Responsible logging no threat to moose

Recently, I’ve been frustrated to read numerous letters and stories suggesting responsible forestry management practices do not consider conservation of mainland moose.

Stories seem to side with protesters who want the entire area protected because they don’t believe the two can co-exist. This is not true, no matter how many times activists say so.

There are many areas in Nova Scotia and throughout New Brunswick that support both vibrant forest economies and mainland moose habitat. The area I work in today is an example of a healthy forest responsibly managed since the late 1800s, where my crew’s family and generations of hardworking people of Digby County have made their living.

This landscape contains many different forest stands of different age classes, species compositions and ecosystems. The area we are being blocked from is part of the 700,000-acre moose management area in western Nova Scotia, spanning Queens, Digby, Yarmouth, Shelburne and Annapolis counties.

Within Digby, there are 373,000 acres of Crown land. Seventy-four per cent is protected; there is no forestry.

The remaining 26 per cent (58,000 acres) makes up the working multi-use forest. There, we can earn a living, enjoy recreational activities and manage for healthy ecosystems. I am proud to say the mainland moose can and does exist here.

Over the last 20 years in Digby County, proud forestry families have endured closure of its two largest sawmills and a 50-per-cent reduction in forestry harvest.

The current harvest is 60 per cent below what could be sustainably harvested in Digby County. This has led to rural job losses, next to no silviculture investment, family relocations and the eroding of what was once a vibrant way of life.

One could only imagine the uproar if government, bowing to protests from a few activists, slashed the lobster harvest to 50 per cent of what’s sustainable, killing jobs, hurting families and damaging rural communities.

My business directly supports 10 working families from Digby County; we work on both Crown and private lands. The wood we harvest is relied upon by countless other families through sawmilling and other forest processing facilities in western Nova Scotia. We rely on continued access to forest resources that sustain our families and provides this province with the raw material it needs to become a leader in the green, sustainable future.

Responsible forest management can decrease our carbon footprint, help us adapt to climate change and create sustainable products we use everyday.

As a province, we’d be much better off directing energies towards growing a prosperous forest sector that aligns with the independent Lahey report, instead of blockading hardworking men and women from making a living and supporting our communities.

MICHAEL DEADDER