This is how the “Friends of a New Northern Pulp” describe themselves on their website: We are Nova Scotians who care deeply about our province, our forests, and our communities. We are the 36,000 Nova Scotians who own small and large woodlots. So, just one line in and the BS begins. The wording of the […]
How the Biodiversity Act was killed
Forest Nova Scotia, which represents the biggest forestry players, gets an awful lot of public money — including millions of dollars to administer a forest roads program panned by the auditor general. It also has a paid lobbyist swaying the policies of the very government that funds it, and who started working on its behalf just as the Biodiversity Act was gutted.
Last month Forest Nova Scotia, an industry group representing the most powerful shapers of forestry policy in this province, spearheaded a propaganda campaign against the Biodiversity Act, which the Liberal government of Iain Rankin had introduced on March 11, calling it legislation that would “preserve and protect Nova Scotia’s unique ecosystems, wild animals, plants, lakes […]
Elmsdale Lumber’s Plan B: selling pellets will be the bridge until Northern Pulp reopens
Whether Stephen McNeil’s government had a Plan B to deal with the disruption created by closing Northern Pulp remains an open question. Meanwhile, Elmsdale Lumber is running with its own “Plan B.” The century-old family sawmill is owned by Robin Wilber, the same man turfed from the Forestry Transition Team for suggesting the Province...
MLAs grill Forestry Transition Team members
Sawmill operators whose secondary markets for wood chips have taken a hit as a result of the closure of the pulp mill in Pictou County will not be receiving any financial assistance from the Forestry Transition Fund established by the province. “Everything we do must be seen through the lens of international trade and we...
Province issues bids for baby biomass plants
The province has issued a tender to build and operate a half-dozen small-scale biomass plants that will heat government buildings around the province by November of this year. The plants will run on wood chips supplied by private woodlot owners and are being advertised by the Department of Lands and Forestry as both a response...