[Sust-mar] Urgent action needed for Nova Scotia forests
kim thompson
shipharbour at ns.sympatico.ca
Wed Jul 14 12:19:05 EDT 2010
Hello all,
This is a general and urgent call out for help for our Nova Scotia
forests!
Please distribute this message far and wide -- within Nova Scotia and
beyond - it is essential
that there is a strong and immediate response to the nasty campaign
that has been launched by some in the forest industry to
undermine what at last heralds a shift toward better forest practices.
A short note or a phone call are all that is needed. Basically just
say that the government needs to move forward on the
Crossland Bancroft report.
Thank you!
kim
Kim Thompson
Co-chair Eastern Shore Forest Watch
----- Original Message -----
From: Raymond Plourde
Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2010 10:28 AM
Subject: Important Action Alert - Forestry report under attack, needs
your support
Friends:
Right now the forests of Nova Scotia need your voice and your
support. And we do mean right now… perhaps more than ever.
Here’s the situation:
The Government of Nova Scotia began a 3-year, 3 phase Natural
Resources Strategy review process in May 2007 (www.gov.ns.ca/natr/
strategy2010/) which began with a massive, province-wide public
consultation in Phase One. In Phase Two a set of four “expert panels”
examined the results of the Phase One and ultimately delivered a set
of reports to government which were released two months ago. The
government will complete the process later this year with a final
Phase Three strategy. The Phase Two reports contained some excellent
and well thought out recommendations – including significant changes
to how our forests are being managed.
The Natural Resources Strategy Phase Two report has recently come
under coordinated attack from entrenched forestry interests. Perhaps
this is not surprising but what is surprising is the level and
intensity of the attack. Attached to this e-mail are some of the
letters we are aware of so far attacking the report. No doubt you
will find them very illuminating and alarming. These letters, and
perhaps others like them, are being circulated far and wide to
private woodlot owners, contractors, etc. They contain inaccuracies
and gross exaggerations and are designed to create fear and
resistance - the chicken little “sky-is-falling” effect. It is
nothing less than tactical fear mongering. These letters are asking
recipients to write individual letters of their own to the
government. The intention is clearly to create an engineered backlash
that will make the government cave in and thus prevent any meaningful
changes to forestry policies, programs or regulations. Intense
industry lobbying and organizing against the report is ongoing and
growing.
We realize that this is high summer and it’s the last thing you need
to add to your to-do list. We’re sorry to even have to ask. But we
also know – and we want you to know – that it is very, very
important. It’s quite literally now or never for the future of the
forests in Nova Scotia. Real, meaningful reform to forestry practices
is within reach for the first and likely last time in decades. But it
is also in real jeopardy. And pretty much nobody in the general
public is even aware this is going on. The new government needs to
receive an equal or greater voice of public support for the
progressive forestry reforms that are currently on the table and
being decided on right now. By September it will be too late.
You may have participated in the Phase One public consultations
yourself. If you did you need to follow through and confirm your
support for progressive forestry reform now. Here at the end of this
important process – a process that the public has largely lost sight
of – the new government needs to hear from you. Even if you missed
the Phase One consultations, if you’re at all concerned about the
state of our forests and the wildlife species that live in them, then
you need to speak up for them now – this IS the time. Please take a
moment to send a short letter of support to Minster John MacDonell
and Premier Darrell Dexter expressing your views. Contact info below.
The recently released Phase Two Report is available online at:
www.gov.ns.ca/natr/strategy2010/phase2report.asp
A summary of the Phase Two forestry report is available through the
EAC - contact Ray Plourde. A sample letter to government follows
Thank you.
Raymond Plourde, Wilderness Coordinator TEL 442-5008
Matt Miller, Forestry Outreach Coordinator TEL 429-1335
Ecology Action Centre
www.ecologyaction.ca
Sample Letter
Minister John MacDonell
Minister of Natural Resources
Department of Natural Resources
3rd Floor, Founders Square
1701 Hollis Street
PO Box 698
Halifax, NS, B3J 2T9
Dear Mr MacDonell:
I have recently been made aware of a lobbying effort undertaken by
several major players of the forest industry. This campaign has been
targeting small woodlot owners and forestry contractors with fear-
inducing, exaggerated claims about the potential impacts of forestry
reforms included in the recently released Natural Resources Phase Two
report titled “A Natural Balance”.
Please accept my support of the recommendations made by the Steering
Panel report and the report titled Forests: Restoring the Health of
Nova Scotia’s Forests, by Bob Bancroft and Donna Crossland. Central
to these recommendations was a call for a substantial reduction of
clearcutting and herbicide spraying and a ban on whole tree harvesting.
Their vision for the future of Nova Scotia’s forests is in keeping
with the call for change identified during the public consultations
undertaken in Phase One. Please take this opportunity to transform
our forest industry with a focus on land stewardship, biodiversity
conservation, protection of provincially significant natural areas
and an integrated approach to ecosystem-base management. These
changes will require great conviction and political will. Please know
that I support these changes.
Now is the time to chart a new, ecologically sustainable course for
Nova Scotia’s forests and forest industry for the sake of current and
future generations.
Thank you,
Your Name
Your community, Nova Scotia
CC: Premier Darrell Dexter
Office of the Premier
7th Floor, One Government Place
1700 Granville St
PO Box 726
Halifax, NS, B3J 2T3
Telephone: 902-424-6600
Fax: 902-424-7648
Email: premier at gov.ns.ca
More information about the sust-mar
mailing list