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A Bird’s Eye View of Owls Head Provincial Park

Owls Head Provincial Park is a 705.2-acre property, with over 5 miles of publicly owned shoreline.

As unanimously approved-in-principle by local community representatives in 1975, Owls Head Provincial Park was intended to be part of the “Islands and Headlands” component of the Eastern Shore Seaside Parks System. The area was supposed to be one of the “Natural Environment Parks Proposed as representative examples of the unique coastal landscape.”

The bedrock ridges were formed as the glaciers scraped across the province thousands of years ago. The whole ecosystem, including the coastal broom crowberry plant community, has evolved around these conditions.

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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.

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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

Coastal Adventures

During the 2020 season, Coastal Adventures led destination paddles around Owls Head Provincial Park.

This area, part of the 100 Wild Islands Tourism Advancement Partnership, is perfect for kayaking & eco-tourism. The stunning archipelago contains over 100 islands and represents “one of the last remaining intact and ecologically rich island groups of its size in North America.” (Nova Scotia Nature Trust)

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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

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