Part 3: The missing water quality science says logging has “severe implications for surface water quality" and the "effect on migratory fish may be permanent."
Linda asks: What are the chances of a forest regenerating in that landscape (“thin/ absent soil cover”) ? Well, something will regenerate, but usually the next rotation is ecologically and economically inferior to the forest it replaced, and especially so if clearcutting is the harvest method used. The late Ralph Johnson, formerly the chief forester for Bowater Mersey, had this to say in his 1986 book "The Forests of Nova Scotia": ...clearcutting of extensive areas in Nova Scotia is second only to fire in being detrimental to the ecosystem, and the greater the percentage of biomass removed, the worse it is. Even where logging debris is left following clearcutting, soil fertility is reduced. ... As clearcutting continues in succeeding forest generations, the acreage thus degraded increases. " It is forest industry fantasy that our forest lands can be repeatedly harvested on ever-shorter rotations without dire consequences. The cumulative degradation caused by industrial logging cascades throughout the ecosystem, and eventually impacts the Atlantic whitefish and all living things.
Well Done Linda. What a prodigious amount of research and digging you have done to expose the machinations of our government and private corporations. All these land use/ forestry practices are being done with blatant disregard for everything but short term profit. The damage done by the Harper Conservative government with regards to shutting down scientific programs and conservation initiatives was a major setback and we are still recoiling from them. Subsequent governments have been woefully inadequate in rectifying the damage. It’s a sad state of affairs that it is left up to a few concerned unpaid, voluntary individuals and groups to protect the land that our elected, paid government officials are supposed to.
Thank you, Paul. I agree that once these cutbacks are made there is almost no coming back from them. Subsequent governments tend not to change much. This is how neoliberalism works... and all parties, regardless of stripe, tend to fall in line. Thanks again for your photographs. They are absolutely beautiful.
Fabulous work, as always, Linda. Wonder how Zwicker and the Freemans and their allies on the inside who enable these environmental crimes can face themselves in the mirror.
The Atlantic Whitefish is such a potentially good news story, but in so many places in NS where it has come down to forestry versus the fish (Freeman & Co involved positively and negatively in more than one of them: http://nsforestnotes.ca/2018/04/19/siltation-sawmills-and-salmon-on-the-medway/), the fish have lost. At least they have in the past. It's 2022, surely it's time to move on. We have the science to do it. We just need honesty and full transparency. Thx LP for a good dose of the latter.
Thank you for more follow-up on the Atantic Whitefish situation. I hope that Bridgewater will be able to fend off the potential damage that industrial forestry could do to its watershed and to the Atlantic Whitefish habitat. Here on the Annapolis River side of the province, we are seeing the ill effects of massive clearcutting and other harvests on watersheds such as the Round Hill River which are now being inundated any time there are heavy rains or snow melts as there is so little holding things together anymore. Very sad situation. I'd hate to see this kind of ecological damage repeated in the Bridgewater watershed.
Linda asks: What are the chances of a forest regenerating in that landscape (“thin/ absent soil cover”) ? Well, something will regenerate, but usually the next rotation is ecologically and economically inferior to the forest it replaced, and especially so if clearcutting is the harvest method used. The late Ralph Johnson, formerly the chief forester for Bowater Mersey, had this to say in his 1986 book "The Forests of Nova Scotia": ...clearcutting of extensive areas in Nova Scotia is second only to fire in being detrimental to the ecosystem, and the greater the percentage of biomass removed, the worse it is. Even where logging debris is left following clearcutting, soil fertility is reduced. ... As clearcutting continues in succeeding forest generations, the acreage thus degraded increases. " It is forest industry fantasy that our forest lands can be repeatedly harvested on ever-shorter rotations without dire consequences. The cumulative degradation caused by industrial logging cascades throughout the ecosystem, and eventually impacts the Atlantic whitefish and all living things.
I so appreciate you weighing in on this, Wade.
Well Done Linda. What a prodigious amount of research and digging you have done to expose the machinations of our government and private corporations. All these land use/ forestry practices are being done with blatant disregard for everything but short term profit. The damage done by the Harper Conservative government with regards to shutting down scientific programs and conservation initiatives was a major setback and we are still recoiling from them. Subsequent governments have been woefully inadequate in rectifying the damage. It’s a sad state of affairs that it is left up to a few concerned unpaid, voluntary individuals and groups to protect the land that our elected, paid government officials are supposed to.
Thank you, Paul. I agree that once these cutbacks are made there is almost no coming back from them. Subsequent governments tend not to change much. This is how neoliberalism works... and all parties, regardless of stripe, tend to fall in line. Thanks again for your photographs. They are absolutely beautiful.
Fabulous work, as always, Linda. Wonder how Zwicker and the Freemans and their allies on the inside who enable these environmental crimes can face themselves in the mirror.
Thanks, Joan. It does boggle the mind, but I think the legal system has to change so that this kind of environmental damage is recognized as a crime.
The Atlantic Whitefish is such a potentially good news story, but in so many places in NS where it has come down to forestry versus the fish (Freeman & Co involved positively and negatively in more than one of them: http://nsforestnotes.ca/2018/04/19/siltation-sawmills-and-salmon-on-the-medway/), the fish have lost. At least they have in the past. It's 2022, surely it's time to move on. We have the science to do it. We just need honesty and full transparency. Thx LP for a good dose of the latter.
Thank you for more follow-up on the Atantic Whitefish situation. I hope that Bridgewater will be able to fend off the potential damage that industrial forestry could do to its watershed and to the Atlantic Whitefish habitat. Here on the Annapolis River side of the province, we are seeing the ill effects of massive clearcutting and other harvests on watersheds such as the Round Hill River which are now being inundated any time there are heavy rains or snow melts as there is so little holding things together anymore. Very sad situation. I'd hate to see this kind of ecological damage repeated in the Bridgewater watershed.