Speak Your Piece

We welcome submissions from anyone who wants to explain in their own words why the sale of Owls Head must be stopped. Anyone who has an articulate and valuable opinion to add to the cause of protecting this special place may submit articles to be published here.

Documents give details about controversial golf development in coastal N.S.

Record filed in N.S. Supreme Court by province includes value of Owls Head provincial park

Michael Gorman
CBC News
November 3, 2020

Full Article Here>

The parcel of rocky, rugged Crown land in Little Harbour is worth $216,000, according to the valuation report commissioned by Lighthouse Links and filed with the court. Although that report was previously made public, the value of the land had been redacted.

Jamie Simpson, the lawyer for the parties suing over the decision to delist the property, noted the value is based on what the report determined to be the “highest and best use” for the land: conservation and recreational purposes.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

RICHARD BELL: Most HRM Council Candidates Want to Save Owls Head Provincial Park

Richard Bell
The Eastern Shore Cooperator
October 15, 2020

Read the full article here>

Opponents of the secret sale last year of Owls Head Provincial Park by the Department of Lands and Forestry took advantage of the upcoming election to ask every candidate for HRM Council, “If the matter is before Council, would you support upholding the Regional Park designation, in order to protect Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve?”

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By Save Owls Head, ago
Owls Head from the air

Letter: Unfinished Homework by Lindsay Lee

Lands and Forestry Minister Iain Rankin teased that he’d be making an “exciting announcement” on Monday. Here are some truly exciting announcements that he could (and should) have made before declaring his intention to run for premier: 

  • That Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve would be rightfully reinstated to Our Parks and Protected Areas Plan. 
  • That Nova Scotia would protect all of the properties in Our Parks and Protected Areas Plan.
  • That Lands and Forestry would adopt ecological forestry by reducing clearcutting, protecting old-growth forests, introducing a silent season to protect nesting birds, and finally, implementing the recommendations of the Lahey report. 
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By Lindsay Lee, ago
Beach Meadow

JIM VIBERT: Mother Nature’s on the run in Nova Scotia

Jim Vibert
The Chronicle Herald
October 2, 2020

Full Article Here >

As galling as the government’s bluster and bluff about protecting nature can be, more galling yet is the fact that much of the heavy lifting was done before they arrived in office. All they had to do was take credit for the work of previous governments, but when it comes to protecting nature they can’t, or won’t, even do that.

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By Save Owls Head, ago
Broom Crowberry (Corema conradii) Pistillate flowers by Green Optics Photography

Ecological Life Support

Why we need to preserve this biodiverse coastal headland

This article has since been republished with permission in the January edition of the Eastern Shore Cooperator.

Biodiversity (a contraction of “biological diversity”) comprises all life on Earth. Greater species diversity supports healthier ecosystems and even improved human health.

“We are in the midst of both climate and biological diversity (extinction) emergencies, wherein we are at or beyond planetary thresholds for being able to recover. Such intact ecosystems as Owls Head are our ecological life-support systems. We need them in order to survive as a species, as do the other species with which we share this land, many of which are endangered1.”

Dr. Karen Beazley

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By Lindsay Lee, ago