Nova Scotia Forest Matters

Thoughts from Lichen Camp on Day 191: “Nature will mend the torn fabric of life” 17Sep2024

Posted on September 17, 2024 by David Patriquin

By Nina Newington,
On Friends of Goldsmith Lake Wilderness Area
(Public Facebook Group) Sep 12, 2024

The Way In

The forest right around our camp is not old forest. It is 50 to 60 years old and as close to a softwood monoculture as the forestry industry of the day could make it. It is made up almost entirely of red spruce.

Here and there red maples have sprouted from the stumps left after the area was clearcut. The forest floor is carpeted with moss. Ever more fungi are popping up. In spring it was studded with wildflowers: bunchberry, blue-bead lily, lady slippers. Squirrels scold and Golden-crowned kinglets chitter in the treetops, as they have done since we first set up camp, back before the migratory birds came and went. Continue reading →

Posted in Conservation, Wabanaki Forest | Comments Off

From whence came the figure of “5.7 million cubic meters/yr” as the Sustainable Forest Harvest Level for Nova Scotia? 17Sep2024

Posted on September 17, 2024 by David Patriquin

How much wood can we harvest from NS forests without massive loss of forest cover as we had leading up to the Natural Resource Strategy Review (2008-2010) and the Lahey Review (2017-2018) of Forestry Practices in NS? Image from a post on nsforestnotes.ca Jan8, 2019
Click on image for larger version

Update Oct 6, 2024: My questions have landed back at Communications NS; latest word (Sep 24): they are “working on it”.
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There seems to be some reticence by the Nova Scotia Government and the NS Forestry Economic Task Force to explain that figure.

I cited this figure in a post on nsforestmatters.ca on Sep 3, 2024:

The figure of “5.7 million cubic meters/yr” is cited as the Sustainable Harvest Level for NS, e.g., in the NS Forestry Economic Task Force’s Nova Scotia Forestry Sector Fact Sheet

Questions

(1) What is publicly available or can be shared about how that number was generated?… [ and 7 more related questions were asked]

I sent the 8 questions to contacts in NS NRR (Nova Scotia Government Department of Natural Resources & Renewables) on Aug 24; on Aug 27, 2024, I was directed to address the questions to “Communications Nova Scotia”.

On Sep 10, I was advised by Communications Nova Scotia: “That fact sheet was produced by the Nova Scotia Forestry Economic Task Force. They are in the best position to discuss how their reached their conclusions.” Continue reading →

Dreams of producing biofuel from Nova Scotia forests just got very big 14Sep2024

Posted on September 14, 2024 by David Patriquin

Post and related pages by David Patriquin

Dreams of a Biorefinery in Nova Scotia and related concepts (Bioplastics, Biofuel, and Bioeconomy…) go back to 2012, the closure of the Bowater-Mersey Mill, and to the birth and eventual passing of “Cellufuel”, courtesy of many taxpayer $.

But the dream didn’t die. Read More

Can Nova Scotia forests supply the biomass for a Biofuel Megaproject in Guysborough Co.,
AND… supply the biomass for another Bioeconomy Initiative in SW Nova Scotia,
AND supply wood for a new Pulp & Paper Mill (proposed) in SW Nova Scotia,
AND supply wood for the a new Mass Timber Company plant in East Hants, N.S.,
AND supply our ongoing Lumber Mills and our one ongoing Paper Mill (Port Hawkesbury Paper) and ongoing Forest Bioenergy Facilities and ongoing Chip Export Operations,
AND allow the depleted soils that cover about 60% of the forested landscape to recover,
AND “protect and enhance ecosystems and biodiversity as the overarching policy priority” in its application of the TRIAD to our Crown land forests?
The NS Forestry Economic Task Force seems think so, citing a figure of “5.7 million cubic meters/yr” as the Sustainable Harvest Level for NS. How was that figure generated, what are the assumptions? Those are questions for which we (the public stakeholders in Nova Scotia’s Crown land forests) could use some answers – View Post, 3 Sep2024
Click on image for a larger version

To comment on this post, please go to this post on Woods and Waters Nova Scotia (Public Facebook Page).

Posted in Bioeconomy, Forest Biomass, NS NRR | Comments Off

Glyphosate impacts on Nova Scotia Species-At-Risk & Blue-green algae 4Sep2024

Posted on September 4, 2024 by David Patriquin

Adapted from posts by Adam Malcolm on Nova Scotia Species at Risk (public Facebook Page), with permission.

Wrote Adam on Sep 2, 2024:

In late 2021 the US Environmental Protection Agency released its final Biological Evaluation assessing risks to threatened and endangered species from labeled uses of glyphosate, an herbicide used in the Nova Scotian logging industry to kill broadleaf trees and shrubs that compete with spruce and fir saplings.

The evaluation found that glyphosate is likely to injure or kill 93% of the plants and animals protected under the Endangered Species Act, including the monarch butterfly (Miꞌkmawiꞌsimk: misimijqanaw), Atlantic salmon (Miꞌkmawiꞌsimk: blamu) and Blanding’s turtle (protection pending), among hundreds of others. The report also found that glyphosate adversely modifies critical habitat for 759 endangered species, or 96% of all species for which critical habitat has been designated in the US. Continue reading →

Posted in Aquatic systems, Glyphosate, Species At Risk | Comments Off

Questions about stakeholder meetings (re: Feasibility of a new paper mill in Queens Co.) and Sustainable Forest Harvest Levels in Nova Scotia 3Sep2024

Posted on September 3, 2024 by David Patriquin

Sketch shows prominence of highly acidic, calcium-deficient/high aluminum forest soils in Nova Scotia. Sketch after Keys et al. (2016), Fig 3. More about it here. Could such conditions affect the feasibility of a new paper mill in Queens Co.?

Recently I viewed an e-mail from a Paper Excellence official, addressed (apparently) to a set of “forestry sector stakeholders”, in which the focus topics for an upcoming meeting to be held in Queens Co in early September are described, and inviting addressees to share their thoughts, suggest topics for future meetings etc.

The focus topics included, amongst others, considerations related to air emissions and effluents, and forestry-related modelling assumptions.

These topics are surely of interest and have impacts outside of the forestry sector per se. Continue reading →

Posted in Low Grade Wood, NP Mill, Soil & Aquatic Acidifcation, Sustainable Wood Harvests, SW Nova Scotia, Wabanaki Forest | Comments Off

In Tiny Letters: Warnings about eating berries on forest glyphosate spray sites in Nova Scotia 2Sep2024

Posted on September 2, 2024 by David Patriquin

A post shared on Woods and Water Nova Scotia, Aug 30, 2024:

Forest spray sign at site in West Caledonia, Queens County. Click on image for larger version. Glyphosate is the Active Ingredient in Vision Max. View Bayer description of Vision Max

Nina Newington – Stop Spraying & Clear-Cutting Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia)
So ARF has already sprayed this site in West Caledonia, Queens County. That’s what the orange sticker indicates.

Look closely at the tiny letters to the left of the orange sticker. They say: “There shall be no consumption of berries and fruits within this spray site(s) for the remainder of the growing season.”

Feel better now? There’s our government looking out for our health and welfare and the health of all the wildlife that might miss this warning and eat the nice juicy berries growing in a recovering clearcut.

Pity about the frogs and salamanders and snakes killed by the spray when it touches their skin.

Sorry for the hunters too, who didn’t know that the deer and the bears didn’t know to avoid browsing the poisoned fruits and leaves. Read More

Posted in Glyphosate, NS NRR | Tagged NS NRR | Leave a comment

40 days and 40 nights to comment on 5-year PHP harvest plans under Nova Scotia’s Outcomes Based Forest Management 4Aug2024

Posted on August 5, 2024 by David Patriquin

Update Aug 5, 2024: To comment/discuss this post, please go to this item on Woods & Waters Nova Scotia Facebook Page. (‘Must log in to Facebook to comment.)
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We have forty days and forty nights to comment on the 5-year PHP (Port Hawkesbury Paper) harvest plans under Nova Scotia’s new OBFM (Outcomes Based Forest Management). There is no mention in the various documents of the Forest Environmental Assessment and the related Forest Stewardship Guide. The EA would provide comprehensive descriptions of the harvesting plans and much more time, process and scope for public input than afforded by the current process without an EA. Commented Lahey in 2018: ” If done properly, with openness and transparency and based on strong science, it [The Forest EA] will reduce the pressure for intense scrutiny by DNR or the public of individualized harvesting decisions.” The plan to include an EA provided a large part of the trust created by Prof. Lahey and that prompted folks skeptical about the Triad to support the Lahey recommendations overall. As commented recently by Nina Newington, “Lahey’s triad model is a tradeoff…The bargain is not being kept.”

Subscribers to the Harvest Plan Map Viewer notifications learned from e-mail #1 on Aug 1, 2024/4:23 p.m of the implementation of a pilot project on “Outcomes-based forestry” by Port Hawkesbury Paper in partnership with the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables. Read More

Posted in Conservation, Sustainable Wood Harvests, Triad | Comments Off

Shady Accounting and Vanishing Forests on Nova Scotia’s Crown Lands 14Jul2024

Posted on July 14, 2024 by David Patriquin

Update Aug9, 2024: To comment/discuss this post, please go to this item on Woods & Waters Nova Scotia Facebook Page. (‘Must log in to Facebook to comment.)

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By Nina Newington

SUMMARY

New forest road at Goldsmith Lake, October 2022 Forest lost to roads is NOT included in the harvest removal tallies.
Photo: Nina Newington.
Click on images for larger versions

To justify the sacrifice of biodiversity in the 10% of Crown land to be consigned to High Production Forestry under the Forest Triad, the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables (DNRR) tells us that “90% of Crown and protected areas land will always be committed to the two zones that prioritize biodiversity”. The Conservation zone (aka protected areas) does protect biodiversity but is biodiversity really prioritized in the 1 million hectares currently assigned to the Ecological Matrix?

Both government and industry resort to an ecological rule of thumb, stating that “Two-thirds of the forest will be left standing” in areas subject to ‘ecological’ harvest prescriptions. Closer examination reveals that all but two of the prescriptions generated by the new Silvicultural Guide to the Ecological Matrix result in the removal of at least 50% of the forest.

This article examines the shady accounting used to conceal this fact, with specific reference to the variety of harvest plans approved for 462 hectares around Goldsmith Lake in Annapolis County in 2022.

Continue reading →

Posted in Conservation, Forest Roads, Triad, Wabanaki Forest | Comments Off

Lichen Camp Day 127: symbiosis is always the topic 7Jul2024

Posted on July 7, 2024 by NSmattersAdmin

Wrote Nina Newington on Jul 6, 2024:

As word spreads about the camp and our work to protect this area, we get an ever more interesting mix of visitors, from Antonija Livingstone, performance artist living in France, to Haeweon Yi from South Korea, PhD candidate and Climate Theatre person, to Keith Eggers, mycologist and retired professor, surveying fungi in some of the old growth forest here, to two members of the Southwest Paddlers Association and their canoes, come to check out the pristine lake they’ve heard about, to Carman Kerr, our MLA, and his constituent assistant, Evan Fairn. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

On our Wabanaki Forest 21Jun2024

Posted on June 21, 2024 by NSmattersAdmin

Wabanaki Forest by Lower Trout Lake on the Chebucto Peninsula
Click on images for larger versions

On June 21, 2024, we in the northern hemisphere celebrate the summer solstice, as our ancestors have done since prehistoric times.

Since June 21, 2017, the day is also known as Canada’s National Indigenous Peoples Day:

In cooperation with Indigenous organizations, the Government of Canada chose June 21, the summer solstice, for National Aboriginal Day, now known as National Indigenous Peoples Day. For generations, many Indigenous peoples and communities have celebrated their culture and heritage on or near this day due to the significance of the summer solstice as the longest day of the year.

Posted in Wabanaki Forest | Comments Off