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Our Position

WHEREAS Nova Scotia prides itself on being home to spectacular wilderness including vast forests, rivers, lakes, coastal islands, and beaches;

WHEREAS the loss of wilderness in Nova Scotia, including on public lands, has reached an alarming and unprecedented rate of over 500 km²/year¹;

WHEREAS our public wildlands provide wildlife habitat, keep air and water clean, sustain native forests, maintain the beauty, solitude, and adventure of the backcountry, offer residents and visitors access to outdoor recreation, provide new economic opportunities for Nova Scotia communities, and contribute to the quality of life in Nova Scotia;

WHEREAS the Province's "Integrated Resource Management" land use plan allows industrial development to displace nearly all unprotected public wildlands; and

WHEREAS it is reasonable to expect our provincial government to do all it can to defend the public wildlands it manages on behalf of all Nova Scotians;

BE IT RESOLVED, that we call on the Government of Nova Scotia to:

OVERHAUL the Integrated Resource Management plan to recognize conservation as the primary role of public lands;
HONOUR its protected area commitments²;
PROTECT all remaining public wildlands³ significant natural areas⁴ and public lands proposed for protection⁵; and
BUY TIME for publicly-owned wilderness by placing remaining public wildlands, potential significant natural areas, and public lands proposed for protection under an interim development moratorium to allow an opportunity for proper study of protection options before lands are lost to development.

Notes:

State of Canada's Forests 1999-2000., Canadian Council of Forest Ministers, 2000. National Forestry Database Program ( http://nfdp.ccfm.org ). Figure refers only to forest area clearcut, and does not include wilderness loss due to road construction, subdivisions, etc.
The following policies endorsed by the Province of Nova Scotia contain protected area commitments that have not been honoured: Tri-Council Statement of Commitment (1992), Endangered Spaces Campaign goals (1992), Keeping the Wilderness Wild: Nova Scotia's Protected Areas Strategy (1997), Action Plan: Nova Scotia's Protected Areas Strategy (1997), National Forest Strategy (1998), Whitehorse Mining Initiative (1994), Canadian Biodiversity Strategy (1995), Department of Natural Resources Response to the Pubic Review Committee for the Proposed Systems Plan for Parks and Protected Areas in Nova Scotia (1995), A Proposed Systems Plan for Parks & Protected Areas in Nova Scotia (1994), Sustainable Development Strategy for Nova Scotia (1992). Citations of specific commitments posted at www.publicland.ca/
We have defined "remaining public wildlands" as unprotected roadless tracts of Crown land greater than 200 hectares (500 acres), excluding plantations and recent clearcuts. We do not consider the presence of old cart tracks to disqualify an area from being considered roadless.
During the IRM process the Department of the Environment identified and mapped several sites on Crown land they consider to be potential significant natural areas. These are typically lands with outstanding recreational and/or natural values, and include uncommon and/or fragile ecosystems like old growth forests, wild coastlines, and habitats of rare species.
Conservation, community, and recreation organizations throughout Nova Scotia, and several municipalities, have called on the Province to protect areas recognized locally and provincially as outstanding threatened public wildlands. Current areas proposed for protection are: Proposed Blue Mountain - Birch Cove Lakes Wilderness Area, Proposed Eigg Mountain - James River Wilderness Area, Proposed Five Bridge Lakes Wilderness Area, Proposed Fogarty's Cove Coastal Wilderness Area, Proposed Gully Lake Wilderness Area, Proposed Herring Cove Backlands Wilderness Area, Proposed Humes River Wilderness Area, Proposed Kluscap Mountain Wilderness Area, Proposed Liscomb Wilderness Area, Proposed Nictaux River Wilderness Area, Proposed Prospect Coastal Wilderness Area, Proposed Sackville - Beaverbank Wilderness Area, Proposed Shelburne Barrens Nature Reserve, Proposed Ship Harbour Long Lake Wilderness Area, Proposed Tusket River Wilderness Area, Proposed additions to the Tobeatic Wilderness Area, Proposed Lake Major to Dollar Lake Wilderness Corridor, Proposed Cumberland County Crown Land Protected Areas, Proposed East Hants Crown Land Protected Areas. Area profiles and maps are posted at www.publicland.ca/.