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>> As a general rule of th --000000000000f7ed9d056b9ee5d7 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I hear you Bev, though the best care that we could give flora and fauna would be to fix forestry and enforce wetland regulations. Right now we do not understand that non native species are part of nature. We excuse ourselves but like us species move and are moved. There is no difference betwern between a native and a non native. All our existing communities are made of species that were wiped out of NS by glaciation and then had to come back piece meal into the province over thousands of years...all at different times. So when we see something new, it most likely will fit on somewhere although it may undermine something else. The fish communities are most threatened but they continue to change and we can't predict the reordering. Trout will hang in but its distribution will shift. Naturalists are losing their lobby group power when they go on about invasives. We can be given programs and funds to intervene in trying to return a nature to a once state that we think is the right one. A lot of resources and wasted time but government will be happy because they have us doing something feeling useful and not interfering with land use management....forestry....wetland protection from development...marine protected areas. We could do a lot of fighting windmills or we could understand that nature is the whole thing and we need to protect processes and let nature do its job...evolve and adjust. Sorry to be an old harp but I'm seeing society being used here N On Mon, May 7, 2018, 11:37 AM Bev Wigney, <bkwigney@gmail.com> wrote: > David, > > I did some checking around online and didn't find much. I see that > Fred and Nick have already weighed in on this. Environment Canada's > rather outdated page about provincial partner programs mentions > Project U.F.O. at Cape Breton University as "currently the only public > outreach initiative in Nova Scotia that is focused solely on IAS." I > tried to find out more about it, but hit dead links and old websites, > so I don't know if the program is active or even in existence. Maybe > someone reading this will know more. > > I believe that there actually *should* be some part of the provincial > Ministry of Environment that would be tasked with recording data, > reporting, identifying, etc.. as here are supposed to be in each > province. Now, I did find an online publication about invasive > species in NS -- oddly, there is a PDF file with photos and headers, > but what appears to be gibberish text as though it is a mock-up for > something that was in the works at one time -- perhaps someone on here > will know more about the publication and whether it was ever > completed(?). > http://www.ap.smu.ca/~lcampbel/NSInvasiveAlienSpeciesGuide.pdf > > Unfortunately, what this puts me in mind of, is my very recent > enquiries into whether there is some office or even a single living > person who takes their responsibility seriously, in some part of the > provincial government -- or some other entitiy -- who is diligently > reviewing MNR's Harvest Plan Maps to see if there is overlap of > habitat for Species at Risk with proposed clear-cuts..... like, > doesn't that seem like something one should do some serious > back-checking before green-lighting the hacking down large areas of > forest? This occurred to me after I began studying bird atlas maps > and overlaying them with proposed tracts for clear-cutting. After > quite a bit of emailing around, I discovered that it seems that, no, > there isn't actually anyone who seems to be specifically tasked with > this duty. However, if one were to know for a fact that there was a > SAR bird (for argument's sake) with a nest in a place being logged, > there is a way to report that to some kind of hot line, and presumably > there will be some follow up. However, otherwise, it seems like > critical SAR habitat isn't protected and pretty much here for the > taking. That said, there are qualified people who can make > recommendations about not harming specific tracts of land if it is > deemed that is a good idea and they can make a strong enough argument, > but it sounds like it's not particularly simple or successful. In any > case, while this is a different matter, basically I'm now left with > the impression that there may be no one "really" at the wheel > regarding either invasive alien species, or protection of habitat for > Species At Risk. Coming from Ontario where at least there are some > living human entities tasked with such things, and they seem take > their jobs relatively seriously, it's a bit of a shocker to discover > that there seems to be little in place here in Nova Scotia -- and that > we naturalists have probably been sitting here thinking that there is > actually some intelligent being overseeing the welfare of flora and > fauna. It's been rather like having Toto tug back the curtain to > reveal that there's isn't and probably never was a Great Oz here in > Nova Scotia. > > Bev Wigney > Round Hill > > > On 5/7/18, David Patriquin <David.Patriquin@dal.ca> wrote: > > 'Lot's of discussion about invasive species... but so far I have no > report > > on the occurrence of dog-strangling vine in NS (other than the one I > cited > > for the Port George area) which is what I wanted to determine.. how > common > > is it here? > > > > > > Also, I wondered if there is a group/gov agency which is actively keepi= ng > > track of invasives in NS > > > > > > 'Any help on these appreciated > > > > > > ________________________________ > > From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca <naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca> on > > behalf of Nick Hill <fernhillns@gmail.com> > > Sent: Saturday, May 5, 2018 4:37 PM > > To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > > Subject: Re: Re[2]: [NatureNS] Dog-strangling vine in Nova Scotia > > > > Calm...i lived in southeast Kentucky > > We had kudzu vine that swallowed abandoned houses...crossex roads via > phone > > lines > > Scary but before we call Jesus and Mary we notice it did not enter inta= ct > > woodland and was restricted to about 30m from the roaside. > > We do have a couple of plants that are 9f concern because they do get > into > > fairly intact ecosystems. I'd put glossy buckthorn at the top of the li= st > > and then in terms of potential for harm given reports from elsewhere, > I'd be > > concerned about the spread of garlic mustard. > > &g