This page is sub-page of In the News – Wildfire on the website nsforestsmatter.ca
– Government asks New Brunswickers to stay out of the woods across province
Rhythm Rathi · CBC News, Aug 9, 2025. “The New Brunswick government is asking everyone in the province to stay out of the woods. As of 12:01 a.m. Sunday, all Crown land is closed. That means no fishing, camping or hiking, no vehicles in the woods. Trail systems are closed and camping is only allowed in campgrounds. There is also a ban on all forestry operations such as harvesting, forwarding, skidding, scarification and chipping…Unlike Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, New Brunswick has not imposed increased fines for people who violate the restrictions….A wildfire that broke out earlier in the week on Oldfield Road, about 16 kilometres north of Miramichi, grew in size on Saturday, going from 160 hectares in the morning to approximately 240 hectares by 3 p.m., said Natural Resources Minister John Herron.”
– Lower Truro forest fire quickly put out as Nova Scotia drought continues
By Aaron Beswick in the Chronicle Herald, Aug 10, 2025 “..On scene they found a fire accessible by trails that was approximately 50 feet by 50 feet in size. “We put a hose-line in there and put the fire out, I don’t know what else to tell you,” said Forbes.”
– Determining wildfire risk: What is measured and what does it mean?
By Ian Fairclough in the Chronicle Herald, Aug 10, 2025 “The department [NS DNR] has multiple measuring sticks that help it determine what the risk is, and all of those are combined to create a fire weather index which is a numerical rating of fire intensity should a fire occur. It is also a general index of fire danger throughout forested areas. Anything over a rating of 23 is considered an extreme risk. On Friday, the index was at 36.1, where it has been for days…These are the measurements used, with the threshold for extreme and the measurements on Friday, as per DNR: Fine fuel moisture code (FFMC)..Duff moisture code (DMC)..Drought code (DC)…Initial spread index (ISI)…Buildup index (BUI).
– John DeMont: Sometimes government overreach is the best policy
By John DeMont in the Chroncile Herald, Aug 8, 2025. “I’ve taken my share of shots at Premier Tim Houston lately. I didn’t like the way he tried to muzzle the auditor general by introducing amendments that would have allowed him to fire the provincial watchdog without cause and to veto or block the public release of audit reports — a move on which he did back down…We all know why government overreach, which can put too much power in too few hands, is bad. Except sometimes strong leadership is what we need. Which is why I want to say that this time Houston got it right. …I refer to his decision to shut down the tinder-dry woods in Nova Scotia. Any reasonable person can see why
| – Is Nova Scotia going too far by banning people from woods during dry weather? Some think so Anjuli Patil · CBC News, Aug 9, 2025 A lengthy post that cites – Concerns related to the wood ban raised by citizens: Julissa Stewart of Louisdale, N.S “”You know, it’s one thing for somebody to go outside and light up a cigarette and throw a butt on the ground. It’s another thing for somebody to want to take a hike in the woods. Stewart feels the ban violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. She has started a public call to action to see who might be interested in supporting her in bringing the issue forward to initiate a Charter challenge or constitutional question…In a recent social media post, Dalhousie Legal Aid wrote that it had concerns with the woods ban and its impact on people sleeping rough in forested areas. “We are urging the province and municipalities to respond with care and to uphold the dignity and rights of those most affected…”.- Comments on the constitutionality of the ban by Wayne MacKay,professor emeritus of constitutional law at Dalhousie’s Schulich School of Law and the The Canadian Civil Liberties Association… He [MacKay] said all Charter rights are subject to reasonable limits. In this case, the policy objective is to prevent or at least reduce the number of serious forest fires. “It’s a pretty compelling objective. And then the only real question becomes, is it proportionate? “Is what they’re doing restricting more than is necessary to achieve that objective? And that’s really a kind of factual debate that would go on in the court challenge,” MacKay said.The Canadian Civil Liberties Association says the restrictions appear to be broader in scope than required.- Response of Premier Houstom woods ban crticsm. “The experts came to me and said their recommendation is we should restrict travel and put some serious fines on there to keep people safe, to keep properties safe and to really just support our firefighters and first responders,” he said. “So the experts gave the advice, I agreed with it. I’m happy to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to protect people, to protect property and try to just get through this fire season and really just pray for rain.”- Comments by Scott Tingley, manager of forest protection with the Department of Natural Resources Unlike other provinces that see more fires started by lightning strikes, Tingley said nearly all wildfires in Nova Scotia are the result of human activity. “That’s why we can’t run the risk of having people in the woods, because when people are in the woods, even if they don’t intend to, we will have fires,” Tingley said Friday…”We absolutely need everybody to pitch in, because that’s where we’re at … right now, in these conditions, there is a very significant risk of an uncontrollable fire starting.”- Comment by CBC meteorologist Ryan Snoddon The last time Nova Scotia had substantial rain across the province was in early June… our next chance of rain likely won’t come until late next week.” |
– Group threatens N.S. with legal action over ‘grossly disproportionate’ woods ban|
Global News, Aug 8, 2025 . “The Canadian Constitution Foundation, which supports legal challenges across the country generally relating to charter rights, said this forest ban is grossly disproportionate…The group said it supports a provincial burn ban, but Houston’s prohibition on hiking, camping, fishing and picnicking in the woods is a step too far. “We’re creating a culture where we value safety above any other value, including our fundamental freedoms, our freedom to move around our communities,” Christine Van Geyn, the CCF’s litigation director, told Global News.”
– Nova Scotia’s forest ban is a test — just not the one some people think
By Max Fawcett, Opinion Politics,in National Observer August 7th 2025 “…We are, whether the Ayn Rand enthusiasts and crackpot conspiracy theorists in our midst want to admit it, the country of peace, order and good government. We do not believe in unconstrained liberty at any cost, especially when we are reminded of how high that cost can be. Moments like this, where some of us are asked to give up certain rights and freedoms in the name of protecting our fellow citizens, are an important reminder of that. Those who fail this test are failing their own country and its most basic and enduring values, whether they realize it or not.”
– Colby Cosh: Nova Scotia’s paranoid ban on … walking in the forest
By Colby Cosh Published Aug 07, 2025 in the National Post “There is some civil-liberties restlessness over sweeping forest-activity restrictions announced by the Nova Scotia government Tuesday in response to high province-wide fire risks, although actual fire has been minimal so far in 2025. It’s a fascinating snapshot of the post-COVID style of Canadian government. As our courts have accumulated more power to revise policies, their liberal principle of “minimal (rights) impairment” has gathered force, or ought to have. Even those who have some distaste for judge-ocracy can acknowledge that this is one of its relatively decent features — the idea that government limitations on individual conduct ought to be surgical and specific, rather than being defined expansively applied and with an axe, or perhaps a big old halberd…Few would question the propriety of a government taking preventive action by banning obvious established sources of wildfires, such as campfires and all-terrain vehicles. But the goal of the new rules, potentially in place until Oct. 15, is just to encourage Nova Scotians to stay the hell out of the woods, even if they are the owners of those woods. The province laid down an ordinary fire ban weeks ago, but now it has banned hiking, camping and fishing in all provincial and private forests…If “extremism in defence of public property is no vice” is to be the new rule in Canada, we are surely going to see a lot of big changes to urban public parks and other land patches, which, for a decade, have been beset by nomadic tent-dwellers who make copious and inveterate use of propane tanks, electrical heaters, camp stoves, improvised wiring from hijacked power supplies and open fires. Me, I welcome our new safetyist overlords, while reminding them to come prepared for armed crackhead violence and Charter lawsuits. No doubt they’re just around the corner — right?”
– Nova Scotia forest ban hurting local businesses
Glpbal News Video AAug 8, 2025 “AUGUST 8, 2025
The forest ban happening in Nova Scotia is having an impact on the bottom line for some. That includes one horse riding business, which was initially told they had to stop taking customers on trial rides. Kendra Gannon has their story.”
– N.S. tourists, operators pivoting amid drought-driven ban on forest activities
Aly Thomson · CBC News, Aug 7, 2025
Some tourism operators and people visiting Nova Scotia have been left scrambling to change their plans after the provincial government imposed a …