Signs asserting that “Nova Scotia needs forestry” are popping up around the province. Most of the cutting on public and private lands amounts to mining, not forestry.
Healthy forests have been and are currently being skinned alive by clearcutting. About half of Nova Scotia’s forests have been clearcut in the past three decades. This method maximizes profits while the industry is allowed to ignore the environmental costs.
Habitats for forest wildlife disappear with the trees. The existing wildlife and watercourse regulations are grossly inadequate. They are a political compromise, not science-based. It’s hardly surprising that wildlife populations are in serious decline.
The moonscapes and nutrient-poor soils left behind by clearcut harvests are mute testimony to industry greed, the lack of effective environmental laws, the absence of stewardship and, finally, the corporate capture of the politicians in power over past decades.
Nova Scotia needs forests, better forestry and a land ethic.
Bob Bancroft, Pomquet
