Articles

RICHARD BELL: Premier Candidates Should Save Owls Head Provincial Park

It is out of that love that we are dedicating this issue to a plea for the people of Nova Scotia to stop our Liberal government from deliberately committing a terrible crime. The Liberals are doing the bidding of a wealthy American billionaire and his “Lighthouse Links” company who propose turning Owls Head Provincial Park into a gated billionaire bunker housing project for the ultra-wealthy, with a couple of golf courses on the side. The Liberals’ endorsement of this scam is an assault on both the body politic and the rocky bones of the body of the province itself.  

(more…)
By Save Owls Head, ago

After three weeks of camping out, lone protester told to leave Grand Parade

Robert Devet
The Nova Scotia Advocate
January 6, 2021

KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – Jacob Fillmore, the young man camping out on the Grand Parade across from Halifax city hall in support of the threatened mainland moose in Western Nova Scotia has been told by city staff to leave within a day or so.

… Jacob started camping out here three weeks ago, after spending time with the forest protectors deep in the woods of Digby County. When he returned to Halifax he felt that continuing the protest in downtown Halifax would be the best way to keep the threatened mainland moose in the public eye. 

And it’s not just the moose, he is equally upset about what’s happening with Owls Head, and the state of Nova Scotia’s threatened species altogether, he says. On his Facebook page he talks about his support for the water protectors fighting Alton Gas.

(more…)
By Save Owls Head, ago

Halifax man takes clearcutting, endangered species protest to city hall

Francis Campbell
The Chronicle Herald
December 17, 2020

Full article here>

Jacob Fillmore is a happy camper despite frigid overnight temperatures this week and a significant snowfall forecast into Friday morning.

… Fillmore said he’s “protesting a lack of action on environmental issues such as climate change and species extinction by the provincial government.”

He said the government seems “happy to ignore” the voices of the citizens it represents.

(more…)
By Save Owls Head, ago

Owl’s Head Developers Hire Local Voice

Samantha Long
All Nova Scotia
December 11, 2020

The Americans behind a proposed golf development on the Eastern Shore have hired NATIONAL Public Relations to engage with the public before buying provincially owned land for their project.

National’s Karen White says she’s been hired as the local voice for Lighthouse Links Development Company, the firm that wants to build as many as three golf courses at Owl’s Head.

The firm, led by Beckwith and Kitty Gilbert, first had to convince the government to take Owl’s Head off the list of pending protected areas and put it up for sale.

(more…)
By Save Owls Head, ago

Owls Head court case stalling golf courses, much-needed jobs, Lighthouse Links argues

Francis Campbell
The Chronicle Herald
December 11, 2020

Full Article Here>

It’s unfortunate that the golf course proposal for Owls Head “continues to be delayed by this lawsuit which deprives Eastern Shore residents of what could be as many as 200 badly needed local jobs, during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Lighthouse Links said in a statement released to media Thursday.

… The Crown properties, according to the provincial documents submitted to the court in November, include a variety of coastal barrens and wetlands, exceptional bedrock-ridged topography and are home to the piping plover and the barn swallow, two species at risk.

The properties were removed from the protected list in March 2019 without public notification or consultation.

(more…)
By Save Owls Head, ago

Challenging the Delisting of Canada’s Protected Areas

Transparency Critical in Protected Areas Planning

Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve in Nova Scotia has long been recognized for its conservation significance, as a stunning coastal headland that supports important ecosystems and a globally-rare plant community, but it is currently under threat.

In March 2019, the Nova Scotia government secretly delisted this site in order to sell the public land to a golf course developer. The government made this move without consulting or notifying the public. News of the delisting was discovered following investigative journalism by the CBC.

(more…)
By Save Owls Head, ago

Iain Rankin says he’ll quit coal early, electrify transit if he becomes premier

The former cabinet minister released his environmental platform Monday

Taryn Grant 
CBC News
December 7, 2020

Full article here>

Nova Scotia Liberal leadership hopeful Iain Rankin is making far-reaching promises that he says will help the province make a difference on climate change.

… Further to his conservation goals, Rankin said he would designate remaining sites in the province’s parks and protected areas plan, which at one point included Owls Head —  a 285-hectare area on the Eastern Shore.

(more…)
By Save Owls Head, ago

RICHARD BELL: Sweetheart Deal for Owls Head

Richard Bell
Eastern Shore Cooperator
Published online on December 1, 2020

View on the Eastern Shore Cooperator’s website

In the latest round in the fight to stop the province from turning Owls Head Provincial Park into an American billionaire’s three private golf courses and acres of luxury housing, the Department of Lands and Forestry (L&F) released another round of documents with dramatic new information.

(more…)
By Save Owls Head, ago