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Sustainable Maritimes: Recently Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources released guidelines for Hovercraft Use which will be of interest to Nova Scotians interested in protecting wildlife habitat. The new provincial guidelines and Natural Resources' response to specific questions about hovercraft use on and near McNabs and Lawlor Islands Provincial Park are attached below. Catherine McCarthy Friends of McNabs Island www.mcnabsisland.ca cathymc@accesscable.net (902) 434-2254 evenings ******************************** NS Department of Natural Resources Interim Guidelines for Hovercraft Use 1.) Operation of a hovercraft within the bounds of the following areas controlled by Nova Scotia Department Natural Resources (NSDNR) will be by a Departmental hovercraft permit: . Provincial Parks and Park Reserves. . Designated beaches and non designated beaches. Hovercraft operators wishing to operate on private land within the bounds of beaches designated under the Beaches Act must also obtain permission from those owning the private land. . Provincial Wildlife Management Areas, Wildlife Sanctuaries, and areas designated under the Endangered Species Act. 2.) A permit is not required to use a hovercraft on NSDNR Crown land not otherwise referenced in Guideline 1, subject to provisions of the Crown Lands Act, Wildlife Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Interim Guidelines for Hovercraft Use. 3.) Saltmarshes are extremely rich ecosystems, that are extensively used by a wide variety of wildlife species and can be easily damaged. Passage over exposed salt marshes is prohibited on Crown land administered by NSDNR and is not recommended on private land. 4.) No operator of a hovercraft shall destroy, disturb, or molest in any way the nesting site, feeding area, staging or concentration area of any wildlife or knowingly disturb or molest any wildlife. 5.) (A) In the case of beaches not within parks: Except with a permit from the Minister, no person shall operate a vessel in excess of five miles per hour (8 km/hr) within 200 feet (61 metres) of a beach when another person is known by the operator of the vessel to be present on the beach. (Beaches Act regulations - Section. 10) (B) In the case of provincial parks: No person shall operate a vessel at a rate of speed in excess of 5 miles per hour (8 km/hr) within 200 feet (61 metres) of the shoreline of a park. This restriction applies whether or not the area within 200 feet of the shoreline of a park is included within the designated boundaries of a park. (Provincial Parks Act regulations, Sections 32(1) and 32(2)) 6.) The use of a hovercraft should not infringe upon the reasonable enjoyment of, or cause harm to, other users of coastal and freshwater areas. 7.) It is recommended that permission be obtained to use private land, Federal land and Provincial Crown land controlled by Departments other than NSDNR. 8.) Permit applications shall be obtained at NSDNR Area Offices. The permit will include, but will not be limited to: frequency of use, hours of operation, dates of operation, defined area of use, operational speeds, and any other operational conditions and information required by NSDNR. 9.) Definition of terms in these Interim Guidelines: (A) "Beach" means that area of land on the coastline lying to the seaward of the mean high watermark and that area of land to landward immediately adjacent thereto to the distance determined by the Governor in Council, and includes any lakeshore area declared by the Governor in Council to be a beach. (B) "Crown lands" means land, whether or not it is covered by water, or an interest in land vested in Her Majesty in right of the Province. (C) "Minister" means the Minister of Natural Resources. (D) "Park" means an area of land designated as a provincial park pursuant to Section 8 of the Provincial Parks Act. (D) "Wildlife" includes all wild organisms and their habitats including wild plants, invertebrates and microorganisms and the birds and mammals traditionally regarded as wildlife. April 2002 *********************** NSDNR response to stakeholder consultation on NSDNR interim guidelines for Hovercraft use. In early April 2002, comments were sought from Friends of McNabs Island Society, Hovercraft Harbour Tours Ltd., and Wavelength Hovercraft Services Ltd. Comments were received from Friends and HHT, no response from Wavelength. The following is NSDNR's response to the comments. A. General The interim guidelines are intended to be an initial step to address hovercraft use on Crown land in the coming year. It would take too long to put regulations in place to be useful for this year. In addition there are too many uncertainties about the operations. We also want to test the applicability of existing regulations before proceeding with new ones. As experience is gained over time the guidelines may eventually lead to longer term ones or regulations. The document is actually a mixture of guidelines and existing regulations. For example guideline #5a and b are existing regulations that have some applicability to hovercraft use. Guidelines are management directives to govern an activity. They are a requirement to operate. Typically on Crown land people wanting to conduct an activity are obligated to follow guidelines. Non compliance with guidelines could result in a loss of privileges and opportunity to conduct business. Regulations are rules that have the legal backing of legislation and are enforceable by law. In either case Department staff are responsible for enforcement of the guidelines and regulations. This is accomplished by periodic monitoring of activity, the investigation of complaints and the application of policies and laws. These interim guidelines purposely make no specific reference to McNabs and Lawlors Islands because they are intended to be provincial in scope and apply to all park properties. Having said that the Department believes they will provide a good measure of management control for hovercraft use on and near McNabs and Lawlors. B. Specific guidelines Guideline #1. Permits are generally not required to operate hovercraft near and in close proximity to restricted areas listed in this guideline. There are existing regulations under the Beaches Act and Parks Act which put limits on vessel speed near beaches and parks. See guideline #5a and 5b. The Canadian Coast Guard is the agency which has primary jurisdiction over navigable waters. DNR has a map of the Halifax Harbour area that is available to hovercraft operators which shows the location of the restricted areas listed in this guideline. Guideline #2. The Department takes the approach of restricted areas and non restricted areas of Crown land with respect to vehicle/vessel use. Hovercraft operators require permits to access the restricted areas and do not need them in non restricted areas. Vehicle/vessel operators are required to be licensed, registered and compliant with the "rules of the road" under legislation specific to vehicles/vessels. They are also required to comply with all provisions of legislation which DNR has for land and resource management. The Crown Lands Act, Parks Act, Beaches Act, Wildlife Act and Endangered Species Act all have sections which address activities in general that may have a negative impact. Their overall purpose is to safeguard public resources and set out the rules for use and management. Guideline #3. Freshwater marshes fall under the jurisdiction of NS Dept. Environment and Labour whereas saltwater marshes come under NSDNR. Brackish water is considered to be salt water by DNR and for the purpose of these guidelines. McNabs pond is considered to be off bounds because it is within a restricted area in these guidelines. See guideline #1 and #5. Guideline #4. Disturb is a subjective term used to describe an impact which greatly upsets and agitates wildlife resulting in loss of feeding, nesting and resting areas. Persistent loud noise could be a disturbance to wildlife. These guidelines apply to Crown land but this type of provision is contained in the wildlife Act and proposed for wildlife management areas which could have application to private land. Guideline #5. This guideline has been split into two parts; 5a is governed by the Beaches Act and 5b is governed by the Provincial Parks Act. The definition of a beach is included in guideline #9. All types of shoreline are considered to be beaches. Guideline #6. Reasonable enjoyment is generally thought to be the type and quality of experience that one can expect from the rights and privileges extended for an activity through law, guidelines, policy, codes of practice. With regards to the proposed McNabs Island park, it will be a natural environment park. Activities should be consistent with this theme. A park management plan which is currently being prepared will identify allowable uses and activities. This guideline and the others herein will be monitored through reports from the public, communications with the operators and periodic observations by Department staff. Enforcement of these guidelines will be by Department staff. According to a recent HRM staff report complaints about noise will be referred to Halifax Regional Police. Complaints should be filed with the Departments Area office in Waverley. Complainants should provide their name and descriptive information about the incident, i.e. what, when where, who. Department staff will investigate complaints and take appropriate action. Guideline #7. This recommendation is brought forward to hovercraft operators by inclusion in this list of interim guidelines. Guideline #8. The Departments way of controlling hovercraft sound levels as they impact on areas of Crown land jurisdiction is by speed restrictions and separation distances, e.g. guideline #5. The criteria for issuing hovercraft permits are guidelines 1-7. Input into hovercraft permit applications for parks and park reserves as per guideline #1 will be sought from organizations partnered with the Department which have as their purpose an interest in the establishment and operation of specific provincial parks. For example a hovercraft permit application to operate within the bounds of McNabs and Lawlors Island park reserve will be referred by the Department to the McNabs and Lawlor Islands Provincial Park Advisory Committee for input. Hovercraft permit applications for other areas of Crown jurisdiction will be processed solely by the Department. The end. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- SUST-MAR TIP: messages to sust-mar must be plain text format (no HTML) -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
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