Nova Scotia’s Old Growth Forest Policy
By Nina Newington*
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*Posted earlier today on Friends of Goldsmith Lake Wilderness Area (Public FB Group)
Check out this interview about some of DNR’s shenanigans at Goldsmith Lake:
– Is the province favouring forestry over conservation? (Audio 8 min)
CBC Info AM with Portia Clark, Jan 9, 2025. “Hear why the president of Save Our Old Forests has been filing access to information requests to try to find out about old growth forest stands in Annapolis County. Nina Newington talks about seeing a disconnect between what the government knows and what it’s posting publicly.” A Rough Transcript of the interview available on NSFN
The biggest yellow birch in what we think is the oldest stand discovered so far around Goldsmith Lake. DNR’s age threshold for old growth hardwood stands like this one is 140. The average age of the trees they sampled in this stand is 250! It was assessed in the fall of 2023. Still not on the map.
Since when did the existence of magnificent stands of old-growth forest become a state secret?
Isn’t it time to celebrate what an ecological gem the proposed Goldsmith Lake Wilderness Area is?
Why exactly is DNR senior management sitting on the existence of 14 more stands of old-growth forest around the lake? Stands that met DNR’s own criteria for old growth. That’s on top of the 7 they do acknowledge.
Is it because their existence makes the incredible conservation value of the area too obvious? DNR have clung to industry’s line that the area is all ‘managed’ forest for way too long. Of course there are areas that have been cut. Is there anywhere in Nova Scotia that is untouched wilderness?
What counts is just how much old- and old growth- forest is left. Precious little on the heavily clearcut South Mountain. In the Goldsmith Lake Wilderness area there is a truly extraordinary amount of old growth and — just as important — old forest that, if protected, will mature into old growth in the next 10-20 years.
There is actually more old growth forest in the proposed wilderness area than just those 21 stands around Goldsmith Lake. This gorgeous stand of yellow birch is to the east, closer to Corbett Lake…We’ve supplied DNR with another 18 stands to assess. It really might be easier to go ahead and protect the whole area. Just saying…
Instead of helping to protect these forests, Freedom of Information requests reveal that DNR has quietly resurrected zombie harvest plans for an area with exactly the old forest that should be protected. Those plans don’t appear on the public map where they should be.
More secrecy. It looks a lot as if DNR is stalling progress on getting areas like Goldsmith protected so that the forestry industry can get in and log what it can while it can.
It’s past time to take the proposed Goldsmith Lake Wilderness Area off the chopping block. Recognize the area as a candidate for permanent protection so the Protected Areas branch at Environment can get on with assessing the area.
Those red patches are all the old growth forest that is currently included in what’s called the Old Growth Policy layer in our area. That little wishbone shaped lake with 3 red patches is Goldsmith Lake. There are 7 stands of old growth in those 3 patches. It’s already pretty unique in the area. See below for what it looks like when you draw in the ones DNR is currently sitting on.
This is how the map will look when DNR finally does what it is required to do under the Old Growth Forest Policy: keep the map and the data up to date and, yes, available to the public.
Previous posts related to Harvesting in
citizen-proposed Nova Scotia Protected Areas
Dec 8, 2024:
– Harvesting in citizen-proposed Nova Scotia Protected Area continued…Chain Lakes Wilderness Area 8Dec2024
Sep 24, 2024:
– Plans for harvesting within the proposed Ingram River Wilderness Area (IRWA) continue
Oct 17, 2024:
Open letter to Nova Scotia Premier Houston requesting cessation of logging in areas that are prime candidates for protection
Nov 4, 2024:
– Harvesting in citizen-proposed Nova Scotia Protected Area continued…Goldsmith Lake Wilderness Area
Nov 20, 2024:
CBC InfoAM interviews on Logging in Citizen-Proposed Protected Areas #1: the “Activists”
Nov 27, 2024:
– Harvesting in citizen-proposed Nova Scotia Protected Area continued…Goldsmith Lake Wilderness Area
Also view 20% Protection by 2030
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