The Honorable Tony InceMLA, Cole Harbour-Portland Valley1081 Cole Harbour Rd Unit 6Cole Harbour, NSB2V 1E8 February 7, 2020 Dear Minister Ince; I am writing to you on behalf of the Cole Harbour Rural Heritage Society to express the organization’s support of the groundswell of Nova Scotians who are seeking a Read more…
We of the Nova Scotia Wild Flora Society are writing to express our concern with the delisting of Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve and proposed golf course development on these public lands. The Nova Scotia Wild Flora Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the appreciation and conservation of wild flora and habitat in Nova Scotia.
“The bogs and coastal wetlands of Owl’s Head are beautiful, complex, pristine, and undervalued. Development of the site would completely, irrevocably, and utterly destroy the natural hydrology of Owl’s Head and impact surrounding marine waters.”
—Christopher Trider
Water. We take it for granted, but it’s important. Owl’s Head has this incredible relationship with water, both on the site and with the adjacent marine areas.
The entire headland of Owls Head acts as a water recharge area. Water is held in the sloughs between the ridges, it filters through the bogs and barrens, then finds its way into the sea at various points. The drainage patterns are a complex, uncharted maze with small ponds and pools, raised bogs, and Douglas Lake. This hydrology is just another layer, another reason to protect the natural integrity of these public lands. (more…)
Michael Gorman
CBC News
January 21, 2020 6:00 AM AT
Several scientists at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax are adding their names to the growing list of people who want the Nova Scotia government to abandon plans to pursue a sale of Owls Head provincial park.
(more…)When the officials involved lie and try to sanitize online information, then you can rest assured that all is not above board. When discussions are moved to phone calls and plans are heavily redacted, again the alarm bells start ringing. Those in my profession are called “stewards of the land” and that really is what I am trying to be, to do. We must all be the voice of this land. I also know from the many years I worked with DNR (now Lands & Forestry) how difficult it is to acquire public coastal lands, and how precious the few that we have truly are.
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January 16, 2020
To: Iain Rankin, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, Province of Nova Scotia
From: Martin Willison, retired professor of biology and environmental studies, Dalhousie University
Dear Minister Rankin (Iain),