Glyphosate impacts on Nova Scotia Species-At-Risk & Blue-green algae 4Sep2024

Posted on September 4, 2024 by David Patriquin

Adapted from posts by Adam Malcolm on Nova Scotia Species at Risk (public Facebook Page), with permission.

Wrote Adam on Sep 2, 2024:

In late 2021 the US Environmental Protection Agency released its final Biological Evaluation assessing risks to threatened and endangered species from labeled uses of glyphosate, an herbicide used in the Nova Scotian logging industry to kill broadleaf trees and shrubs that compete with spruce and fir saplings.

The evaluation found that glyphosate is likely to injure or kill 93% of the plants and animals protected under the Endangered Species Act, including the monarch butterfly (Miꞌkmawiꞌsimk: misimijqanaw), Atlantic salmon (Miꞌkmawiꞌsimk: blamu) and Blanding’s turtle (protection pending), among hundreds of others. The report also found that glyphosate adversely modifies critical habitat for 759 endangered species, or 96% of all species for which critical habitat has been designated in the US. Continue reading →

Posted in Aquatic systems, Glyphosate, Species At Risk | Comments Off on Glyphosate impacts on Nova Scotia Species-At-Risk & Blue-green algae 4Sep2024

Questions about stakeholder meetings (re: Feasibility of a new paper mill in Queens Co.) and Sustainable Forest Harvest Levels in Nova Scotia 3Sep2024

Posted on September 3, 2024 by David Patriquin

Sketch shows prominence of highly acidic, calcium-deficient/high aluminum forest soils in Nova Scotia.  Sketch after Keys et al. (2016), Fig 3.  More about it here. Could such conditions affect the feasibility of a new paper mill in Queens Co.?

Recently I viewed an e-mail from a Paper Excellence official, addressed (apparently) to a set of “forestry sector stakeholders”, in which the focus topics for an upcoming meeting to be held in Queens Co in early September are described, and inviting addressees to share their thoughts, suggest topics for future meetings etc.

The focus topics included,  amongst others, considerations related to air emissions and effluents, and forestry-related modelling assumptions.

These topics are surely of interest and have impacts outside of the forestry sector per se. Continue reading →

Posted in Low Grade Wood, NP Mill, Soil & Aquatic Acidifcation, Sustainable Wood Harvests, SW Nova Scotia, Wabanaki Forest | Comments Off on Questions about stakeholder meetings (re: Feasibility of a new paper mill in Queens Co.) and Sustainable Forest Harvest Levels in Nova Scotia 3Sep2024

In Tiny Letters: Warnings about eating berries on forest glyphosate spray sites in Nova Scotia 2Sep2024

Posted on September 2, 2024 by David Patriquin

A post shared on Woods and Water Nova Scotia, Aug 30, 2024:

Forest spray sign at  site in West Caledonia, Queens County. Click on image for larger version. Glyphosate is the Active Ingredient in Vision Max. View Bayer description of Vision Max

Nina Newington – Stop Spraying & Clear-Cutting Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia)
So ARF has already sprayed this site in West Caledonia, Queens County. That’s what the orange sticker indicates.

Look closely at the tiny letters to the left of the orange sticker. They say: “There shall be no consumption of berries and fruits within this spray site(s) for the remainder of the growing season.”

Feel better now? There’s our government looking out for our health and welfare and the health of all the wildlife that might miss this warning and eat the nice juicy berries growing in a recovering clearcut.

Pity about the frogs and salamanders and snakes killed by the spray when it touches their skin.

Sorry for the hunters too, who didn’t know that the deer and the bears didn’t know to avoid browsing the poisoned fruits and leaves.  Read More

Posted in Glyphosate, NS NRR | Tagged | Leave a comment

40 days and 40 nights to comment on 5-year PHP harvest plans under Nova Scotia’s Outcomes Based Forest Management 4Aug2024

Posted on August 5, 2024 by David Patriquin

Update Aug 5, 2024: To comment/discuss this post, please go to this item on Woods & Waters Nova Scotia Facebook Page. (‘Must log in to Facebook to comment.)
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We have forty days and  forty nights to comment on the 5-year PHP (Port Hawkesbury Paper) harvest plans under Nova Scotia’s new OBFM (Outcomes Based Forest Management). There is no mention in the various documents of the Forest Environmental Assessment and the related Forest Stewardship Guide. The EA would provide comprehensive descriptions of the harvesting plans and much more time, process and scope for public input than afforded by the current process without an EA. Commented Lahey in 2018:  ” If done properly, with openness and transparency and based on strong science, it [The Forest EA] will reduce the pressure for intense scrutiny by DNR or the public of individualized harvesting decisions.”  The plan to include an EA provided a large part of the trust created by Prof. Lahey and that prompted folks skeptical about the Triad to support the Lahey recommendations overall. As commented recently by Nina Newington, “Lahey’s triad model is a tradeoff…The bargain is not being kept.”

Subscribers to the Harvest Plan Map Viewer notifications learned from e-mail #1 on Aug 1, 2024/4:23 p.m of the implementation of  a pilot project on “Outcomes-based forestry” by Port Hawkesbury Paper in partnership with the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables. Read More

Posted in Conservation, Sustainable Wood Harvests, Triad | Comments Off on 40 days and 40 nights to comment on 5-year PHP harvest plans under Nova Scotia’s Outcomes Based Forest Management 4Aug2024

Shady Accounting and Vanishing Forests on Nova Scotia’s Crown Lands 14Jul2024

Posted on July 14, 2024 by David Patriquin

Update Aug9, 2024: To comment/discuss this post, please go to this item on Woods & Waters Nova Scotia Facebook Page. (‘Must log in to Facebook to comment.)

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By Nina Newington

SUMMARY

New forest road at Goldsmith Lake, October 2022  Forest lost to roads is NOT included in the harvest removal tallies.
Photo: Nina Newington.
Click on images for larger versions

To justify the sacrifice of biodiversity in the 10% of Crown land to be consigned to High Production Forestry under the Forest Triad, the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables (DNRR) tells us that “90% of Crown and protected areas land will always be committed to the two zones that prioritize biodiversity”.  The Conservation zone (aka protected areas) does protect biodiversity but is biodiversity really prioritized in the 1 million hectares currently assigned to the Ecological Matrix?

Both government and industry resort to an ecological rule of thumb, stating that “Two-thirds of the forest will be left standing” in areas subject to ‘ecological’ harvest prescriptions. Closer examination reveals that all but two of the prescriptions generated by the new Silvicultural Guide to the Ecological Matrix result in the removal of at least 50% of the forest.

This article examines the shady accounting used to conceal this fact, with specific reference to the variety of harvest plans approved for 462 hectares around Goldsmith Lake in Annapolis County in 2022.

Continue reading →

Posted in Conservation, Forest Roads, Triad, Wabanaki Forest | Comments Off on Shady Accounting and Vanishing Forests on Nova Scotia’s Crown Lands 14Jul2024

Lichen Camp Day 127: symbiosis is always the topic 7Jul2024

Posted on July 7, 2024 by NSmattersAdmin

Wrote Nina Newington on  Jul 6, 2024:

As word spreads about the camp and our work to protect this area, we get an ever more interesting mix of visitors, from Antonija Livingstone, performance artist living in France, to Haeweon Yi from South Korea, PhD candidate and Climate Theatre person, to Keith Eggers, mycologist and retired professor, surveying fungi in some of the old growth forest here, to two members of the Southwest Paddlers Association and their canoes, come to check out the pristine lake they’ve heard about, to Carman Kerr, our MLA, and his constituent assistant, Evan Fairn. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Lichen Camp Day 127: symbiosis is always the topic 7Jul2024

On our Wabanaki Forest 21Jun2024

Posted on June 21, 2024 by NSmattersAdmin

Wabanaki Forest by Lower Trout Lake on the Chebucto Peninsula 
Click on images for larger versions

On June 21, 2024, we in the northern hemisphere  celebrate the summer solstice, as our ancestors have done since prehistoric times.

Since June 21, 2017, the day is also known as Canada’s National Indigenous Peoples Day:

In cooperation with Indigenous organizations, the Government of Canada chose June 21, the summer solstice, for National Aboriginal Day, now known as National Indigenous Peoples Day. For generations, many Indigenous peoples and communities have celebrated their culture and heritage on or near this day due to the significance of the summer solstice as the longest day of the year.

Read more

Posted in Wabanaki Forest | Comments Off on On our Wabanaki Forest 21Jun2024

Fourteen students completed the first official tree marking course in Nova Scotia 20Jun2024

Posted on June 20, 2024 by NSmattersAdmin

Guest Post by Minga O’Brien

Tree marking is an integral step in partial harvesting systems geared towards managing for quality timber products, and healthy forest habitats.

Nova Scotia Tree Marking Course: Marking for Selection Harvest at Medway Community Forest.
Click on image for larger version

From June 4-7, 2024, it was my pleasure to be an instructor for a tree marking course offered by Nova Scotia Community College’s Centre of Forest Innovation. Accommodation and morning classes took place at NSCC’s College of Geographic Sciences in Lawrencetown, and field sites were situated on Crown lands licensed to the Medway Community Forest Co-op. There were 14 participants and 7 instructors, 2 of whom (Al Stinson-from the Canadian Institute of Forestry and Martin Streit – from Forests Ontario) traveled from Ontario to lead what many hope to be the first of many tree marking courses in Nova Scotia.
Continue reading →

Posted in Certification systems, Conservation, Sustainable Wood Harvests, Tree-marking | Comments Off on Fourteen students completed the first official tree marking course in Nova Scotia 20Jun2024

Feedback sought on Wood Pellet Association of Canada’s Regional Risk Assessment for sourcing biomass from Nova Scotia’s harvestable forest land base 16Jun2024

Posted on June 16, 2024 by NSmattersAdmin

UPDATE: Received from Brenda Hopkin Jul 27, 2024 in response to an inquiry, re: when can we expect to be notified: “We are in the final stages of finishing the RRA. We are aiming for the middle of August & will post the end date in the notification.”

Please, all stakeholders, register and review this RRA (Regional Risk Assessment). A wide range of stakeholders is considered relevant.

One of the ways I attempt to keep up with News related to forests and forestry in Nova Scotia is by subscribing to a Google Alert, specifying “Forestry, Forests, Nova Scotia” as the topic.

Under my Alert this am:

Clicking on it takes one to https://biomassrra.ca/nova-scotia/
where I learned that the Wood Pellet Association of Canada has conducted a “Regional Risk Assessment” for Nova Scotia, and is seeking input from stakeholders. Continue reading →

Posted in Certification systems, Conservation, Forest Biomass, Low Grade Wood, Sustainable Wood Harvests | Comments Off on Feedback sought on Wood Pellet Association of Canada’s Regional Risk Assessment for sourcing biomass from Nova Scotia’s harvestable forest land base 16Jun2024

On the Northern Pulp Agreement with the Nova Scotia Government 9Jun2024

Posted on June 10, 2024 by NSmattersAdmin

Guest Post by Helga Guderley

The last thing that we need is a secretive multinational corporation milking provincial subsidies while taking the last of our standing forests.

It was the pollution of Boat Harbour that led to the closure of the NP Mill in Pictou and is still costing Nova Scotians and especially the people of Pictou Landing First Nation dearly. “Once bitten twice shy” should apply says Helga Guderley

On May 23, 2024 we learned that the government reached a tentative agreement with Paper Excellence, owners of Northern Pulp, settling the dispute over lost profits from the closure of the Pictou mill and Paper Excellence’s $450 Million lawsuit against the province.

Many aspects are included in this agreement: the potential relocation of the mill to Liverpool, the province assuming the cost of the pensions for former mill workers and guaranteeing a 14% profit for the new mill. The total costs of this agreement are far from clear. Continue reading →

Posted in Low Grade Wood, NP Mill, SW Nova Scotia | Comments Off on On the Northern Pulp Agreement with the Nova Scotia Government 9Jun2024