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From Protect the Ingram River Wilderness Area FB page Sep 17, 2024
ACTION REQUIRED
Well, here we go again……
Just over 95 acres of forests are up for harvest in the proposed Ingram River Wilderness Area (IRWA) under a polygon labeled HX021009.
This brings the total amount of proposed harvests within the boundaries of IRWA to over 500 acres in 2024 alone.
Continuing to harvest one of Nova Scotia’s most ideal candidates for protection has to stop. It has to stop now and IRWA needs your help to make this happen. If those who support the designation of IRWA do not speak out these cuts will continue. Nature needs you.
Ingram River Wilderness Area needs you to use your voice and demand that the harvesting of its forests is not appropriate until a Wilderness Assessment can be performed to determine how and where protection will move forward.
Using the link below, visit the Harvest Plans Map Viewer today and submit your comments that you don’t want to see this incredible area harvested until it can be fully assessed for protection.
https://nsgi.novascotia.ca/hpmv/
Comments are due by Tues., October 1, so act now!
You don’t need to have a background in forestry or ecology to weigh in on these important issues. You can simply use your voice to express that you don’t want to see the forests harvested in proposed Wilderness Areas.
It is beyond frustrating to see these harvests continue to stack up within the boundaries of the proposed Ingram River Wilderness Area. Nova Scotia has legally committed to protecting 20% of our lands and waters by 2030 and Ingram River Wilderness Area is one of the best candidates to further this protection. Having these harvests come up creates an unnecessary conflict between conservation and forestry values that does not need to occur, making the conversation of balancing societal values more difficult than it needs to be.
As a reminder, here are some facts about the 11,000-hectare Ingram River Wilderness Area:
1. It contains the oldest documented forest in the Maritimes with one tree that is 535 years old.
2. There are at least 17 Species at Risk and 46 species of conservation concern known to be within Ingram River Wilderness Area.
3. If the protection of IRWA moves forward over 65% of the area will remain open for forestry and other industrial uses.
4. Representing over 50,000 members, the Ingram River Wilderness Area proposal is supported by over 50 businesses and organizations including the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq and the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia.
5. The area has been identified as core habitat for Mainland Moose, meaning that the protection of this land is essential for the long-term survival of the species.
6. Protection means that the area will continue to facilitate a wide and diverse range of societal benefits including:
– hiking
– hunting
– fishing
– increased capacity to fight climate change
– increased capacity to reduce forest fire risks
-camping
-ATVing on designated routes
We find that we continue to ask ourselves why this area is not already protected? What more is needed? What is needed is for people like you to declare your support and demand that Nova Scotia follows its own laws in protecting 20% of the province in the next 6 years. Let’s start with Ingram River Wilderness Area.