The Chronicle Herald

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.

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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.

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By Save Owls Head, ago
Save Owls Head Rally - Photo by David Sorcher

JIM VIBERT: McNeil’s environmental record a litany of broken promises

Jim Vibert
The Chronicle Herald
November 21, 2020

Nova Scotia’s Liberal government has quite a story to tell on the environment, but unfortunately that’s all it has. The reality is a litany of delayed action and unkept promises.

… Since 2013, Nova Scotia’s goal — adopted unanimously by the legislature — has been to protect 13 per cent of the province’s total landmass for nature.

McNeil promised that his government would reach that goal in its first term. It didn’t. In fact, it hasn’t yet, seven years on.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Letter: Three Years of Secrecy by Lindsay Lee

Francis Campbell’s Nov. 4 article kicked off with one of the most consequential points yet written about Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve: “The province was preparing to remove Owls Head Park Reserve from the parks protection list and sell it to an American developer more than three years before the public was notified, provincial documents show.”

If the sale of this biodiverse coastal ecosystem was such a great idea, then why did our government orchestrate three years of secrecy? If betraying the 45-year history of Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve was truly beneficial to our province, then why did the government refuse to organize public consultation? 

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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

Letter: Very Slippery Slope by Verna Higgins

All Nova Scotians should be aware that, in 2013, our province published an “Our Parks and Protected Areas” map for comments by the public. 

Owls Head Park appeared under the heading “Park Lands for Review” along with 281 other parks! That list included such well-known provincial parks as Wentworth, Porters Lake, Martinique Beach, Five Islands, Blomidon Lookoff and Taylors Head.

If Owls Head is sold, which of the others might be next?

Verna Higgins, Middle Musquodoboit

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By Save Owls Head, ago