Of all the sentences in Minister Rankin’s dysfunctional and totally disappointing response to recent requests from three municipal councils in Shelburne County for a temporary halt to clearcutting there, one stands out above the rest.
That sentence is: "I'm not prepared to pick specific regions of the province to stop the forestry industry.”
First it is a straw-man, red herring and misrepresentation. No one has asked to “Stop the forest industry”. The request was simply for a delay until the recommendations of the Lahey report could be implemented so that the already stressed Shelburne County forests could benefit from harvesting plans that actually suited the forest conditions of Southwestern Nova Scotia.
The even more egregious point in Rankin’s statement, however, was his comment; “I’m not prepared to pick specific regions of the Province.”
Has he even read Lahey’s “Independent Review of Forest Practices”? If he just takes the first sentence of the Executive Summary (you would think he could get at least that far.) he would have seen the following;
“My mandate was to make recommendations on forest practices that would, if implemented, balance environmental, social, and economic objectives, which I have interpreted to include values. My conclusion is that environmental, social, and economic values should be balanced by using forest practices that give priority to protecting and enhancing ecosystems and biodiversity.”
If you are going to “Enhance Ecosystems” you first have to take into consideration any given system’s existing attributes before you intervene with a harvesting plan. This is a basic tenant of the Lahey report. I can only assume that Minister Rankin has not read the report or that he has decided to ignore those points that are inconvenient for industrial harvesting.
The forests of Shelburne County have very different attributes than the forests further to the East. Shelburne County is Glacial Scrub land. Our soils are exceedingly thin and highly acidic. When it comes to tree harvesting, Shelburne County requires some special considerations. These considerations are not forthcoming from the Minister’s department.
Shelburne County forests can still grow on these poor soils, but maintenance of productivity is dependent on tight nutrient cycling of all organic materials. Clearcutting/variable retention harvesting hauls these organics away. Our soils will not replenish, we will have no chance of functional re-forestation.
The points I am putting forward are not new. Concerned foresters have many times asked Lands and Forestry why no consideration has been given to the fact that Southwest Nova Scotia’s soils are nutrient depleted, that our soils are exceedingly thin and that our surface water acidity is at critical levels. This information is well known and it is still being ignored as critically important crown land harvesting decisions are being made for Shelburne County’s forests.
The reply from Lands and Forestry has been that the department’s “Forest Nutrient Budget Model” is simply not yet refined enough to apply it, and that it would be irresponsible to apply it at this stage, even in a precautionary fashion.
The Dept takes this stand even though Kevin Keyes, their own soil scientist, in a 2016 research paper concluded that “clearcutting contributes to further nutrient depletion and soil acidification”, Keys et al (2016)
Further to the “Keys Report”, aquatic scientists tell us that …we don’t really need to assess the nutrient balance of individual forest stands to identify stands which clearly should not be clearcut because of nutrient losses. We already know from measurements and modeling which watersheds are in trouble. There should be no clearcutting whatsoever within watersheds stressed by acid rain.
Competent foresters are telling us that a minimally functional harvesting plan for Shelburne County forests would be to leave more trees standing than you take in each designated harvesting area. It is clear to us in Shelburne County that our forests are being willfully mismanaged by our provincial government. They are ignoring existing scientific information, information which is clearly available within the Minister’s own department and they, through the Minister’s incompetence or uncaring, are ignoring the pleas of their own citizens who are simply asking that they do a better job.
I thank all of our Shelburne County municipal representatives who have spoken out on this issue. Minister Rankin’s statement is devastating news for anyone who cares about the health of our Province’s natural resources, he should resign.
John Davis is a Shelburne County resident who has been active in forestry and fishery issues in Nova Scotia for more than three decades
