Save Owls Head

Letter: Not Binary Choice

Bob Rosborough’s Feb. 20 opinion piece failed to address the key concerns about Owls Head Provincial Park. The question has never been whether or not golf courses should be developed on the Eastern Shore. There is no lack of private land on the Eastern Shore that would be as suitable, if not more, for such developments.

Any politicians or private interests who frame the situation as “golf vs. conservation” or “economy vs. environment” are not only misrepresenting the situation but also doing a disservice to Nova Scotians.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Letter: Sensitive Ecosystem

In his Feb. 20 opinion piece, Bob Rosborough argues that the sale and construction of golf courses at Owls Head will help the economy of the Eastern Shore to “thrive and survive. Most certainly, people who live in the area deserve a healthy economy, but are golf courses and luxury condos the answer?

Rosborough describes the two wealthy Americans, Beckwith and Kitty Gilbert, who are behind the deal as “environmentally conscious” and, at the same time, notes that the land in question has been undisturbed for over 10,000 years “since the last ice age.”

This land was, at one point, environmentally significant enough to be designated as a park. Several scientific studies have determined that the ecology of the land is “globally rare.” It is difficult to make a valid argument that the Gilberts have any intention of caring for the natural environment when the golf courses they are proposing are decidedly man-made.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Exploring Her Backyard

Local Resident Beverley IsAacs Visits Owls Head Provincial Park

This is what we are fighting to save…

Owls Head Provincial Park cannot speak for itself. The lichens, the crowberry plants, the wildlife that calls this place home, the eelgrass that stores carbon, this is what we are speaking for. Land that has basically been untouched for thousands of years, land that belongs to the people of Nova Scotia.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

RICHARD BELL: They Do It Because They Can

In this issue, we are confronting a single problem that corrupts the politics of the province: our Liberal government’s insidious, systematic refusal to allow the citizens of Nova Scotia to participate in making major government policy decisions. 

The issue at stake here, the tension between any government’s power and that government’s responsibilities to its citizens, is not a new one. In the first flowering of democracy in Greece, the Athenians wrestled with this problem. History shows us time and again how easily governments can con their subjects with “bright shiny objects” like promises of golf courses or long-delayed schools, today’s equivalent of the Romans’ bread and circuses.  

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Information Morning’s First Interview with Premier Iain Rankin

Newly sworn-in Iain Rankin joins Information Morning to talk about what’s on his to-do list as Nova Scotia’s new premier and the challenges ahead.

“I think it is really important that we listen to the community. There is an engagement plan that I don’t believe has been submitted yet by the proponent. I am really recommending they get going with that. And that does need to be approved by government, so that it is truly objective and hears all views.”

Listen Here>

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By Save Owls Head, ago

BOB ROSBOROUGH: Eastern Shore sick of critics taking swings at Owls Head golf development

So, for a bunch of ranting social media followers — speared on by several whose questionable, unsuccessful past employment within government agencies and/or parasitic commercial endeavours on government support agencies with axes to grind against Nova Scotia — to zero in on the Eastern Shore and this substantial and critically important project is deceptive and morally corrupt.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Not the Place for a Golf Resort

Dale Dunlop
The Maritime Explorer
February 19, 2021

Full Article Here>

Why then the need for yet one more post on Owls Head? Perhaps naively, I believe I do bring a slightly different perspective to the matter. As a lawyer, I can comment on the case currently before the courts, particularly as one who has faced off with the Department of Justice many times over the past forty-five years. As a concerned environmentalist who has visited every provincial park in Nova Scotia and almost all the Wilderness Areas as well, I can comment on what makes Owls Head different from all these other places. Finally, as far as I know, I will be the only golf journalist who has offered an opinion on whether or not Owls Head would make for a good location to build a golf resort. I love the game of golf and am almost in awe of how quickly Nova Scotia has rocketed to the top of the must play places in the world with the success of the Cabot Links courses in Inverness. I have written many posts on Nova Scotia golf courses including this one describing why Cabot Cliffs is the #1 course in Canada. If not for the success of Cabot Links, I do not believe this matter would ever have arisen in the first place.

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By Save Owls Head, ago