Campout planned on public forest lands

The Friends of Redtail Society is calling on members, neighbours and interested citizens to join them on Nova Scotia’s public forest lands for May Days.

Last year FRS board member Billy MacDonald camped out for the entire month of May on the Porter Road crown land that borders and is the upland watershed to FRS land. He was frequently joined by others to walk the land, document flora, fauna, cultural and other land features, to pick up garbage or just sit and enjoy the view. A campout is planned again this year for four days beginning Friday, May 5.

As part of the Society’s Talking Forests educational series, several events are planned on site for May Days, weather permitting, including a night walk starting at dusk on Friday, an open-air film screening on Saturday and a tree planting demonstration on Sunday.

The film, Call of the Forest: The Forgotten Wisdom of Trees, featuring Diana Beresford-Kroeger will be shown on Saturday, preceded by a slide show of images taken by Joella Arsenault last year on the Porter Road Public Land before and after the Port Hawkesbury Paper cut. Start time is 9 p.m.

On Sunday, a tree planting demonstration with Tom Miller will start at 10 a.m., and will include, but not be limited to, hardwood and softwood species, commercial and “homemade” transplants, and tips on digging up and transplanting native trees from the woods, fields or roadsides. Discussion will revolve around proper care before, during and after planting as well as micro-site selection. Miller has been involved in the forest industry for 42 years, 15 of them as a tree planting contractor.

Camp setup will start first thing on May 5, and campers are asked to bring their own gear, food and water. Other activities planned for the long weekend are garbage pick-up along the Porter Road and walking the areas cut by PHP last fall.

For more information, visit friendsofredtail.ca or email info@friendsofredtail.ca.