TIME LAPSE OF NS FOREST LOSS 2001-14

11/22/2016

We thought you might be interested in these slides from Global Forest Watch showing the province's forest loss over the period 2001 to 2014. Under the watchful eye of the Department of Natural Resources, see how well they are managing your forests...

9 Comments

Jim Harpell

11/22/2016 06:16:04 pm

It's beyond comprehension how anyone in government can see this and continue promoting their policy of clearcutting and using biomass.

Don Wilson

11/26/2016 03:05:34 pm

This is a 13 year record and it appears that at this rate of cutting the forests will be almost all gone by the year 2026 . I'll bet there are large swaths of Cape Breton that will be all gone before that .
By 2026 the paper mills will be ready to close and move operations to another unsuspecting county and begin a 25 year rape of that country . Also by that year McNeil et al will be long gone . Many of the current MLAs will be dead as will the unelected senior civil servants that are allowing this rape of N.S. to continue

Don Wilson

11/26/2016 03:17:18 pm

Mervyn Dickey

11/27/2016 01:42:38 pm

As much as I have disliked and been against clear cutting for many years I have come to realize there is more to the story than I and most others believe. After retirement I have worked on my woodlots for nearly 15 years including the thinning and management of areas that were clear cut seven years prior. After thinning the naturally reforested areas the growth rate was really unbelievable as was any area that had been replanted with local spruce species. This section of the woodlot will need to be harvested in about 7 to 9 years and will produce at least three times the amount of grade one lumber that it did 22 years ago and it had been untouched for over 50 years prior. The remaining portion of this lot, I logged with small equipment with great care to avoid destruction of new growth. In my estimation this latter section will get about a 5 to 7 year head start on a clear cut/ replanted area which is good but not great enough to overcome the economies needed today to support the old way of forest harvesting. Sad but true and most forest management companies today are seeing positive results of replanting and proper forest management. I don't like it but unless we go back to men working 10 hour days for 1950 wages this is where we are!

Mervyn Dickey

11/28/2016 11:28:48 am

As a follow to my comments yesterday,I certainly have never agreed with biomass energy production with anything other than waste material and forest product unsuitable for any other use.

Mervyn Dickey

11/28/2016 11:30:13 am

As a follow to my comments yesterday,I certainly have never agreed with biomass energy production with anything other than waste material and forest product unsuitable for any other use. Mervyn Dickey.

Edward

11/30/2016 09:01:06 am

I can only speak to the Point Tupper biomass plant, but it is not what it used to be and has basically been idled down to only produce steam for PHP, so harvesting for biomass in the eastern part of the province at least has all put stopped and there is only a trickle of it crossing the causway.

Rod Naugler

12/11/2016 07:50:35 am

Mervyn Dickey, rapid regrowth is not a good thing. It might seem like it in the short term but growth requires nutrients from the soil which is only replenished at a certain rate. Rapid regrowth can outstrip the resources leaving the forest at a disadvantage later.
This is why farmers in the past practiced leaving a field fallow for a year and rotated crops from field to field.

Mervyn Dickey

1/1/2017 10:58:49 am

To Rod Naugler, Haven't read much about the science on growth outpacing nutrient supply but I do know that Nordic countries have huge mowers to keep unwanted growth down between rows of planted trees and apply human and animal waste sludge to add nutrients where necessary based on soil tests. This is also being done in parts of Florida.

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