‘A temporary halt’ to tree cutting
Lichen discovery pauses tree-harvesting on South Mountain in Annapolis County
It appears that a tiny microbe has stalled the progress of 30tonne tree harvesters.
“A temporary halt has been put on the plan to cut the forest we are protecting because some rare lichens have been identified there,” said Nina Newington, a member of the group encamped in Annapolis County for more than seven weeks to protest a planned tree harvest.
“This does not mean the forest is now protected and we can go home, far from it. But it is a step in the right direction.”
Newington said it’s a “remarkable find,” to locate the three lichen, especially the frosted glass whisker lichen.
“It’s a very rare lichen that grows only on very old trees, generally,” Newington said. “You don’t find a whole bunch of them in one place.”
They are tiny and hard to spot.
“You have to peer into the rotting crack of the red maple and let your eyes adjust to see the little pink heads and stems,” Newington said.
Newington was told that by a lichen enthusiast who a week ago came to visit the forest near the Last Hope camp, the name Newington and other Extinction Rebellion protesters have given their encampment in the woods on South Mountain near Beals Brook.
Newington said the lichen searcher found three kinds of rare and sensitive lichens growing on oak and maple close to the nearby swamp and all three are listed as species at risk and require special management practices.
FUNGUS FIND
The fungus find was reported to the provincial Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
Spokesman Steven Stewart said in an email on Jan. 26 that the department was alerted to several potential occurrences of a rare lichen and placed a temporary hold on the harvest plan.
"A lichenologist has been contacted to visit the site to confirm the occurrence and review the surrounding area near the harvest for other potential occurrences," Stewart said. "This work is expected to be completed within the next week."
Stewart said the department will take necessary steps to protect and conserve species at risk.
Buffer zones will be applied to any confirmed occurrences of lichen before the temporary hold is lifted, he said. The buffer zone would be 100 metres.
Jamie Lewis, president of WestFor, the forestry management company that contracts approved Crown land harvests, said Jan. 26 he hadn't heard anything about a lichen delay. “That’s news to me,” Lewis said.
Newington and her band of protesters arrived at the site to set up camp on Dec. 2 and they understood the harvest was originally scheduled to begin by mid-December.
“It’s an approved block but I’m not involved in the day-today with all those decisions,” Lewis said of the harvest. “I’m not sure where that stands right now.”
Newington, who has been involved in forestry protests before, particularly in Digby County more than a year ago, said the lichen discovery throws into question past harvest approvals by the provincial department, approvals that were to have included careful planning, reviews and monitoring.
“The thing that you think about is that (natural resources) are not coming out and looking at these harvest parcels before they approve the harvests,” Newington said.
“Here’s this forest that local people told us was of high ecological value and we believe them because they’ve been here for 60 years cruising through this land and they know what they are talking about.
But DNR doesn’t talk to local people to find out the value of the forest they are going to cut down, they don’t tell anyone what they are up to.”
HARVEST MAP
Newington said people who live nearby would have to search on a harvest plan map to notice that, “gosh, this is a forest that I’ve loved for 60 years and stopped Bowater from cutting 20 years ago.”
“What kind of process is that,” she said.
When the department has completed its survey, Newington said it could then decide to go ahead with the cut, ensuring a 100-metre buffer zone around each lichen find.
She said her hope is that enough rare lichens will be found in enough locations to make a harvest unworkable.
Newington said the protesters, who have been spending some frigid winter nights in a canvas rollover prospector tent heated by a woodstove, won’t let their guard down.
“We are as committed as ever to protecting this forest and that means no cutting in there,” Newington said.
“So we will keep the camp going but we can relax a little until the survey has been done.”