Save Owls Head

N.S. Supreme Court Grants Environmentalists More Time to Appeal Cabinet Decision

Battle is over Owls Head, a 285-hectare piece of Crown land on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore

Blair Rhodes
CBC News
August 5, 2020

Full Article Here >

In a decision released Wednesday, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Kevin Coady granted Bancroft and the forest watch association more time to file their request for a judicial review.

“The Applicants have a reasonable excuse for the delay,” Justice Coady wrote.

Coady added that the applicants “will suffer prejudice if the extension is not granted” but the respondent “will suffer little prejudice” if it is.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

A Paddling Adventure around Owls Head Provincial Park

Professional sea kayak instructors Eleanor & Jenn are doing a summer series of destination paddles throughout the beautiful 100 Wild Islands on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia. This area has incredible potential for recreational tourism in conjunction with environmental protection. Thank you, Eleanor and Jenn, for organizing not one but two paddles around Owls Head Provincial Park.

We’d also like to thank kayaker Peter Copus for sharing these lovely photos with us. Please click to enlarge.

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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

RICHARD BELL: Owls Head Dancing on the Head of a Pin

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Richard Bell
Eastern Shore Cooperator
July 13, 2020

At a hearing before Supreme Court Judge Kevin Coady on June 29, opponents of the province’s plan to destroy Owls Head Provincial Park learned that the fate of the 600-plus acres of coastal land may hinge on the narrowest of legal points

On December 18, 2019, CBC’s Michael Gorman wrote that through a Freedom of Information request, he had learned that the Cabinet, acting on a request from the Department of Lands and Forestry, had delisted Owls Head Provincial Park on March 13, 2019, but had hidden the decision from the public.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

The Owls Head Act

“Our Owls Head Act says that whenever there is a piece of Crown Land in Nova Scotia that is pending protection as a wilderness area, or as a park, or as a nature reserve, that that pending protected status cannot be rescinded by the government without there being a process of public engagement, public consultation, and the sharing of public information. […] Because after all, that land was put on the protected list, in the first place, as a result of extensive public consultation.”

Gary Burrill

The Owls Head Act as tabled:

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By Save Owls Head, ago