Articles

CBC News: Owls Head, once considered for controversial golf course, designated as provincial park

Opponents took fight against proposed golf course development all the way to N.S. Supreme Court

“I’m very pleased and I think it’s a step in the right direction,” said Bob Bancroft, a biologist who sought a judicial review of the former Liberal government’s decision to delist Owls Head from the Parks and Protected Areas Plan.

… Bancroft said he hopes lessons will be learned in the process.

“I hope that all the underlying measures of how this all happened are dealt with. We need to protect this from happening again.”

(more…)
By Save Owls Head, ago

Global News: Nova Scotia to protect Owls Head Crown land as next provincial park

A piece of Crown land that had been controversially removed from a list of territory awaiting protection is now being designated as Nova Scotia’s next provincial park.

Natural Resources and Renewables Minister Tory Rushton says that 266 hectares of Owls Head in Little Harbour, N.S., will be protected, although he says some survey work and administrative steps are necessary before the designation is complete.

(more…)
By Save Owls Head, ago

Eastern Shore Cooperator: “Owls Head Park!”

Supporters of the sale attempted to frame the opposition as being anti-job and anti-economic development, treating the issue as a local one. But opponents argued that allowing this secret sale to go through would endanger dozens of other parcels of Crown land that people had believed were protected […] This threat to other places turned out to be a potent one in the provincial election in August of 2021. “Save Owls Head” signs started popping up all over the province, and the leaders of the PCs and the NDP took positions against the project. Many political observers concluded that the issue played a significant role in the PCs’ sound thrashing of the Liberals. 

(more…)
By Save Owls Head, ago

Nova Scotia’s Natural Resources and Renewables minister vows to protect beloved park from development

In November, a beloved piece of coastal parkland in Atlantic Canada was saved from development, but environmentalists cautioned the fight wouldn’t be over until the land was officially protected. Now, they’re one step closer to that goal.

… For Christopher Trider, a member of Save Owls Head Provincial Park and a former provincial park planner, Rushton’s comments are good news.

“You know, there’s still a row to hoe, for sure. But this is really, really a step in the right direction,” he said. For now, Trider and others are waiting to see if Owls Head will become a provincial park or a protected area and how it fits into the province’s goal of conserving at least 20 per cent of the total land and water mass in the province by 2030.

(more…)
By Save Owls Head, ago

Crown land at Owls Head finally en route to protected status

“I’ve asked my department to prioritize this piece of land to move it forward,” Tory Rushton, Nova Scotia’s minister of natural resources and renewables, said after a cabinet meeting Thursday. 

“There’s a lot of steps that have to go into it, but rest assured, as we go through those steps, we’re certainly going to be very transparent as to where this land is going to go. It will be protected one way or another.”

(more…)
By Save Owls Head, ago

Not Just a Walk in the Woods

Celes Davar is a biologist, photographer, walker, and storyteller. Celes Davar is the owner and president of Earth Rhythms, an award-winning experiential tourism company that crafts custom experiences for travellers and groups and provides personalized experiential tourism coaching services and community training workshops for Canadian tourism sector partners. January 4, Read more…

By Save Owls Head, ago