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City Supports Wilderness Study, Not Logging BanJuly 13, 2000 - Brian Flinn, The Daily NewsCity Hall support for an Eastern Shore wilderness study is a big step toward getting provincial protection for 17,000 hectares of Crown land in Halifax Regional Municipality, an activist said yesterday. Kermit deGooyer of the Ecology Action Centre said a council resolution passed Tuesday will likely trigger a study by the Environment Department, which could eventually lead to protection for Ship Harbour-Long Lake. But it may be too late to preserve much of a forest that is already being cut. "It should get a study, and that's a big development," deGooyer said. "But a moratorium is essential for the preservation of this wilderness." The department initiated similar studies on wilderness land in Pictou and Colchester counties after municipalities there expressed support, he said. City staff recommended council support calls for a study of Ship Harbour-Long Lake, which links two other protected areas and includes 50 lakes and old-growth forest. Forestry giant Kimberly Clark leases two-thirds of the land under agreements dating back to the 1960s. Staff also wanted council to support a moratorium on logging activity in the area until the study is complete. Council refused after Eastern Shore Coun. Steve Streatch said he supports protection, but not a stop to logging. He said the industry is important to his area. "I'd hate to think those folks think this council is cutting them off at the knees," Streatch said. Streatch urged caution, but Armdale Coun. Graham Read said caution would mean stopping the clear-cuts while the area is studied. Council went on to pass a resolution asking the province to "institute a best practice in terms of forest management with respect to clear cutting." That request came after some councillors condemned the kind of forestry practices taking place across the municipality. St. Margaret's Coun. Jack Mitchell said clear cutting can't continue. "If we allow this to happen we'll have no lakes, we'll have no woods, we'll have no property," he said. Preston Coun. Keith Colwell warned large clear cuts will hurt tourism. "You drive down the road and it looks like a war zone," Colwell said. "Everything has been devastated."
Daily News, July 16, 2000 Thumbs up, thumbs down Thumbs up to Halifax's support for an Eastern Shore region wilderness study that could prompt the provincial Environment Department to seek protection of huge tracts of Crown land. At risk now is the Ship Harbour-Long Lake area of lakes and old-growth forest in the former county. Much of it is leased to a forests-products company. City council wouldn't go as far as asking for a moratorium on logging, despite the distressing clear-cutting that is evident in many areas of Nova Scotia - though often invisible from regular highways. Aerial views confirm widespread cutting.
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© Nova Scotia Public Lands Coalition, Ecology Action Centre, 2006 |
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