Letters to the Editor
Letter: Waiting on Pledges
Fine words but no action from the Department of Environment and Climate Change nor from its sister Department of Natural Resources and Renewables.
(more…)Fine words but no action from the Department of Environment and Climate Change nor from its sister Department of Natural Resources and Renewables.
(more…)Sheldon MacLeod featuring Jamie SimpsonSaltwireJanuary 21, 2022 Originally published here Listen to “The ongoing legal legacy of Owls Head” on Spreaker. It was an issue that dogged Iain Rankin in the last general election in Nova Scotia. Since then, we have a new premier, a new government and a new Read more…
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.
In late November, an American couple withdrew an offer to purchase 285 hectares of crown land known as Owls Head to develop a golf course along the Eastern Shore. That appears to have been the catalyst for a decision by the Houston government to protect Owls Head as a provincial park or potential wilderness area.
“The government has committed to protecting Owls Head lands as part of its 20% land protection goal (mandated in the Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act passed in October),” said Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton in an email. “The process to protect those lands is underway but we don’t have any further details to share at this stage.”
(more…)Both Nova Scotia parks have been awaiting official designation for decades Victoria WellandThe SignalDecember 2, 2021 Read here For over 40 years, the forest south of Paces Lake has been awaiting designation as a provincial park. The nearly 400 hectares of wetland and forest near Musquodoboit Harbour was expropriated by Read more…
Greg Taylor is the creator of the popular website Halifax Trails. For more than a decade, the site has offered photos, maps, and detailed guides to help people embark on their outdoor adventures. Greg Taylor was recently featured in a CBC article. He’s been an unwavering supporter of the Save Owls Head movement and recently sent the following letter to Premier Houston.
As a local eco-tourism guide, I can speak to you from experience that our parks and nature areas are extremely valuable. I get hundreds of thousands of visitors to my website every year who are looking for authentic outdoor adventures. Nova Scotia’s natural beauty constantly goes viral on social media and people from around the globe contact me for more info. If we build it, they will come. Eco-tourism needs to be what leads NS into the future and can be kickstarted by redirecting current subsidies of dead and dying, polluting industries that keep us chained to economics from the past.
(more…)The Cooperator has learned that Lighthouse Links withdrew from the letter of Offer to purchase Owls Head Provincial Park and convert it into a luxury housing development with a few golf courses after learning that the province had determined that the company’s plans for public consultation were inadequate, and that the province would require a more thoroughgoing public consultation process.
(more…)A coalition of activists, scientists and land defenders are celebrating in Nova Scotia this week, following the cancellation of a proposal that could have seen a piece of biodiverse coastal parkland ground to sand.
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