Nova Scotia Forest Matters

Old Beech There is  a lot of beech in this forest. The bark blight that Queen Victoria sent  us (unintentionally) via two European Beech she contributed to the Halifax Public Gardens in 1890 meant that their growth stalled out when the blight reached them. Trees like this one may not be very big but they are in all likelihood very old.
Click on images for larger versions

By Nina Newington

On Boxing Day six years ago, local resident Bev Wigney organized a gathering on the peninsula between Corbett and Dalhousie lakes. She shone a light on the value of the old, beautiful forest there to wildlife and to people.

When the Citizen Scientists of Southwest Nova Scotia proposed the Goldsmith Lake Wilderness Area for protection in 2022, we included Corbett Lake and the peninsula. For most of the last two years our focus has been further to the west, but a couple of weeks ago, just before the snow came, we decided it was time to take a closer look at the Corbett area.

To our delight we identified eight new occurrences of Frosted Glass Whisker lichen (pending confirmation.) This comes on top of spotting a Rusty Blackbird, another species at risk, earlier this year at the south end of the peninsula, and an Olive-sided Fly Catcher documented on the north shore of the lake. Continue reading →

Map of Chain Lake Area with Areas of Scheduled Harvest – Green area is Crown Land.  Comments are needed by 8 a.m. on December 14, 2024. To submit comments use the Harvest Plans Map Viewer or Send an E-mail to ecologicalforestry@novascotia.ca

An item in the most recent Blomidon Naturalists’ Newsletter (Dec 2024 issue) provides yet another example  of intent to log Crown land forest in  a  citizen-proposed Nova Scotia Protected Area, in this case the Chain Lakes Wilderness Area:

Chain Lakes Update:
There are plans are to partial cut the areas and eventually remove the overstory. These areas are all inside the region identified as the best forests to set aside for protection and provide for wildlife habitat. The Blomidon Naturalists Society with the approval of local municipality have requested that the provincial government stop cutting here to enable an evaluation to take place for preservation. Please visit this website link for more information from Larry Bogan.

For some background info, see this post just published on nsforestmatters.ca: Continue reading →