Nova Scotia’s Department of Natural Resources has approved clearcutting a large swath of forest bordering on Kejimkujik National Park.
Ninety four hectares are approved to be cleared while the six hectares directly abutting the park has been deferred.
Minister Lloyd Hines says this is proof the province’s harvest plan webpage is working.
Hines says the website gives the public the opportunity to provide feedback on how forests are managed.
“This is business as usual. The lands in question are licensed and are available for forest use. This is what we do. I think it’s important for people to understand that this is really a good news story.”
Not so, says Chris Miller, the national conservation biologist with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.
“Not a good news story from my perspective. Ninety-four hectares of clearcutting have been approved next door to a fantastic national park. That runs contrary to a lot of the public submissions that were made that were asking the provincial government to reconsider that.”
Minister Hines says government has become more responsive to people’s concerns around forest management.
“We received a lot of input and we listened by deferring approximately 15 acres of proposed harvest that was abutting the park boundary.”
But Miller feels the province has ignored the public’s concerns.
“”The government says that they’ve listened and have acted but really, they might have read the submissions but they definitely didn’t act on it.”
Miller would like the province to establish buffer zones to keep industry away from protected wilderness areas.
