KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – The province is proposing that lands near Coolen Lake, straddling Lunenburg County and HRM, be clearcut.

The targeted lands contain one of the oldest remaining forests in the Maritimes, let alone Nova Scotia, a post on the Healthy Forest Coalition Facebook page states .

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The Healthy Forest Coalition consists of organizations and individuals united in their wish to safeguard Nova Scotia’s forests.

“With an average age over 271 years and a presence of individual trees at least 422 years old, this forest is now proposed to be harvested as a uniform shelterwood, or, as the National Forestry Database would refer to it as, a clearcut,” Mike Lancaster, Stewardship Coordinator with the St.Margaret’s Bay Stewardship Association writes.

“Last year, the Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute, using the Department of Lands and Forestry’s own Old Forest assessment score sheet, determined that this forest is, in fact Old Growth and deemed it to be “one of the most significant finds in the Maritimes”. See more about their assessment here,” writes Lancaster.

The coalition asks that people submit comments on the HPM Viewer now and also send their concerns to ForestryMaps@novascotia.ca, to Minister of Lands and Forestry Iain Rankin – mindnr@novascotia.ca, and your local MLA – find their email here. Submit your comments by Jan. 19, 2019.

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