In response to my last blog, Jane Nicholson mentioned that the region was unable to meet the criteria of Heritage River status because of the tidal power pilot project in Annapolis Royal. This caused me to reflect on the issue.
I recall from the 1980’s the efforts of Diane Legard and Stephen Hawboldt to seek this designation. Indeed, I believe that the Clean Annapolis River Project (CARP) was established as a non-government organization (NGO) to address questions related to water quality and pollution. This included the volunteer River Guardian network.
Since that time, we have seen new infrastructure on the river. The latest evidence is the boat ramp by the Lawrencetown bridge.
To achieve heritage river status for the Annapolis River, the community would have to agree on the following actions:
a) removal of the tidal power pilot and dam. This would allow fish species to migrate up and down the Annapolis River, without human impediment.
b) collaboration throughout the watershed to guarantee water quality. This means municipal governments working together e.g. Annapolis County and Kings County.
The concept of CARP was as a ‘project’. Reaching the goal of heritage river, would allow us to take it off the project, ‘to do ‘ list. Of course, the quality of the water depends on the activities in the Annapolis watershed. This means the removal of forest cover would need to managed, with these criteria in mind.
In the spirit of harmonious active living within the landscape, travelling up the Annapolis River by canoe/kayak would offer a quality experience. This could be complemented by hiking, biking or ATV along the Harvest Moon trail on the repurposed rail line. Although, we still need B & B and other accommodation for those travelling from Grand Pre to Annapolis Royal.
A third option, which would allow us to monitor the watershed, would be to create a hiking trail that follows the height of land along North and South Mountain.
Between these three types of travel, residents and visitors would develop an intimate understanding of both ‘the Mountain and the Valley’. There would be the opportunity to share common values: community, landscape and heritage integrity and respect. The CARP project would meet its goal, and we, collectively, would leave a legacy for the future inhabitants. Perhaps, sightings of sturgeon and other marine species would become commonplace in Bridgetown and higher up the river.
Acknowledgements
Jane Nicholson for her comment. Heather Stewart as CARP Board member for our conversations, and Edward Wedler for adding graphics and links from Florida.
LINK
Canadian Heritage Rivers System
http://chrs.ca/
CARP, Clean Annapolis River project video
https://vimeo.com/67321770
In Annapolis Royal at Bainton’s bookstore, I picked up Kent Thompson’s book Getting out of town by book and bike. It is an entertaining read, including the idea: “every now and again, I get on my bike and ride to a small town public library to look for Anna Karenina“. Thompson visits both the towns and writing of Ernest Buckler (Centrelea, West Dalhousie) and Elizabeth Bishop (Great Village). Writing of both EBs is of interest to me, and likely, to Nova Scotia.
In this same spirit, Heather was reading Waterfalls of Nova Scotia. It describes one hundred waterfalls. Number #19 is Eel Weir Brook Falls up behind Lawrencetown on South Mountain. While a short hike, it gave us an excuse to ‘get out of town’.
What did I hear? A number of stories, about pilot projects in Atlantic Canada. Specific Nova Scotia examples included the Cape Breton Food Hub, Energize Bridgewater. For import replacement, there were successful models in the UK (Preston, Lancashire) and in the USA (Cleveland). The concept is to replace the demand for goods and services by 10% (or more) by local procurement.
Examples of local need and local producers included:
First, in last week’s Annapolis Spectator there was an interview with Bill Crossman about a project to install solar panels at the Centrelea Community Hall site. Second, at the latest Valley REN (Regional Economic Network) board meeting, Gerard D’Entremont was appointed Vice-Chair of the Board. In his introduction, Gerard described his position at (Nova Scotia Community College) NSCC Kingstec as the Community Innovation lead for the Annapolis Valley region. Intrigued, I requested a meeting this week with him at the Green Elephant in Kingston to learn more about this initiative.
It is awesome to imagine an event at Burnbrae Farm and Paradise Inn that looks at Buckler’s book The Cruelest Month in its modern context. Ideally, in April, which Buckler defined as the cruelest month. Now, its time to re-read the book.
After a week in the orchard picking apples with ladder, picking bag and hook, I can appreciate the pleasure gained from low hanging fruit. However, it should be recognized that the best apples are found in the top branches of the tree. The low hanging fruit tends to be found on the side branches; smaller apples, more of them, but easily available for hand picking. There is no need for the combination of technology: ladder, picking bag and hook.
At the end of the week, we were able to celebrate ten bins shipped to Brian Boates for juice that will be a component of 
For the last few years, every Summer, we have provided a holiday camp for two retired Inuit sled dogs: Uke and Siq Siq. They were part of a litter born in Pond Inlet, Nunavut about twelve years ago, under the watchful eye of my son, Andrew. Later, they went to Prince George, where they provided Patrick, my eldest son, with the pulling power for ski-joring. They arrive in Paradise, in May and usually return home by early September.
In the Valley, a late frost in early June impacted many of the apple growers in the region. Fortunately, for us, Raymond Hunter planted his trees in a tree protected area. This has allowed us to ship the early drops to Brian Boates in Woodville. Now we have started picking directly from the trees. The first cycle will be the Nova Mac variety, to be followed later, by the Mac Free. All of these organic apples will be juiced at Boates cider mill and then transported to Ironworks Distillery, Lunenburg as a key ingredient in their apple brandy. If we have a spell without too much rain, we should be able to pick a couple of bins per day. (note: one bin can hold between 18-20 bushel boxes).
Ernest Blair Experiment 