RICHARD BELL: Groups Unite to Oppose Owls Head Park Sale

Eastern Shore Cooperator
Posted on March 12, 2020
By Richard Bell

Read Full Article>

In a show of province-wide opposition to the government’s controversial decision to sell Owls Head Provincial Park, 23 groups submitted a joint letter to Premier McNeil on Tuesday, March 10 calling on the government to do three things:

  1. “Stop the sale of publicly-owned lands at Owls Head
  2. Protect Owls Head as a legally-designated protected area
  3. Fully implement the Nova Scotia Parks and Protected Areas Plan”
(more…)

How Golf Courses Would Jeopardize Important Marine Ecosystems

Development on this particular site would cause irreparable harm to the unique geology, flora, and fauna that have developed over the past 10,000 years. It will also have adverse impacts on the offshore marine environment.

In Short:

  1. The proposed development would require large amounts of fill. Therefore, sediments would run into the marine areas, negatively affecting sensitive eelgrass beds and salt marsh habitats.
  2. Once established as golf courses, the use of pesticides and the threat of runoff of toxic chemicals (during rainfall events or through the site’s interconnected hydrology) would threaten these same marine areas.

“For a large development such as golf courses, the construction and subsequent run-off from the land as well as increased nutrient loads all have the potential to negatively impact these ecosystems.”

Marine Biologist Dr. Kristina Boerder

(more…)

Videos of Owls Head Meeting January 26, 2020

January 28, 2020
Eastern Shore Cooperator
Richard Bell

More than 200 people turned out on Sunday, January 26 2020 for the public meeting on the fate of Owls Head Provincial Park. The Facebook group Save Little Harbour/Owls Head from Becoming a Golf Course and the Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association sponsored the meeting. The sponsors oppose the sale of these public lands to a private developer planning to build three golf courses. During the Q&A session after the formal presentations, several people did raise questions about the need for jobs on the Eastern Shore, and the potential for the proposed golf courses to boost economic development on the shore.

Richard Bell
(more…)