Author: maherrv

This week, Heather and I have been spending a fair amount of time at the Eel Weir Lake camp with the Extinction Rebellion, protesting the aerial spraying with Glyphosate over three parcels in Annapolis County : one at Eel Weir Lake and two at Paradise Lake.

As we tried to help with directions to the site, Heather noticed a a difference between the fifth edition of The Nova Scotia Atlas (2001) and the seventh edition (2019).

Her sharp eye noted:

1. The location of West Inglisville has moved from the turn in the road on the West Inglisville Road to the end of the Trout Lake Road (cartographic freedom)
2. the road changed from Local Road (red) to Loose Surface(black)
3. the areas designated as crown land (Green) were much more extensive in 2019 than 2001.
4. You can still observe the Eel Weir Lake parcel however it is now surrounded by crown land, especially towards Paradise Lake.

The questions are:

Can the crown land now be clear-cut?

If so, by whom. Freeman Lumber?

After clear-cutting, will we see more aerial spraying?

I remember when I used to teach Geography at the university that Mark Monmonier wrote a wonderful book, How to Lie with Maps (1996).

In the case of the Nova Scotia Atlas, it seems that there have been political decisions to change the designation of crown land. This would then give the government the go ahead to contact the forestry sector for forest management. It could be clear-cutting, including spraying, or it could be ecological forestry. Either way, there should be a process where the citizens can see these maps. At the current rate, the whole province could be designated clear-cut and set to be sprayed. This is TOTALLY unacceptable.

What is the definition of ‘crown land’? Is it land for recreation and enjoyment by Nova Scotians? Or simply a land bank for the forestry industry?

Last night, I was talking to George Rizsanyi at the protest camp. We were talking about Labrador and Mina Hubbard. Here is the reference.
The woman who mapped Labrador: the life and expedition diary of Mina Hubbard.

George, enjoy.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to those individuals who joined us the camp: Steve, Rick, Carol, Kathy, Heather, Darlene, Debby, Nina, Peter, Neil, Justine, George. Visits from Larry Powell and Tim Habinski. Some dropped in, others stayed overnight. Special kudos to the Extinction Rebellion team. Heather for all her hard work and keen eye. Siqsiq for keeping the coyotes at bay. Edward and David for help with the graphics.

References

Mark Monmonier, 1996. How to lie with maps. University of Chicago Press

Mina Hubbard, May 2012. The woman who mapped Labrador: the life and expedition diary of Mina Hubbard. McGill University Press.

It is a busy time in Paradise. Time to pick apples, and to harvest tomatoes and vegetables from the garden. And, protest about the possibility of aerial spraying at Roxbury on Paradise Lake and at Eel Weir Lake. There are two parcels of land at Roxbury and one parcel at Eel Weir Lake (see map HERE).

The Eel Weir Lake and Mud Lake are part of the water supply catchment for the Village of Lawrencetown.

Heather and I made a reconnaissance of the Eel Weir Lake parcel. We checked out the access roads, off the Inglisville Road. Finally, deciding that the best access to the protest camp would be from the Rifle Range Road.

On our travels, we found the remains of the tree planters bus. Hidden away in the woods, after the last cycle of harvesting and planting.

If you want to obtain a good visual picture of the forest cover, and landscape, key in West Inglisville into Google Earth.

When we were at the Burlington rally, one of the team mentioned the title of a folk song, ‘No cell phones in Paradise’. I would add a sign ‘No spraying in Paradise‘. Note the frog in the above poster.

If you spend time up in the woods on South Mountain, you will notice the beautiful night sky. On the ground, you will see the amphibians (frogs, toads, salamanders), the bees on the goldenrod, the birds and other critters. Plus the rich mix of Acadian forest species.

If you live down slope, along the Inglisville Road, Highway #201 or Highway #1 it is likely that the rain falling on the forests of South Mountain is making its way down to the Annapolis River.

Please check the news release for further information , and support ‘No spraying in Paradise’.

Postscript

Want to see what happens three years after whole forest clear-cutting near Middle Musquodoboit, Nova Scotia? Click HERE.

This week, I received a link to George Monbiot’s Guardian article on a new campaign ‘to decolonize the countryside’. Meanwhile, in Nova Scotia I read Larry Powell’s article on the Protected Community Forest initiative.

Reflecting on the differences and similarities between Europe and North America, I recall arriving in Schefferville, Quebec to work at the McGill Sub-Arctic Research Laboratory in Summer 1964. Conducting field research on the Canadian Shield, I developed a very different perspective on the relationship between man and nature.

Eventually, in 1969, I left my job with IBM in England and moved to Canada to study alpine vegetation patterns in the Rockies, just off the Columbia Icefields.

This week, I have been hearing about plans to spray the vegetation in the West Inglisville and Paradise area of South Mountain. I have obtained the Property Identifiers (PID) and with Viewpoint can accurately locate the designated areas.

Here are my questions.

1) the Municipality of Annapolis produced its Forestry report in 2018. Does the Municipality have a say in the Forestry practices impacting citizens in the county?

2) Driving to Bridgewater, I see signs ‘Nova Scotia needs Forestry’. Is that indeed the case? If so, what type of forestry? Read Bob Bancroft’s article in this weekend’s Chronicle Herald.

3) Does the Municipality have any control or input over land use planning in the county? Or are all decisions related to Forestry, Agriculture, Mining made at the provincial level?

4) Finally, with the demise of local newspapers, it is hard to imagine how we are going to understand the positions of candidates in the municipal election. Thankfully, we have The Bridgetown Reader and the link municipalelection-annapoliscounty.com for the basic facts.

While in Lunenburg to collect a few bottles of Hunter brandy at Ironworks Distillery, we dropped into Lunenburg Bound bookstore. I found Daniel Botkin’s book, No Man’s Garden. Thoreau and a new vision for civilization and nature, written in 2001.

We are still seeking that new vision.

Acknowledgements

To my brother for the Guardian link. To Rocky Hebb for notice about the spraying. To Gregory Heming for the PIDs. Larry Powell for his report on the Protected Community Forest. As always, support from Heather and Edward.

References
Daniel Botkin, 2001. No Man’s Garden: Thoreau and a new vision for Civilization and Nature. Island Press.
Bob Bancroft, Forest plantations defy science, ignore economics. Chronicle Herald. August 22. Opinion C2.
Lawrence Powell. Annapolis County group raising funds to protect the forest.