The Guardian (Charlottetown)

Nova Scotia to lower clear-cutting on Crown lands, minister says

- BY KEITH DOUCETTE

Nova Scotia will adopt sustainabl­e forestry practices that will see reduced clearcutti­ng on Crown land, although the province’s lands and forestry minister is unable to say yet by how much.

Iain Rankin said forest policies will be guided by ecological practices through the so-called “triad” model - some areas protected from all forestry, others dedicated to high production including clearcutti­ng, and others harvested with a “lighter touch” and limited clearcutti­ng.

The approach was one of the main recommenda­tions in a report last August by University of King’s College president Bill Lahey.

“I want Nova Scotians to know that they will see changes in how we conduct forestry on public land,” Rankin said Monday as he released his response to Lahey’s report.

He said his department would immediatel­y look to revise its forest management guide, which dictates the types of forestry that can be done on Crown land, over the next year.

While that’s carried out, a set of interim retention guidelines will see an immediate reduction of clearcutti­ng on Crown land, Rankin said.

However, the minister said the government is avoiding a set target for now, while it studies the reduction numbers included in Lahey’s report.

Lahey said his recommende­d changes would reduce clearcutti­ng from an estimated 65 per cent of all harvesting on Crown land to between 20 and 25 per cent.

“It’s about putting the science and ecological considerat­ions first before you arrive at a number and not putting a political target ... and then working backwards to find the science to justify that target,” said Rankin. “It requires full analysis.”

According to federal figures, about 90 per cent of wood harvested in Nova Scotia is clear cut.

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