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Nictaux Watershed on the chopping block!!!

June 1, 2004

The Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is in the process of reviewing plans for road building and clearcutting in the heart of the best remaining wilderness block in the Nictuax watershed: Area #2 on our hotspot map - Nictaux River - 4,900 hectares

This plan has been proposed to satisfy timber commitments made by the government to Louisiana-Pacific Ltd., a hardboard plant located in East River, Lunenburg County. A logging road set to penetrate the centre of this block is flagged and ready to be cut.

Click here to see a copy of the proposed cutting plan. (Source: NS DNR)

Since 2000 the Annapolis County Council, has supported a Wilderness Area designation of all Crown lands in the Nictaux watershed. In 2002 Council specifically requested that DNR alert and consult them prior to any logging proposed for the area. Despite this, no one from the County office has been made aware of these plans or of any other cutting that has occurred within the past 2 years since their request to be informed.

Concerned stakeholders including the Municipality of the County of Annapolis, the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia, the Annapolis Fly Fishing Association, MLA Stephen McNeil, the Ecology Action Centre and the Public Lands Coalition have sent letters to Premier Hamm demanding an immediate moratorium on all cutting and road building within the Proposed Wilderness Area. We have asked the Premier to direct the Departments of Natural Resources and Environment & Labour to participate in a mediated and multi-lateral consensus-based planning process to identify new Wilderness Areas on Crown lands within the Nictaux watershed.

Help Save the Nictaux River area!

Contact the local MLA and show your support:

Stephen McNeil

142 Commercial St., Middleton Nova Scotia
PO Box 1420
Middleton, Nova Scotia
B0S 1P0

Phone: 902.825.2093, 1.800.317.8533
E-mail: stephenmcneil@ns.aliantzinc.ca

Or call or write to the Premier and ask him to stop the cutting:

Honourable John Hamm

Office of the Premier
7th Floor, One Government Place
1645 Granville Street
PO Box 726
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
B3J 2T3

Phone: 902.424.6600
Fax: 902.424.7648
E-mail: premier@gov.ns.ca

Nictaux Petition [64 KB PDF]
Click here to download the Nictaux Petition.