November 20, 2009
WWW.nswooa.ca
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902 633-2108
Hello Woodlot Owners!
Flora to the Rescue
Sometimes we need a bit of help from our friends. This time the help came in an email from Flora Johnson, suggesting that an item titled Forests count in our fight against climate change, by David Suziki and Faisal Moola in the October 23 issue of “Science Matters,” might be appropriate for discussion in our Update.
The article notes that the way we destroy the forests leads to the extinction of species and also affects climate change. It suggests “we need to adopt a carbon stewardship approach to how we use our forest:”
In Canada and throughout the world, forests are being rapidly cleared for agriculture and oil and gas development and are being destructively mined and logged. When forest soils are disturbed and trees are burned or cut down for wood and paper products, much of the carbon stored in their biomass is released back into the atmosphere as heat-trapping carbon dioxide, although some carbon can remain stored in longer-lived forest products, like wood used to make furniture or homes. (Quoted portions used by permission).
It is noted that some scientists would like to set aside one half of all intact forests and seriously modify how we use the remainder.
That doesn't mean that the logging companies should be allowed to trash the other 50 per cent. Forests that we do manage for wood and paper production should be logged according to the highest standards of ecosystem-based management, without clear-cutting, and with adequate protection for wildlife habitat like caribou, as well as sensitive areas like wetlands. *
We might be tempted to look at the words “Boreal Forest” and discount this article as not applicable to our Acadian Forest. It is interesting therefore, to note that the Chronicle Herald’ on Monday November 26 carried an item titled “What? Burning the forest creates ‘green’ energy?” The author is Dan Leger, the paper’s manager of news content, and he also discusses biomass harvest and what it does to the forests. The incredulity expressed by his choice of title gives us cause to ponder this big rush to biomass energy.
While the Suziki/Moola article goes on to discuss the role of governments, the Kyoto Protocol and the upcoming Copenhagen Summit, we as woodlot owners in the Acadian Forest are left to contemplate our practices in the forest. Also, it is becoming clearer that the promotion of carbon storage in our forests is going to be a part of our approach to climate control in the future. What sort of plan or program would work here, and how does it impact on what uses of forest fibre are going to be acceptable in the future?
About that Book
The NSWOOA Update has been a huge promoter of Jamie Simpson’s Restoring the Acadian Forest, and has in the past featured a number of excerpts. Lately we have been receiving questions about how the book is doing, if it is still available and if so, where.
According to Jamie, the first printing of 500 books in February 2009 sold out in four months, and the second printing of 1000 books has sold 400 copies already. And the book has received praise from a number of quarters. For example:
"Simpson is clearly a conscientious and concerned woodlot owner, and has provided a thorough resource for others that are like-minded. Woodlot owners who are interested in rehabilitating their woodlot to a more diverse and resistant Acadian forest will find this book indispensable."
David Coon, Conservation Council of NB
EcoAlert, Spring 2009
"The book is clearly written and does not become bogged down in highly technical discussions. When it introduces new concepts, it explains them in ways most woodlot owners should be able to understand."
Mitch Lansky
Atlantic Forestry Review, May 2009
The book can be purchased over the internet at www.restelluris.ca (credit card), or by phone at 902 429 1335, or by mail at 2705 Fern Ln, Halifax NS, B3K 4L3. Also can be purchased at the following locations:
EAC office in Halifax (2705 Fern Ln)
Outside the Lines Bookstore, Halifax
Bookmark, Halifax
Biscuit Eater, Mahone Bay
Box of Delights, Wolfville
Whirligig Book Shop, Shelburne
Helping Nature Heal, Bridgewater
Word by Word, Antigonish
Readers' Haven Book Store, Windsor
Mersey Tobiatic Research Institute, Kempt
The Green Barn, Annapolis Royal
Infor, Fredericton, NB (www.infor.ca)
Westminster Books, Fredericton, NB
Tidewater Books, Sackville, NB
Conservation Council of NB, Fredericton, NB
Boutique la Baliene, St. Andrews, NB
Macphail Woods Ecological Forestry Project, PEI
Price is $25, including shipping, or $20 if picked up in person.
A Timely Reminder from Patricia Amero
Perhaps you can remind people to be careful in and around the woods during deer hunting season, and to wear lots of orange. If you are a woodlot owner and do not wish to have people hunt on your land or as a woodlot owner you don't mind hunting as long permission is granted so you know whose on your land, place signs around the property's perimter stating "No hunting" or "No hunting without permission" and provide a phone #. Let's face it it can be quite difficult to control who travels and hunts on your land but you can be proactive and practice diligence by placing signs and contact information.
The Second Round
The NSWOOA has been asked by the Panel of Experts to make a submission on forest management, the second part of the process initiated by the Voluntary Planning led public sessions. Many thanks to Wade Prest for taking on this task. Here is our submission:
