For some time after the PCs took NS Gov reins in 2021, there was a lot of reorganization of the website going on, with beta versions, old versions, pages/document deleted, others added and that process seems to be ongoing. So there are often several versions of key docs and it can be difficult to find what one is looking for or to know for sure when you do find it, whether it’s an old or recent version. View Example
For the Department of Natural Resources as a whole, this seems to be the top level page:
https://novascotia.ca/natr/ . It provides a simple alphabetically ordered list of links to diff. sections or topics, copied below:
- Biodiversity
- Check before your burn
- Crown land
- Ecological forestry
- Education
- Energy renewables
- Field offices
- Forest protection
- Forestry
- Forestry sector support
- Geoscience and mines
- Hunting, trapping and shooting ranges
- Natural Sciences Library
- Off-highway vehicles
- Oil and gas
- Provincial parks
- Shubenacadie Wildlife Park
- Wildlife
- Woodland Management Outreach Program
There is a note at the bottom of the page: “If you can’t find what you’re looking for visit the beta website. That takes you to two pages of text about the dept. plus these links:
Our minister: Hon. Tory Rushton
Our ministerial assistant: Kyle MacQuarrie
Our senior leadership: Karen Gatien
Deputy Minister
Corporate information:
- About us
- Corporate reports
- Legislation
- Programs and services
“There are no programs and services on the new website (you’re on the new website now).
See programs and services for all departments and offices.
More programs and services
We’re working on adding more information. If you can’t find what you’re looking for visit the old website for the Department of Natural Resources.”COMMENT: So you go to the old website, if you cant find what you need, you get a link to the new (Beta) website, and then if you can’t find it, you are sent back to the old website.
Follow us:
Contact:
Department of Natural Resources
PO Box 698
Halifax NS B3J 2T9
Under Forestry, the top level page looks like this (screen capture, bottom clipped off):
I assume it has been recently reviewed and updated as it refers at top right to “Natural Resources and Renewables”, the name Houston and Co. gave to a re-organized DNR in 2021 (under the Libs, Forestry came under “Lands and Forestry”). Following the fall 2024 provincial election, the Houston gov renamed NRR as Department of Natural Resources. So perhaps by the next election that will be changed. Following is a copy of the links at the left in the screen capture above:
Department of Natural Resources and Renewables
Forestry
Notably missing from the above:
the apparently parentless page/section on Ecological Forestry
(https://novascotia.ca/ecological-forestry/)
Also note that the section is “Forestry” not “Forests”. So a lot of info related to forests rather than forestry may reside under Wildlife.
Various other stuff
– Business plan 2024 to 2025: Department of Natural Resources and Renewables
– Business plan 2023 to 2024: Department of Natural Resources and Renewables
(Posted under https://beta.novascotia.ca/documents/…)
Example of lack of overall coordination of DNR webpages (Jan 19, 2025)
Under this page: https://novascotia.ca/natr/forestry/veg-types/
which cites on the same page, “Lands and Forestry” (the department under the Liberals) and “Department of Natural Resources and Renewables” (the department in the first Houston Gov term), we are given:
Forest Ecosystem Classification for Nova Scotia: Part I Vegetation Types (2010); Part II Soil Types (2010); and Part III Ecosites (2010). This three-part guide builds upon, but also supersedes, all earlier FEC publications.
But the whole scheme was revised in 2023, the revision now listed on a page titled Biodiversity Conservation and Forestry Technical Report Series, whose parent page is The Natural Science Library.
How is a visitor who goes to the first cited page to know there is an update? I make a lot of use of these guides, have had constructive correspondence with DNR personnel about them, yet was unaware until recently of the 2023 revision – no general notice was published (as far as I know). – david p (Jan 19, 2025)