Activists Turn Their Backs On Commitment To Ecological Forestry
Following news that Paper Excellence is eyeing Liverpool for its new home, environmental activists began spreading disinformation. Worse still, they turned their backs on ecological forestry and rural Nova Scotians.
Environmental activists Ray Plourd and Mike Lancaster spoke to CBC, saying a new mill was unnecessary and the forests could not support it. Both of these statements are completely false.
Worse still, their statements show they are turning their backs on ecological forestry in Nova Scotia.
Ecological Forestry: An Overview
In 2018, Professor Bill Lahey released an independent review of forest practices in Nova Scotia, which outlined the triade forestry model.
Under this model, Crown lands are divided into three groups:
Conservation areas
Matrix zones - places where things such as light thinning can happen
Tree farms - where forestry can continue
Under this model, only 10 percent of Crown land can be used for tree farms.
Ensuring each zone exists and functions properly is important for the forest, the provincial economy, and forestry families who rely on forestry for their livelihoods.
Environmental Activists Initially Endorsed The Report
Initially, activists endorsed the report. In 2021, Plourde, the Health Forest Coalition that Lancaster represents, and other environmental activists complained that ecological forestry was taking too long to implement.
At the time, Plourde said, “We demand an immediate suspension of all logging on Crown lands until the government is ready to actually implement the recommendations of Lahey’s 2018 report …”
He went from demanding immediate action on Lahey’s report to demanding key sections of the report be ignored. By trying to block the mill, Plourde is trying to block the development of a new market for low-grade wood. Lahey’s report argued that we need new markets for low-grade wood from thinning, downed trees, or the leftovers from lumber production.
Lahey noted a lack of buyers for this material, “[There is] a significant loss in the regionally based demand for low‐quality wood, much of which could be sold as pulpwood. This results in an absence of buyers of wood from woodlots in the region having a significant percentage of low‐quality wood, or an absence of buyers willing to give the owners of these woodlots a value for their low‐quality wood that is acceptable to the owners.”
He also noted that much of Nova Scotian forests are not managed, possibly because of the lack of customers to sell to. According to Lahey, “My conclusion is that the low productivity of Nova Scotia forests stems from the fact that much of the forest is not really managed at all, due either to landowner choice or to the lack of opportunity or incentive available to landowners.”
When activists try to block new markets for low-grade wood, we harm the forest’s productivity and health. This means:
More downed trees will be left to dry out and rot, adding to wildfire risk.
More than 20,000 woodlot owners cannot make enough money to manage their woodlots properly.
Hundreds of jobs are lost, as are the opportunities created by those jobs.
The forestry’s ability to sequester carbon is limited.
Lancaster Misleads on Harvest Levels
Mike Lancaster, the coordinator of the Healthy Forest Coalition, doesn’t think another mill is necessary. He said the forests cannot support another mill, which is false.
“It is immoral and unacceptable for a professional activist to celebrate the loss of good-paying jobs,” said Forest Nova Scotia executive director Stephen Moore. “The mill's closure cost 500 families their livelihoods, yet he says their jobs are unnecessary.”
“Worse still, he’s actively spreading misinformation,” added Moore.
The Province of Nova Scotia produces a Registry of Buyers Report each year. This report outlines harvest levels and economic activity in the province.
According to the latest report, total harvests are dramatically down. In 2005, we harvested over 6 million cubic meters. In 2022, this number fell to 2.6 million cubic meters. In less than 20 years, harvest rates declined substantially.
Source: 2023 Registry of Buyers Report
When placed in historical context, these harvest levels are nearly at all-time lows. The last time we harvested this amount was in 1937.
Source: 2023 Registry of Buyers Report
We are harvesting approximately one-third of what is sustainable, and less than one percent of our forests are harvested yearly.
Forestry Jobs Are Green Jobs
The sector harvests trees and plants them. Each year, Nova Scotia forestry professionals plant 12 million trees, and an additional 8 million more are regrown naturally on land we manage.
Because of our tree planting and forest management activities, forestry removes more carbon from the environment than it emits.
And they are good-paying jobs. An economic analysis prepared for the Forestry Economic Task Force shows:
The direct employees at mills are well-paid, with an average income of $66,500.
The average income for those employed in indirect activities, including forestry and support services, is $58,200.
Nova Scotia’s average income is just over $43,000.
Activists Are Not Experts
Both Plourde and Lancaster embraced Lahey’s recommendations. They went from calling for faster implementation of ecology forestry to actively blocking key recommendations. They cannot be trusted to guide public policy or to have reasonable, grown-up discussions.
Nova Scotia’s economy is the worst-performing economy in North America, and we have some of the worst child poverty rates in Canada. We are facing serious challenges and problems.
We can only solve these problems when serious people have grown-up conversations.
