twentyten domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/versico/public_html/nsforestnotes/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6121When I set up this website, I wanted the Home, blogging page (this page) “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.”
Is a mixed Acadian Forest in our future?
And on CBC News: “The NDP’s natural resources critic [Sterling Belliveau] says the minister is rolling over for bureaucrats in his department rather than standing up for good forestry management.” Continue reading
Not the first time: clearcut on land designated for the Raven Head Protected Area, Sep 29, 2011. It was the second clearcut on these lands, the first some 40 years before.
A couple of days ago a CBC post told of clearcuts near a protected area (Keji Park). Today, it’s about a clear cut in a protected area: “A landowner in Joggins, N.S. says he’s frustrated by the province’s strategy of conserving forested land, one that has seen it designate a clearcut a nature reserve.” See CBC news
The audio for the story broadcast on Information Morning is available on the CBC page. Following are some extracts from the piece and some comments of my own; the headings are mine. Continue reading
According to a CBC report, the clearcut proposed near Kejimkujik National Park, which raised hackles in August, is now going ahead on 94 of the 100 ha. A decision has been deferred on 6 ha that impinge directly on the edge of Keji Park.
“Proceeding with the majority of the cut makes sense, Hines said, because of the importance of the forestry industry. The folks who make their living from this industry in the province, all 11,500 of them, have an interest in seeing the best use for our resources,” he said. “It’s a traditional industry that has been sustained for over 400 years in Nova Scotia and this is just another part of that process.”
Photo by Tom Bruton
The article cites this comment by Christopher Robertson, CEO of Viridis Energy, the parent company: “Despite the challenges over the past number of years with the Scotia facility, Cornwall provided a series of loans for the initial acquisition of the assets, capital improvements, and working capital. Operations had recently improved and Scotia was on track to reach profitability for the first time, however, low oil prices and the severe downturn in the European market occurred and as a result, Scotia was not able to address the Cornwall debt.”
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Fruiting body of a Russula mushroom in a local red oak woodland. Hyphae of Russula mushrooms connect shrubs and trees in a mutualistic network.
Her research demonstrates that in western forests, Paper Birch and Douglas Fir share photosynthetic products via their mycorrhizal networks, also that mature Douglas Fir actually nurture their young.
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Robert Devet, writing in the Nova Scotia Advocate, points us to ” A weekend video with a difference. No story line, no sound, no people, just images from a drone flying high above the Cape Breton Highlands.”
It shows “Large clearcuts as far as the eye can see…These are likely second or even third time cut-overs since the sixties, says Ryan Chambers, a former fly fisherman and guide who lives in the area”. Continue reading
I attended the MTRI Old Forest Conservation Science Meeting at Debert this past week, anticipating that it would be a good experience and it was. I am guessing the attendance was about 80 people, from all walks – foresters, rangers, small wood lot owners, company men, academic and government scientists, people from conservation oriented NGOs such as NS Nature Trust, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, CPAWS and CCNB, and others without specialized interests but with a common interest in old forests.
As is now not uncommon (but still not common enough), the meeting was opened with an acknowledgment that we were meeting on un-ceded Mi’kmaq territory. Appropriately, Mi’kmaq poet and scholar Shalan Joudry was asked to start it all off. We fell quiet as she sang, her hands drumming the rhythm of a heart. It was the heartbeat, she said, of the people and the land.
The next day, we dispersed in several directions for jaunts in the forests. It was a totally glorious day weather-wise so we didn’t begrudge being indoors on the following, rainy day to view presentations and join discussions on a wide range of topics related to old forests. Those began with Shalan talking about “Reconnecting to Wapane’kati” Continue reading
Is older forest on this steep slope just “wasted fibre?”
But that could change. FPInnovations executive vice-president Dr. Trevor Stuthridge talks about development of “new harvesting technologies to provide the forest industry with safe, economic and sustainable solutions to access fibre located on steep slopes” as the target of a 5 year “Steep Slope Initiative” launched in 2014. “We’re looking at new innovations, such as robotic harvesting systems and techniques that allow us to tether harvesters to get them up steep slopes more effectively.” Continue reading
A few photos from today in the “Backlands”, an area of granitic outcrops and Jack Pines on the Halifax south mainland. The Spryfield fire on April 30/May 1, 2009 burned approximately 800 ha of this highly fire-prone landscape, but not that shown in the photos which are in the vicinity of Williams Lake. The recent rains have partially recharged the wetlands after the long drought but the water level in Williams Lake is still several feet below its more normal level.
Click on photos for larger versions.
Jack Pine Barrens
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“The last softwood lumber deal expired Oct. 12, 2015. The subsequent one-year litigation standstill period ended at midnight. Now the American lumber industry could file a petition with 
the U.S. Department of Commerce as early as Thursday morning” [that apparently did not happen ]. (Global News: 5 things to know about Canada’s softwood lumber trade war with US.)
A U.S. view: “In the U.S. timber purchasers have to buy from private landowners or the forest service, but up north Canada controls roughly a third of its timber market allowing that country to subsidize its timber industry. U.S. producers end up paying 10 to 20 times more per standing tree.” See ktvh.com Continue reading
