In recent days you might have received an email from the Department of Lands and Forestry (DLF) inviting you to answer a survey about its State of the Forest report (SOF), first published in 2008, and updated in 2016. Using data collected by the DLF, the document purportedly describes the changing condition of the forest,...
Backroad Deal
Part 2: Nova Scotia’s policies to conserve the province’s endangered forests might be doing more harm than good
(This is the second of a 2-part series. See Part 1 here.) It was an unseasonably warm day in February when I met up with Mike Lancaster to walk part of the new Ingram Access Road — a clearcut 100 metres wide in places — which he and other conservationists say cut out part of […]
By Any Other Name: Nova Scotia’s Department of Lands and Forestry just made “Clearcuts” disappear
Nova Scotians who signed up to receive proposed harvest plans on Crown land might have noticed some disturbing changes recently. As of a few days ago the maps no longer specify whether a proposed cut is a “clearcut” or not. The word was removed from the legend and the list of harvest prescription types. This […]
Losing the forests for the trees: New figures show increase in clearcutting
Despite what the Nova Scotia government has said in response to concerns raised over clearcutting, the most recent figures released from the National Forestry Database (NFD) indicate that in 2015, both the overall harvest and the proportion of trees removed by clearcutting continued to increase. And ironically, the national body used data supplied by the […]