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“Hemlock Heroes are trained citizens who volunteer to help save tall, dark hemlock forest ecosystems. Becoming a Hemlock Hero enables you to participate in a great cause to conserve some of the finest old growth forests in the province [Nova Scotia].
“You will help to ensure that eastern hemlocks continue to provide the many essential ecosystem services required to sustain life and the health of many other forest species, as well preserve the extraordinary beauty of hemlocks.”
Currently scheduled training sessions are on Sat June 17, 2023 and Sat June 24, 2023.
Read more on www.medwaycommunityforest.com/
In Nova Scotia, forestry operations are not required to pause during nesting season, or even to reduce the risk of igniting a fire during the worst fire season ever.
Halifax area weather June 2 onward
Click on image for larger version
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UPDATE June 4, 2023: A significant rain break beginning late June 2; much better control achieved by June 4 – see NRR News Release
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UPDATE June 3, 2023: Liberal leader calls for a halt to all forestry activity until Nova Scotia gets rain
(CBC)
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UPDATE June 1, 2023: Nova Scotia wildfires put timber harvesting on hold
Bill Spurr Saltwire, June 1, 2023 “Wildfires in Nova Scotia are damaging employment at the same time they’re destroying homes…“Loggers on Crown land are permitted to work at night due to the lower temperatures and lower wind speeds, which significantly reduce the chance of uncontrolled starts and spreads of fire.”
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UPDATE: Also view “Safety is our top priority,” unless you’re a logging company, then the profit motive is by Linda Pannozzo in the Quaking Swamp Journal, May 31, 2023
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Evening sun, Halifax area on May 28, 2023. Forest fires are raging in the province – See NASA
I just read a letter by Annapolis Valley naturalist Bev Wigney sent yesterday to Premier Houston and NRR Minister Tory Rushton in which she appeals to them to to “shut down forestry operations completely, with *no loopholes*”.
I had read yesterday the headline and first few lines in the news about the ban:
‘For God’s sake, stop burning’: N.S. premier bans all activity in forests, urges residents to abide by burn ban‘ (CTV Atlantic news May 31, 2023)… Premier Tim Houston has banned all activity in forests as of Tuesday, and says the wildfire damage is “extensive” and “heartbreaking.”
I felt encouraged the premier had acted so forcefully in this instance so I wondered if Bev Wigney had made a mistake – the headlines had announced that all activity in forests is banned.
She didn’t. Continue reading
Evidently, it’s a fairly senior position.
Some extracts from indeed.com advert:
 Screen Capture from advert on ca.indeed.com. Click on image to go to source page Department: Natural Resources & Renewables |
Graphic on the Protected Areas page for the Margaree River Wilderness Area.
Click on image for source.
Extracts from the Advert on ca.indeed.com
Competition # : 39024
Department: Environment and Climate Change
Location: HALIFAX
Type of Employment: Term
Union Status: NSGEU – NSPG
Closing Date: 5/17/2023
Salary Range: $2,074.62 – $3,215.50 Bi-Weekly Continue reading
Received from Forestry Maps today:
 New Map Legend The Harvest Plans Map Viewer is receiving an update to its legend that aligns with the Department’s continued work towards the implementation of Ecological Forestry on Crown lands. The updated legend, shown below, has two (2) new prescriptions categories. The first prescription category is “Research Trial” and the second is “Final Felling”. The “Research Trail” prescription (seen as red in the legend) applies to proposed harvest areas that will be established to support continuing forest management research objectives on Crown lands. For more information about research conducted by the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, you are encouraged to read more here: Biodiversity Conservation and Forestry Technical Report Series | novascotia.ca . |
A new interactive map – the Ecological Landscape Analysis Report Finder – conveys a lot of useful information. An updated Forest Development Stage Layer on the Provincial Landscape Viewer appeared to introduce some significant errors for a site I have been monitoring; NRR is working to address such errors.
Nina Newington passed on this info she received recently from Peter Bush (Old-Growth Forest Coordinator, Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables): Continue reading
Soils, Restoring Forests on Abandoned Farmland, Invasive Plants, Agroforestry, & the Forest Triad are amongst a range of topics covered in the latest issue of the Southwest Nova Biosphere Reserve Newsletter.
I think most of us are aware that SW Nova Scotia has a high level of biodiversity and a rich cultural heritage, but the special status of the area as a “Biosphere Reserve” is not so well known. Continue reading
Nina Newington, writing on Extinction Rebellion Mi’kma’ki / Nova Scotia (public FB group), Mar 9, 2023:
“Citizen scientists working to protect the forest around Goldsmith Lake got some good news last week and some excellent media coverage this week: thanks to the 17 (and counting) Species at Risk they have identified in the area, Natural Resources and Renewables has put on hold harvesting in all the cutblocks touched by the SAR. NRR’s Resource Manager for the Western Region noted that, with the discovery of multiple occurrences like this, the response would go beyond just adding individual buffers, saying the department would look for ‘alternative avenues’ to steward the area. Continue reading
Application of EA or EA type of process to FULAs (Forest Utilization License Agreement) was seen by Prof Lahey as a critical “to bring transparency and accountability to the [planning] process and to mitigate the concerns about how DNR internally manages its competing responsibilities”. Yet, there has been no mention of an EA or equivalent process in NRRs recent announcement that its FULA with Port Hawkesbery Paper has now been extended to 2043. I asked Prof. Peter Duinker, the chief architect of the EA process, “What happened to the EA?”. Evidently he has the same question.
Can an EA type process for forestry on Crown lands in NS as recommended by Lahey ensure that planning for biodiversity conservation takes place on a landscape level scale and put to rest public concern about Crown land forestry practices? Clearly it can’t if it’s not conducted!
Click on images in this post for larger versions
I saw the NRR Press release Port Hawkesbury Paper Agreements Extended, Renewed (NRR Feb 8, 2023) and wondered immediately what happened to the EA (Environmental Assessment) process that I understood from the Lahey Report was supposed to apply to such agreements in future.
I figured a person who would know and might answer my question would be Dalhousie University Emeritus Professor Peter Duinker. Prof. Duinker proposed the EA process when he served as an Expert Advisor to Independent Review of Forestry Practices (see Addendum to Lahey Report, pages 99-100), clear recommendations were made to implement such a process in the Lahey Report, an Environmental Assessment project team was formed within L&F to move it all ahead and finally Prof Duinker served as a member of the consulting team contracted to develop the process.
To my surprise, Prof Duinker has the same question – I received this response shortly after I wrote to him: Continue reading