Resources

From the Protected Areas Branch of NS Environment (October 2014)

In an unprecedented move, the McNeil government scrubbed its own websites of references to Owls Head Provincial Park after Michael Gorman broke the story of the secret delisting and proposed sale. In this case, we feel it’s particularly important to provide an archive of information about Owls Head Provincial Park.

Much of the information below was redacted and/or not available to citizens without Freedom of Information Requests and the court case, which made valuable information available to the public once again.

History of Owls Head Provincial Park

Policy documents and publications about Owls Head Provincial Park

Various government materials have identified the property as “Owls Head,” “Owls Head Provincial Park,” or “Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve” (sometimes even misidentifying it as a legally designated park)

Legal Case

Unfortunately, applicants Bob Bancroft and Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association did not win the judicial review, in part because the public trust doctrine isn’t yet accepted in Canadian courts. The applicants are headed to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeals in October 2022.

Select Statements on the Park’s Ecological Values

Scientific Articles & Reports on These Types of Ecosystems

Economic Considerations

Since wetlands are among the most productive and diverse of all the ecosystems on earth, losing them means reduced biodiversity through the loss of local populations of fish, wildlife and plants that depend on wetlands for their habitat or food. Nova Scotia’s wetlands provide an estimated $7 .9 billion worth of benefits in ecosystem services to Nova Scotians annually, according to a GPI Atlantic study on the province’s water resource values.

Nova Scotia Wetland Conservation Policy, page
Visitor Exit Survey 2019

Advocacy Resources

Documents Relating to the Proposed Sale

After nearly two years of unwavering resistance, Lighthouse Links Development Company withdrew from the Letter of Offer on November 23, 2021, citing a lack of government support.

Freedom of Information Requests:

  1. FOIPOP 2019-00946-EXE
    Date Closed: December 9, 2019
    Submitted by: Media (CBC journalist Michael Gorman)
    Decision Maker: Executive Council Office
    Summary: All records since Jan 1/18, including minute letters, presentations, notes and emails regarding Owls Head and PID 00489591, 40751273, 40747586, 41308008, 41308016, 40747578 and 41307992

    This FOIPOP focuses largely on the negotiations to buy the parcel owned by the federal government. (The Federal Government has declined to participate and is instead protecting its parcel of land adjacent to Owls Head Provincial Park).

  2. FOIPOP 2019-00947-DLF (hosted on the government website)
    Date Closed: December 9, 2019
    Submitted by: Media (CBC journalist Michael Gorman)
    Decision Maker: Department of Lands and Forestry
    Summary: All records, including emails, briefing notes and presentations since Jan 1/18 related to Owls Head, Lighthouse Links, and PID 00555284

  3. FOIPOP 2020-00068 PRE (hosted on the government website)
    Date Closed: February 19, 2020
    Submitted by: A political party
    Decision Maker: Office of the Premier
    Summary: “Correspondence between the Premier’s Office and Michel Samson between January 2017 and January 2020 on the subject of Owls Head land.”
    * This FOIPOP produced no results

  4. FOIPOP 2020-00081-DLF (reduced copy hosted on this website)
    Date Closed: February 20, 2020
    Submitted by: Media
    Decision Maker: Department of Lands and Forestry
    Summary: A copy of the 2017 report by protected areas planners on Owls Head provincial park and any corresponding emails/records.
    * This PDF has been reduced in size, as the full-resolution copy is too large for our server. All of the pages are here, but the images may look a little fuzzier. If you would like a full-resolution copy, please email IAP Services at IAPServices@novascotia.ca.

  5. FOIPOP 2020-00016-DLF (reduced copy hosted on this website)
    Date Closed: March 5, 2020
    Submitted by: Political Party
    Decision Maker: Department of Lands and Forestry
    Summary: Request for records of a lobbyist on behalf of Owls Head and Lighthouse Links and the DLF
    * If you would like a full-resolution copy, please email IAP Services at IAPServices@novascotia.ca.

  6. FOIPOP 2019-00942-ENV (reduced copy hosted on this website)
    Date Closed: March 18, 2020
    Submitted by: Media
    Decision Maker: Department of Environment and Climate Change
    Summary: Request for environmental records on PID 00555284 – Owls Head, Lighthouse Links.
    * If you would like a full-resolution copy, please email IAP Services at IAPServices@novascotia.ca.

  7. FOIPOP 2020-00090-ENV (reduced copy hosted on this website)
    Date Closed: March 18, 2020
    Submitted by: Media
    Decision Maker: Department of Environment and Climate Change
    Summary: Requesting records of the 2017 report by protected areas planners on Owls Head provincial park
    * If you would like a full-resolution copy, please email IAP Services at IAPServices@novascotia.ca.

  8. FOIPOP 2020-00445-DLF (hosted on the government website)
    Date Closed: March 25, 2020
    Submitted by: Business
    Decision Maker: Department of Lands and Forestry
    Summary: Request for all documents regarding Owls Head Provincial Park from 2009 to 2013.

  9. FOIPOP 2020 00417 DLF.pdf (hosted on the government website)
    Date Closed: April 17, 2020
    Submitted by: Public Interest Group (Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association)
    Decision Maker: Department of Lands and Forestry
    Summary: Request for documentation RE offer mentioning Owl’s Head/Little Harbour/Eastern Shore from January 1, 2017, to January 1, 2020.
    *From the Letter of Offer to the Valuation of Owls Head, read our summary here.

  10. FOIPOP 2021-00670-ENV (hosted on the government website)
    Date Closed: June 16, 2021
    Submitted by: Media
    Decision Maker: Department of Environment and Climate Change
    Summary: “Any internal correspondence within Nova Scotia Environment (NSE) or between NSE and Department of Lands and Forestry about Owls Head Provincial Park after Dec. 18, 2019. Please include emails, memos, assessments, reports, and any other records.”


    11. FOIPOP 2021-01049 ENV (hosted on the government website)
    Date Closed: June 18, 2021
    Submitted by: Public interest group
    Decision Maker: Department of Environment and Climate Change
    Summary: All records about the Crown Lands in Little Harbour (formerly known as Owls Head Provincial Park and/or Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve) between April 7, 2021, and May 28, 2021
    * The public is “not entitled to the records requested” due to solicitor/client privilege


    12. FOIPOP 2021-01048-TAT (hosted on the government website)
    Date Closed: June 21, 2021
    Submitted by: Public interest group
    Decision Maker: Department of Transportation and Active Transit
    Summary: All communications, including emails, notes, documents, studies, and reports, concerning the Crown Lands in Little Harbour (formerly known as Owls Head Provincial Park and/or Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve) between March 31, 2019 and May 21, 2021
    * This FOIPOP produced no results

FOIPOP Investigators Opinion reveals that the Department withheld information important that was important to the public

“The public body failed to properly exercise its discretion and, knowing that public interest and scrutiny was high, did, in fact, use its discretion as a means to withhold information it knew was important to the public.”

File investigator Darrin White

Maps

Maps Hosted on this Site

Please click to enlarge. If desired, you can save a copy of a map by right-clicking and selecting “Save Image As.”

Owls-Head-Provincial-Park-by-Marcel-Morin
Marcel-Morin
Marcel-Morin
1977 - Eastern Shore Seaside Park System Citizen's Representative Committee Brochure
1980 - Eastern Shore Seaside Park System Map
Owls Head identified as Tier 1 Conservation Lands through Colin Stewart Forest Forum
12 Percent Lands for Review Series
12.percent.map_.hires-150-scaled
2011-12-Lands-for-Review-Series-Close-Up
Nova Scotia Provincial Map of Owls Head Park
Halifax Green Network Plan Map of Parks and Protected Areas
GreenNetworkParksMapDetail
GreenNetworkMapEasternShoreDetail
GreenNetworkParksMap-1
Municipal Zoning Map Showing Owls Head
Municipal Zoning Map: Eastern Shore West
Municipal Zoning Map Close Up of Owls Head
Owls-Head-Letter-of-Offer-Map
MAP-FOIPOP
Figure 2. Regression derived average annual maximum wind speed map for Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia Wind Speeds Map - Close up of Owls Head
Figure 4. Provincial wind exposure map
Land Acquisitions by Beckwith & Kitty Gilbert
Parks and Protected Areas Network in HRM (with sources)
Parks and Protected Areas Network in HRM (without sources)
Our Parks and Protected Areas Map
Owls Head Provincial Park was site 694 from Our Parks and Protected Areas Plan
Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve Map after scrubbing of government website
Owls Head Provincial Park, as it was depicted on the Nova Scotia Department of Environment’s map before scrubbing
Screen-Shot-2021-01-22-at-9.08.48-AM
Wetland-Loss-in-Canada-from-Nature-Conservancy-of-Canada
NatureServe "Charadrius melodus melodus"
Significant Habitat Database - Nesting Piping Plover2
Significant Habitat Database - Nesting Piping Plover
EasternShoreIslandsWildernessAreamap-Appendix-A-Map-1-of-3-Showing-Approximate-Boundaries-of-Eastern-Shore-Islands-Wilderness-Area

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