Speak up for our Forests - A Checklist of Actions

  • Inform Yourself
  • Meet with Politicians
    • Your MLA
    • Your Provincial Ministers (Lands and Forestry, Environment) or Premier
    • Your Federal MP
    • Your Municipal Councillor
  • Write a Letter to the Editor
  • Write an Article for your Local Paper
  • Sign or start a Petition
  • Join our Facebook Group
  • Organize/Attend a Local March
  • Visit Harvested Areas
  • Social Media
  • Radio Talk Shows
  • Post Signs and Posters
  • Election Campaigns
  • Talk to Companies
  • Talk to Friends and Neighbours
  • Give a Presentation

Only one action is needed for you to make a difference. Each Action you take
now, no matter how big or small, brings us all a step closer to our end goal of
healthy forests in Nova Scotia.​
Inform Yourself: Here are some useful links
Meeting with Politicians
Most politicians are community members like you and I who have decided to step up and help their communities. They want to hear from you. They can do their job better if they know what their constituents want so go out there and have a chat with them.

Your MLA
  • Call the constituency office in your riding and set up an appointment with your MLA.Write down your concerns and questions before going to the appointment. Know something about your topic. No one expects you to be an expert as a concerned community member.
  • Be prepared to leave a summary of your concerns in written form with your MLA for their reference. Strategically, leaving one to three items you would like the MLA to address in order to resolve your concerns.
  • At the appointment, remain polite, and state your concerns. Ask them how they are going to resolve the issues for you. Be succinct as their time is limited. Take along your phone or tablet with some preloaded visuals of the forests destruction (satellite photos, on site photos etc.) you are talking about to engage them further.
  • Be prepared for non-committal statements but give them requests and ask them to get back to you. Don’t be fooled by apparent agreement.
  • After the interview write up a summary of what was said and write the MLA a ‘thank you’ note in which you include some of the key points that he/she made.

Elections provide the extra ability to get commitment from the candidate as to their views on forestry in the province. Use your vote to get commitment.

Some sample messages:
As a member of the HFC my concern is:
  1. The full implementation of the Lahey Review has not yet been implemented on the ground after more than 2 years.
  2. Conservation and sustainable management of ecosystems and biodiversity is paramount for our community; its economic and human health.
  3. What are you doing to get the Lahey Review implemented and shift to getting ecological forestry genuinely implemented in our forests instead of only on paper?
  4. Clearcutting and over-harvesting must stop immediately on public crown lands before the last natural patches are destroyed.
  5. We have a crisis in biodiversity loss in the province.

Possible Questions
What can you do for me, as a constituent to address my concerns? Help them with the answers you want to hear.

They can:
  1. Make it a priority in their party’s platform.
  2. Raise the issue at your next caucus meeting.
  3. Bring up the issue on the house floor (opposition).
  4. Discuss the issue with the premier and minister in charge (governing party).

Your Provincial Ministers (Lands and Forestry, Environment) and Premier
  • Arranging appointments with these persons can be more difficult if they are not in your riding.
  • If you know someone in their ridings that will agree to accompany you, they as a constituent can make the appointment for you and you can arrive as a team.
  • Again, as suggested when meeting with your MLA, have your concerns ready along with your questions and some possible solution strategies.

Your Federal MP
  • Though the implementation of the Lahey Report is a provincial matter, making your local MP aware of your concerns and how it is affecting them is a good strategy.
  • Federally, the Migratory Bird Convention Act is being violated under the current practices of the Provincial Government by allowing forest harvesting during nesting periods. Meet with your MP and express your concern that the Federal Migratory Bird Convention Act is being ignored.
  • Water run off from clearcut areas, and glyphosate spraying can affect fish habitat in waterways. The Federal government is responsible for salt water species that utilize not only oceans but estuaries and freshwater rivers and streams that provide habitat to anadromous fish such as salmon, gaspereau, striped bass and American eel to name a few.
  • Treaty rights of our indigenous people are a federal and provincial responsibility. These are being ignored if our indigenous nations are not properly consulted regarding provincial crown land use; in NS, this is the un-ceded territory of the Mi’kmaq.

Your municipal councillor
  • Most municipal people consider our concerns outside their jurisdiction, but it may be helpful to treat such an interview as an information gathering opportunity.
  • Many municipal politicians are connected to the major parties and have contacts and observations that may help.
  • Your local municipal council can also write letters to the provincial government to support a preferred use of crown land within the municipality.
  • They can also lobby governments for the cessation of glyphosate spraying in the county. Many municipalities have banned fracking, so there are options for councils to help put pressure on the provincial government to end some of their practices.
Write a letter to the editor
  • Publishing a letter to the editor to your local paper or regional newspaper is an easy and effective way to keep an issue you care about in the news. Here is a link to some tips posted on the Save Owls Head Park website that can help you write your letter.
Write an article for the local paper
  • Check with your local newspaper to see if you can write an article on the topic of Forests, Forestry or the Lahey report.
    • Some publications will oblige, but if not contact one of the local reporters and ask if you can provide information to them for an article they can write for you.
    • Try to find a local angle within the forestry operations that are happening in your area.

Sign a Petition
  • This is worthwhile, but not as effective as we hope. The Nova Scotia Legislature doesn’t consider on-line petitions valid input.
    • BUT, there is an official method of creating a petition for the Nova Scotia Legislature at the link below:
  • Join a facebook Group
  • Here are some Facebook groups focussed on environmental issues that you can join if you want to keep up to date on what is happening in different areas of the province.
  1. Healthy Forest Coalition
  2. Annapolis Royal and Area - Environment and Ecology
  3. Cape Breton Environmental Association
  4. Nova Scotia Bird Protectors
  5. Stop Spraying and Clear Cutting Nova Scotia
  6. Save the Bay of Fundy’s Heritage
  7. People for Ecological Forestry in Southwest Nova Scotia

Organize/Attend a Local March
  • Politicians will tell you that demonstrations don’t work, but our experience has been otherwise.
    • The Healthy Forest Coalition held a very successful “Forest Funeral” demonstration in 2016 and also participated in the Corbet Lake protest along with XR in Annapolis County.
    • If it doesn’t sway the politicians, it does encourage the supporters.
      • However, it must be well organized, a demonstration that attracts a small crowd is deflating for supporters and conveys the wrong message to the policy makers.
    • Watch for postings on various facebook groups and join in and help out where you can.
    • Search for the Extinction Rebellion page for your area, as they support other groups or organize events of their own.

Visit Harvested Areas
  • Travel to parcels of crown land in your area that have been harvested or have been posted for harvesting.
  • See for yourself how the forestry is being carried out.
    • Take pictures.
    • If you are upset about what you see, contact your MLA and the media and report your findings.
    • Or simply, post it on your social media. Include the hashtag #clearcuttingns so that others can find information easily.

Keep up-to-date on Forestry work happening in your area through the Harvest Plans Map Viewer
  • Subscribe so that you automatically receive updates every 10 days.
  • Follow the proposed work slated for your county.
  • Submit comments on this website to DLF regarding proposed forestry work and why you believe it should not go ahead. They document all comments and it is likely that the number of comments received on a particular proposed harvest is used to help gauge whether the harvest proceeds.
Social media
  • Pictures of degraded crown land can be posted or passed to the media, to HFC and also to advocacy groups such as the Ecology Action Centre for use. The more citizens we have on the ground recording the real time state of the forests, the better we are at the other action items.
  • Post information and events to your page but also be careful with this method as you can also provide information overload that will turn off family and friends.
    • Instead, plant seeds of information and as friends like or respond to your posts, private message them to join facebook groups that are dedicated to the causes.

Radio talk shows
  • There are a number of radio talk shows that cover these topics from time to time. We will try and post on the HFC facebook page when these are happening. If there is a hot forestry topic happening in your area, contact the radio host through their website and ask to do an on-air interview.
  • Post it on our facebook page and we can help get as many people to call in also.
Post signs and posters
  • If an event or harvest is happening that affects forestry in your area post signs and posters to inform the community.

Election Campaigns
  • When it is election time whether it be municipal, provincial or federal, speak with the candidates and find out their position on forestry.
    • If it is favourable, support that candidate and help their campaign to be elected.
    • Connect with other HFC members in other jurisdictions to ensure as many candidates with our values are elected across the province.
  • Candidates with strong values in ecological forestry are always needed to run for office. Consider running for office yourself;

Talk to Companies
  • Approach companies that are supporting the wrong path to ecological forestry and inform them of positive paths.
    • This is a bold action and requires being well prepared and ready to deal with strong, sometimes antagonistic reactions. Generally good verbal skills can evoke a meaningful dialogue and find common ground.
    • Angry words/shouting will not harm you, so waiting them out and remaining calm can eventually restore meaningful conversation.
    • Remember that they are contractors in the woods, truckers on the road or helicopter companies that spray glyphosate, these folks do this work for their livelihood and to feed their families.
    • They often do not have options to make a stand against detrimental forestry practices, but they have useful insights and offer grounded solutions.
    • Focus mainly on the management of the company, not the workers. Ecological forestry operations should provide more work rather than less work.
    • Speak to their fears of running out of wood supply to harvest (a common fear) and promote ecological forestry that assures they will have a continual supply of wood in the future.
  • Boycott companies that continue to support destructive forestry practices.
    • Support companies that decide not to continue along the destructive path.
    • Does the helicopter company that sprays glyphosate in the fall, run tourist flights in the summer?
      • How can you support their business if they dropped their spraying contracts?
    • Are there options in your local area to buy lumber from a forestry co-op as opposed to companies supporting current practices?
    • Globally, can you support countries who don’t import biomass chips from Nova Scotia?
    • Research how the products of our forests are being used and help break the supply chain.

Talk to friends and neighbours
  • In casual conversation, raising local forestry issues and how it directly affect them are great topics to discuss, but don’t be too intense.
    • If the conversation becomes awkward, change the topic. Planting a seed of information, that grows through time is a better option.
    • Leave the conversation with “if you would like to know more, please don’t hesitate to ask or check out NS Forest Notes. ”

Give a presentation
  • Arrange presentations and speak at local community group meetings, breakfast/supper clubs or municipal council meetings.
    • You have a message, on forestry issues, don’t be afraid to share it widely or invite another member of HFC to speak on forestry. Several of them are available to deliver captivating talks with a focus on solutions.
    • Look around your community and see what groups are meeting and who may be interested in a talk and a slide presentation on forestry in our province.
    • Contact the leader of the group and suggest to them that this is an interesting and relevant topic for their group.
    • Tap into the HFC network, for assistance in creating your presentation. Tailor the presentation to the group your are addressing.
      • For example every community health board would like to hear about healthy environments, and the de-stressing ability of hiking in old growth forests
      • Recreational groups would like to learn how a healthy forest can present many recreational activities.
  • Your municipal council will always accept invitations from its citizens to make a short presentation generally 10-15 minutes, but that is plenty of time to get your point across.
    • If many citizens give presentations, they will hear the message over and over and over.
  • Consider showing portions of the movie “Burned” or other videos (Nina Newington’s, Forest Funeral) or even simple screen grabs of satellite images of forest cover loss.

One book that is would be useful for everyone is Elizabeth May’s “How to save the world in your spare time”.
This publication provides may tips if you can acquire a copy from the library or on-line.