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JIM VIBERT: Finally, Nova Scotia hits land protection landmark, barely

All the sites in the Parks and Protected Areas plan – including the 20 announced this week – got there after extensive consultation, so the places in question have already cleared that hurdle once.

Plus, most folks living near those sites will likely be surprised to learn that they aren’t already protected, just as folks on the Eastern Shore were shocked to learn that Owl’s Head provincial park wasn’t a park at all, but prime real estate for a golf resort.

The Liberal government surreptitiously removed Owl’s Head from the Parks and Protected Areas list a couple of years back to clear the way for a golf development, unleashing a firestorm of protest that still rages on.

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By Save Owls Head, ago
Beach Meadow

JIM VIBERT: Mother Nature’s on the run in Nova Scotia

Jim Vibert
The Chronicle Herald
October 2, 2020

Full Article Here >

As galling as the government’s bluster and bluff about protecting nature can be, more galling yet is the fact that much of the heavy lifting was done before they arrived in office. All they had to do was take credit for the work of previous governments, but when it comes to protecting nature they can’t, or won’t, even do that.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Once a leader in conservation, N.S. now falls behind, report finds

Nova Scotia was once considered to be a leader in Canada for the creation of new protected areas, but in a new report, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) says that’s no longer the case.

“Owls Head is probably the most egregious example we have seen this year of the Nova Scotia government showing their disregard for our protected areas in this province,” she says. “Here is a coastal gem on the eastern shore, that has been recognized as a significant conservation site for decades, and the government was all too comfortable secretly delisting the site without consultation.”

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By Save Owls Head, ago
Nina Newington at Rally, photo Peter Barss

Galvanized – A Letter by Linda Symonds

February 21, 2020

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of standing with other Nova Scotians who are opposed to your secret delisting of Owls Head Provincial Park from protected status to be destroyed by development.

Let me start by saying this. This has NOTHING to do with your favorite buzz words of “economic development.”

This is EVERYTHING to do with public trust. You have broken faith with Nova Scotians who have put their trust in you fully expecting that land that has been designated as worthy of protection is protected.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Owls Head Provincial Park and Legal Designation

Guest Post by Karen McKendry
Wilderness Outreach Coordinator, Ecology Action Centre
February 21, 2020

Owls Head Provincial Park has been proposed for legal protection as a park for a long time and effectively used as an unmanaged park since at least the 1970s. But why was it not legally protected before? And why does that matter? And what’s this plan that it was listed in?

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By Save Owls Head, ago