[NatureNS] Crown land forests - suggestions for ground-truthing sites

DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed;
From: "John Kearney" <j.f.kearney@gmail.com>
To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
References: <CAD_MH0PDaftBSeq5efKT+YT2_Q6F_qABn8D2Ospn0RmrPsZ6yA@mail.gmail.com> <fe3d97d3-b1c1-e6db-5218-5aa3761da60c@eastlink.ca> <a71bb793-f848-50d5-280f-c7d1dd716b70@istar.ca> <17b38e99-7753-edfa-66da-c7f387ba4330@eastlink.ca>
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2019 08:48:54 -0400
Thread-Index: AQFHaOkCHcF9KW4y/N7hM/gNxsnQHgI+ShzEAXqaPDUBnR4BwKbiHnog
Precedence: bulk
Return-Path: <naturens-mml-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>
Original-Recipient: rfc822;"| (cd /csuite/info/Environment/FNSN/MList; /csuite/lib/arch2html)"

next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects

<a href="../index.html">Index of Subjects</
I've had some success in the past in halting proposed clearcuts on Crown land by documenting the presence of a SARA-listed species or NS endangered species on the parcel to be cut. It is important to send the information simultaneously to both the forest manager and the species-at-risk biologist within the Department of Lands and Forestry to promote intradepartmental dialogue and cooperation.

-----Original Message-----
From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca <naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca> On Behalf Of Donna Crossland
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2019 05:50
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Crown land forests - suggestions for ground-truthing sites

Thanks for the advice, Fred.  You're right, the follow-up documentation is essential (though perhaps less fun) and then after that there is the hurtle of having various decision-makers read and apply new facts/knowledge.  Everyone is so reliant on GIS layers these days to supply all the points rendered in decisions. I suppose we will have to suggest that they be added to certain GIS layers or it will be over-looked, conveniently or otherwise. In this era of rapid decline of many species coupled with poor management, the initiative of casting a net to the widest possible group(s) of naturalists to help catalogue species obs- location and abundance, etc, is of increasing importance.

I will forward your advice and Bev's new initiative to our group, Nature NS, as well.

Donna Crossland

On 2019-02-25 11:55 p.m., Frederick W. Schueler wrote:
> On 25-Feb.-19 10:10 p.m., Donna Crossland wrote:
>> This is a wonderful initiative.  I will finally hone some skills with 
>> iNaturalist, so it seems.  Bev and others will be good teachers.
>> What better use of a naturalist's time than combing our public 
>> forests for nature's treasures?
>
> * but you're going to have to formalize your results in documents, 
> sent in multiple copies to the attention of the ministries in charge, 
> because, at least in Ontario, the environment ministries and 
> environmental assessment rackets are well-blinkered experts in 
> ignoring the ordinary sources of knowledge about biodiversity: museum 
> collections, the peer reviewed and local natural history published 
> literature, and online provincial & national databases. They only heed 
> their own internal grey literature unless their noses are rubbed in 
> some more conventional info.  I bet they're almost as good at ignoring 
> eBird and iNat as they have been at ignoring the Ontario herp atlases.
>
> When we were reviewing http://www.dumpthisdump2.ca/ I published a 
> first record of a clover species for Ontario east of Windsor from the 
> proposed dump site in Trail & Landscape - the only local natural 
> history journal - and they missed both that and a paper about a SAR 
> we'd found, but they'd missed, at the site, that was peer-reviewed in 
> the Canadian Field-Naturalist.
>
> So call it a serial publication, "Ground-Truthing Nova Scotia Forests" 
> or something, and put out an issue for each of your trips, send pdf's 
> to ministry officials, and deposit a hard copy with Andrew Hebda at 
> the NS Museum, and maybe at the NB Museum so you'll have an out of 
> province repository.
>
> fred.
> ================================================
>
>> Song bird surveys and nest surveys will also be useful.  The harvest 
>> at Corbett Lake will surely NOT take place during nesting season, yet 
>> another assault on a forest with old growth and plenty of nest cavity 
>> trees.
>>
>> It is a sad reflection on the lack of good governance over the 
>> 'peoples' forests' (public Crown lands), with continued clearcutting, 
>> particularly on very sensitive, poor soils in the southwest.  And so 
>> it comes about that local folks feel the need to provide more 
>> oversight;  a neighbourhood watch, of sorts, over nature's bounty.
>>
>> Thanks to Bev.
>>
>> Donna Crossland
>>
>> On 2019-02-25 10:24 a.m., Bev Wigney wrote:
>>> Everyone,
>>>
>>> I know there has been very little discussion about harvests of Crown 
>>> land forests here on NatureNS, but I'm putting out a somewhat 
>>> related request.   Here in Annapolis Royal area, we've been 
>>> organizing a ground-truthing group to make occasional forays to 
>>> check out Crown land forests that have a fair likelihood of being 
>>> good candidates for biodiversity - forests that would qualify as 
>>> ecologically significant under the Lahey triad model.  This group 
>>> has come about after a couple of previous forays to inspect forests 
>>> that were slated for clearcuts or uniform shelterwood cuts (2-stage 
>>> clearcutting).  In the case of the hardwood parcel at 
>>> Corbett-Dalhousie Lake, we were astounded to find multi-age "old 
>>> forest" climax hardwood trees -- Yellow Birch that were 8 feet in 
>>> circumference, as well as many large Sugar Maple and Red Spruce.  
>>> The fate of that forest is still somewhat uncertain - it will be 
>>> harvested in some way this spring, but we don't really know to what 
>>> extent.  In any case, our forays have taught us that there is a need 
>>> to know more about the Crown land forests in our region. It is not 
>>> enough to wait for them to turn up on the Harvest Plan Map Viewer
>>> (HPMV) list of "parcels" awaiting approval for harvest.  With a 
>>> scant 40-day comment period, that doesn't give our group much time 
>>> to get out to ground-truth a forest, especially if it suddenly 
>>> appears on the list in mid-winter -- as was the case with the 
>>> Corbett-Dalhousie Lake forest - although 18 of us did go out to walk it on Boxing Day.
>>> Unfortuantely, we still have no true idea of the extent of its 
>>> biodiversity and won't have much chance to take a serious look at 
>>> that before the harvest equipment moves in -- but we have learned 
>>> from this experience.  Waiting for forests to show up on the harvest 
>>> lists is not the way to go.
>>>
>>> So, to cut to the chase -- what I am