PC Government moving ahead with protection of Owl’s Head and protection of 20% of Nova Scotia by 2030 18Jan2022

Posted on January 18, 2022 by admin

Good News worth noting 

From the PC’s commitments during the run-up to the August 2021 election

In an article on saltwire.com today, reporter Francis Campbell cited the  Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables Tory Rushton’s comments on Owls Head*
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*Owl’s Head is a 285-hectare area of Crown land on the Eastern Shore that includes rare coastal barrens. The McNeil/Rankin Government  secretly delisted it from the Parks and Protected Areas Plan and was negotiating for its sale to an American golf course developer, a factor in the Liberal Government’s defeat in the August 2022 election.

“I’ve asked my department to prioritize this piece of land to move it forward,”Tory Rushton, Nova Scotia’s minister of natural resources and renewables, said after a cabinet meeting Thursday.

Continue reading →

Posted in New PC Government, Parks & Protected Areas | Comments Off on PC Government moving ahead with protection of Owl’s Head and protection of 20% of Nova Scotia by 2030 18Jan2022

Nova Scotia Forest Sector Council offers training to address shortage in skilled forestry machine operators 13Jan2022

Posted on January 13, 2022 by admin

From Advertisement for the Forestry Machine Operator Training Program

The Forest Sector Council of Nova Scotia is seeking candidates to participate in its Forestry Machine Operator Training Program.

The forestry machine operator training program is designed to prepare students for entry-level positions as mechanized forest equipment operators.

The specialized nature of forest harvesting equipment requires skilled operators with a focus on safe, environmentally sustainable, and viable commercial operations.

The current session begins on March 14, 2022 in Truro. It involves a 5 week, in-class introduction (Forestry 101), a 5 week Basic Training component 5 weeks and 15 weeks of Advanced Equipment Operation Training in which “students are matched with a harvesting contractor who will employ the student for ‘on-the-job’ training component directly on the contractor’s active operations.” Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Tree Harvests | Comments Off on Nova Scotia Forest Sector Council offers training to address shortage in skilled forestry machine operators 13Jan2022

From the Netherlands Re: Harvest Plan AP068499: Beal’s Brook, Nova Scotia 6Jan2022

Posted on January 6, 2022 by admin

I saw this letter from Sandy Martin, a Nova Scotian currently living in the Netherlands, posted on Annapolis Royal & Area – Environment & Ecology (Public Group Facebook Page) and messaged Sandy to ask if I could post it, also as an addendum, her Ode to Activists. She graciously agreed. I have inserted some brown bolding to facilitate reading it on the web. Both docs say a lot that needs to be said. And said A lot. 

The Honorable Tory Rushton
The Honorable Tim Halman
The Honorable Tim Houston
January 3, 2022
Re: Harvest Plan AP068499: Beal’s Brook
Dear Mr. Rushton, Mr. Halman and Mr. Houston,

Day 36 at the Last Hope camp (Jan 6, 2022) Photo from XR-Mi’kma’ki / Nova Scotia

Thirty-three days. That’s how long a group of Forest Protectors has been camped out at Beal’s Brook in Annapolis County, otherwise known as the Last Hope Camp wildlife corridor. They are not dangerous radicals or extremists. They are just ordinary citizens – grandmothers, grandfathers, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, settlers and Indigenous people who care deeply about the environment that sustains human life. They have toughed out freezing temperatures, rain, high winds and snow. And they are not alone. This seemingly small group is supported by tens of thousands of Nova Scotians. Average Nova Scotians who care about this province and are concerned about the future their children and grandchildren will face. Continue reading →

Posted in Biophilia, Citizen Science, Climate Change, Conservation, New PC Government, Social Values, Wabanaki Forest, WestFor | Comments Off on From the Netherlands Re: Harvest Plan AP068499: Beal’s Brook, Nova Scotia 6Jan2022

2021 Mainland Moose Recovery Plan excludes Chebucto Peninsula from areas of Core Habitat management 5Jan2021

Posted on January 5, 2022 by admin

Map 5 from the Halifax Green Network Plan (2018)
Identification of the Chebucto Peninsula is inserted. The map illustrates the advanced level of landscape level planning for conservation of biodiversity by Halifax (HRM, all of Halifax Co.) Click image for larger version

Summary

Summary Historically moose in the the Bowater-Mersey St. Margarets Bay lands  were considered contiguous with the population on the Chebucto Peninsula  and  together formed  one of the four Core Population Areas recognized in 2012. The 2021 Mainland Moose Recovery Plan, however, excludes the Chebucto Peninsula from areas of Core Habitat. The reasons are a bit obscure but  seem to be related to the  Recovery Team’s contention  “that development has led to declines in the Chebucto Peninsula region” and “a loss of connectivity across the landscape”. However, there is no evidence that the declines on the Chebucto Peninsula have been any more precipitous than in other areas of NS that are retained as Core areas. Also, these comments do not recognize the demonstrated commitment of Halifax Regional Municipality, supported by its citizenry, to addressing habit and connectivity  issues, especially  for the Chebucto Peninsula. Surely, the Chebucto population should continue  to be treated as contiguous with the moose in the Bowater-Mersey St. Margaret’s Bay land, and part of the Core Habitat for the Mainland Moose.

Read more


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Posted in Conservation, Landscape Level Planning, Wildlife | Comments Off on 2021 Mainland Moose Recovery Plan excludes Chebucto Peninsula from areas of Core Habitat management 5Jan2021

NatureNS asks Nova Scotians to support the new Mainland Moose Recovery Plan 5Jan2021

Posted on January 5, 2022 by admin

NatureNS’s endorsement of the plan is significant as Nature NS has been highly critical of L&F’s management of the Mainland Moose and was one of three naturalist groups that took the province to court over this issue  in 2019 – and won.  NatureNS has a few reservations, particularly ones related the the Special Management Practices, and I and others are concerned that the Chebucto Peninsula was excluded from the Core Habitat areas.

On Nov 26, 2021, NS Dept of Natural Resources and Renewable (NRR or NSNRR) released the its Mainland Moose Recovery Plan following “delays, lawsuits and auditor general reports on the issue” (CBC, Nov 26, 2021). Continue reading →

Posted in Acadian Forest, clearcuts, Landscape Level Planning, Natural Resources & Renewables, Wildlife | Comments Off on NatureNS asks Nova Scotians to support the new Mainland Moose Recovery Plan 5Jan2021

It is Christmas Eve and bitterly cold at the Last Hope Wildlife Corridor encampment 24Dec2021

Posted on December 24, 2021 by admin

A BW classic, Dec 25, 2021

Thank you, Extinction Rebellion Mi’kma’ki / Nova Scotia and all of the folks at the Last Hope Wildlife Corridor Encampment and helping to maintain it for giving many of us in Mi’kma’ki hope on this Christmas Eve that we can indeed  “change the way we treat nature and all our kin, human and non-human”.

Posted on Extinction Rebellion Mi’kma’ki / Nova Scotia, Dec 24, 2020:

Day 23 at the Last Hope camp

It is Christmas Eve and bitterly cold. This photo [below] of an endangered Mainland moose, taken in one of the wetlands connected by these remaining 24 hectares of forest, tells you why we have been camped out here for over three weeks.

We are protecting this 80 year old forest as a vital wildlife corridor. Here on the South Mountain in Annapolis County, forest cover has been decimated by clearcutting. This forest stands out as an island in a sea of clearcuts. Continue reading →

Posted in New PC Government, Social Values, Wabanaki Forest, Wildlife | Comments Off on It is Christmas Eve and bitterly cold at the Last Hope Wildlife Corridor encampment 24Dec2021

Up to date forestry employment numbers for Nova Scotia 22Dec2021

Posted on December 22, 2021 by admin

Each generation must make their own journey through a thick terrain.
How ever we get lost along the way, let us rejoice in the healing steps that follow.
I hope we all continue to gather at the edge of the woods where the generations before us and after us re-merge.
– Prologue to Generations Re-Merging by Shalan Joudry

A reader of NSFN forwarded some stats and some thoughts  about  the future of the forest industry, writing as one who comes from a family directly involved in forestry for three generations. He arrives at a painful conclusion: “I sometimes wonder”, he writes, “if our Provincial Governments (of all stripes) have been trying to delay the inevitable, the closure of the forestry industry”.

I wish we could recognize ‘the inevitable’ as the reader put it, and work collectively to make the transition to a very different kind of forest economy, one that would allow our Wabanake/Acadian forest to thrive and be as resilient as possible in times of great climate and social change and provide stable, rewarding employment for all of the workers now working in large scale, industrial forestry, and more.

Received today from a reader of NSFN:

‘Came across the following site: 

Labour statistics consistent with the System of National Accounts (SNA), by job category and industry (statcan.gc.ca)

‘Still trying to reconcile the total number of jobs that Forestry Nova Scotia’s site highlights (11,500) Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Lumber, Pulp & Paper, Tree Harvests | Comments Off on Up to date forestry employment numbers for Nova Scotia 22Dec2021

Nina Newington/XR Mi’kmaki/NS: It takes a while 22Dec2021

Posted on December 22, 2021 by admin

In a few words and images, a short video made by Nina Newington for Extinction Rebellion Mi’kma’ki / Nova Scotia at the Last Hope Wildlife Corridor Encampment Dec 18, 2021  conveys a deep sense of ‘what it’s all about”.

From the video:

“Welcome to the Last Hope Wildlife Corridor. This forest in Annapolis County is recovering.

“It is recovering from settler caused fires.  It is recovering from from decades of cutting.

“This particular area has not been touched in perhaps 80 years. And gradually it is recovering.
Continue reading →

Posted in Social Values, Wabanaki Forest | Comments Off on Nina Newington/XR Mi’kmaki/NS: It takes a while 22Dec2021

Nova Scotia NRR advertising for “Director Organizational Strategy & Renewal” 22Dec2021

Posted on December 22, 2021 by admin

Prof.Lahey’s Independent Evaluation of the FPR was released Nov 30, 2021. Click on image to go to view it.

I missed this one, the deadline for which is 12/27/2021. I have been on the lookout for something related to Prof. Laheys recomommendations, released publicly on Nov 30, 2021, vis a vis implementation of ecological forestry, in particular this:

The Department needs to adopt a more centralized and directional approach to the organization of work on implementation of the FPR and assign overall leadership of the process to a forester who is committed to ecological forestry who has the experience and knowledge to lead Nova Scotia’s embrace of an ecological paradigm. Appointment of this person to the vacant statutory position of the province’s Chief Forester should be considered of this person to the vacant statutory position of the province’s Chief Forester should be considered.

Coincidentally or not much of the job description for the ‘Director Organizational Strategy & Renewal’ seems to fill this requirement. Continue reading →

Posted in Ind Rev Post-Report, Natural Resources & Renewables, New PC Government | Comments Off on Nova Scotia NRR advertising for “Director Organizational Strategy & Renewal” 22Dec2021

Maritime Forest Accord: “a hub for people to share approaches to forest care that put community and climate benefits first” 20Dec2021

Posted on December 20, 2021 by admin

It is an encouraging sign that we don’t have to wait for government to lead in these sorts of initiatives

Received yesterday from Rebecca Jacobs, Digital Communications Coordinator for Community Forests International:

The Maritime Forest Accord is a movement and a hub for people to share approaches to forest care that put community and climate benefits first.

The idea behind the Accord emerged during a week-long event that brought together participants from Medway Community Forest Cooperative, Mi’kmawey Forestry, the University of New Brunswick, the Wolasteqey Nation in New Brunswick, and Community Forests International.

Together, we explored how we might help the Wabanaki forest flourish for future generations. Conversations gravitated toward the challenges encountered by small private landowners, who care deeply about their forests but often face challenges aligning their management decisions with their values, including a lack of reliable information.

In response, we created the Maritime Forest Accord, a website dedicated to uplifting the vibrant community of people committed to forest stewardship in this region. We hope this website serves as a central resource hub for people and groups who care about the special forest in this part of the world.
Continue reading →

Posted in Private Woodlots, Wabanaki Forest | Comments Off on Maritime Forest Accord: “a hub for people to share approaches to forest care that put community and climate benefits first” 20Dec2021