end to clearcutting, billboards focus on bird nest destruction
Stuart peddle in the Chronicle Herald, Apr 2, 2018.
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UPDATE Mar 13, 2018: On Rick Howe Show, this a.m. (9-10 segment): ” If you’re driving around the HRM you may notice three new billboards have been put up to draw attention to the loss of bird nests due to industrial forestry practice. Co-Chair of the Margaree Environmental Association Neal Livingston is behind the new billboards and will tell us more about his efforts to wrap up the first hour”.
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For many, the Anti-Clearcut billboards that have gone up recently in Halifax will recall an earlier (2012) billboard of the same ilk, put up by forester and then law student Jamie Simpson (he is now a practicing lawyer specializing in environmental law).*

Now the Margaree Environmental Association has placed billboards at three locations: two of the billboards are on Barrington St. north of North St. – one incoming to downtown Halifax, and one outgoing; the third (3 sided) is at the Windsor St./ Kempt Rd/ Bedford Highway intersection as you are come into the city.
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Posted in clearcuts, Conservation | Comments Off on Anti-Clearcut Billboards go up in Halifax

Rick Howe talks to Bob Bancroft about Nova Scotia DNR cutting Old Growth forest

Posted on March 6, 2018 by admin

Bob Bancroft talking about cavity dwellers in a talk to the Friends of Redtail Society in 2013

Bob was interviewed by Rick Howe on the Rick Howe Show this a.m., a followup to the controversy surrounding cutting of purported Old Growth forest in the area of Loon Lake, Guysborough Co. (For some background, view archived posts on Loon Lake)

The audio can be accessed for 1 week at  Rick Howe Audios Pick March 6, 2018, 10 a.m. segment, beginning at 1:36 mins ending at 11:05 mins. An abbreviated transcript is given below; I have added some sub-titles. OG=Old Growth DNR = Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources

Is Old Growth Forest being cut?

RH: A veteran logger complains that an OG forest is being cut on Crown land in Guysborough Co. The province’s Old Forest Policy declares that NS will conserve its OG forest on public lands…DNR says it is ivesigtaing the Danny George claim.

My guest this hour says it’s true. Bob… Danny George says the OG forest is being cut.. you went out to check, tell us what you found.
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Posted in Acadian Forest, Natural History, NSDNR, Old Growth | Tagged | Comments Off on Rick Howe talks to Bob Bancroft about Nova Scotia DNR cutting Old Growth forest

Loon Lake area harvests: DNR seeks shelter in its Old Forest Policy

Posted on March 4, 2018 by admin

The Old Forest policy does not adequately protect Old Forest

NSDNR is responding to concerns expressed by Danny George about ongoing harvests near Loon Lake Nature Reserve, but they are NOT amongst the approved harvests currently posted on the Harvest Plan Map Viewer – X is the “Danny George site”.

This is a lengthy post, so I am providing a clickable Table of Contents.

In this post:

Background

The location of the “Danny George Site”

DNR on Information Morning

DNR on Old Growth and the Old Forest Policy

Some comments on DNR’s perspectives 

An independent investigation is called for

Seeking shelter in Old Forest Policy

On possible mis-identification of stands

There’s more… Old Growth by Rocky Lake

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Posted in Acadian Forest, Biomass, Conservation, Forest Certification, Independent Review, Loon Lake, NSDNR, Old Growth, Show Us the Science | Comments Off on Loon Lake area harvests: DNR seeks shelter in its Old Forest Policy

Presentation/workshop on Landbird Species-at-Risk also at Annapolis Royal on March 5 and Sydney on March 7

Posted on March 3, 2018 by admin

Click on image to go to MTRI Project on
Landbird SAR in Forested Wetlands

As previously announced, the Pictou Co Naturalist’s Club is hosting this presentation/workshop:

The Pictou Co Naturalists will be hosting Dr. Cindy Staicer from Dalhousie University Tues Mar 6, 6:30 pm at the New Glasgow Library, 182 Dalhousie St., New Glascow.
Dr. Staicer will lead a presentation/workshop on Landbird Species at Risk in Forested Wetlands.

Dr. Staicer just informed me that the presentation is also being given:

Monday March 5 at Annapolis Royal
at St. Luke’s Church Hall, 340 St. George St, 7-9 PM

Wednesday March 7 at Sydney
at the McConnell Library Library, 50 Falmouth St, 7-9 PM

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Nova Scotia Forestry in the News…Sat Mar 3, 2018

Posted on March 3, 2018 by admin

DNR responds to concerns about cuts in the Loon Lake area; Saunders says using toilet paper makes us all hypocrites

NSDNR is responding to concerns about cuts near Loon Lake Nature Reserve.

While one purpose of the posts on this website is “to serve as a record of events, news and opinions on the subject of forests and forestry in Nova Scotia as they unfold, beginning on June 21, 2016”, I do not try do this on a day by day basis. Often a post about a news item is made well after the news item appeared especially if I have substantial comments to make about it.

A couple of items have come up between yesterday and today related to the DNR response to the Loon Lake area cuts*:
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Presentation/workshop on Landbird Species-at-Risk, Pictou March 6, 2018

Posted on March 3, 2018 by admin

Click on image to go to MTRI Project on
Landbird SAR in Forested Wetlands

From a post by Ken McKenna of the Pictou Co Naturalist’s Club on the NtureNS listserv:

The Pictou Co Naturalists will be hosting Dr. Cindy Staicer from Dalhousie University Tues Mar 6, 6:30 pm at the New Glasgow Library, 182 Dalhousie St., New Glascow.

Dr. Staicer will lead a presentation/workshop on Landbird Species at Risk in Forested Wetlands.
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PHP to issue a public response to concerns about harvesting near Loon Lake Nature Reserve

Posted on March 1, 2018 by admin

PHP is taking concerns about harvesting on Crown/FSC certified lands in the area of Loon Lake Nature Reserve seriously but we still need some details from PHP about the specific site that Danny George talked about, and from NSDNR about their possible mis-categorization of the forest stands.

UPDATE March 1, 4 p.m. I just talked to Danny George. The area he has been talking about is just west of Eight Mile Lake (at the top left of the map below). He has the coordinates. He refers to the area as the Loon Lake plateau. It is accessed via the Loon Lake Road.
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Forest Harvest Allocation Map accessed May 24, 2017 showing proposed cuts near Loon Lake Nature Reserve. Despite alarm bells raised by Danny George at the time, these harvests are going ahead. View Post of Feb 23, 2018
Click on image for larger version.

In a post about the cutting near Loon Lake Nature Reserve, Guysborough Co. that I made a few days ago (Danny George rings the alarm bell (again) on Loon Lake Nova Scotia clearcuts of Old Growth, Feb 23, 2018), I commented:

More layers could be added to the story, for example, that Port Hawkesbury Paper’s operations on Crown lands are FSC certified*, so there should be an additional layer of precaution on top of the NSDNR requirements for harvests on Crown Land – but as I wrote about in a recent post, FSC follows the NSDNR classifications and interpretations of natural disturbance regimes and so is subject to the same errors and misinterpretations. Regardless, this particular cut should be thoroughly investigated by FSC.
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