Voluntary Planning

Vision:
Sustainable, to provide resource to maintain our standard of living and for all to enjoy.

Strengths:
A healthy forest will keep it renewable and give an area for wildlife to grow and biodiversity to be maintained. Our parks like Graves Island was not managed to have a healthy forest. The old and deceased wood should have been removed. Now that it is in the state of decline,we should look at making this a major tourist spot for people to see our beautiful seacoast and join in on local events.

Barriers and Issues:
One barrier for good forest management is the lack of knowledge of the general public. I myself purchased a couple of wood lots. My father and brothers worked in the woods all of their lives. So I ask my one brother to work with me helping manage my forest. Well we walked the lots and he told me what should be done with each area. We worked together and over several years done some of his recommendations and some I would not do because I liked the look of the big spruce and hardwood trees. I guess I was looking for the forest to become a park. Well the old spruce died and blew out and the big hardwood did not gain much in value. The spruce that was to tall and was ready to harvest, blew out. The fur trees that was mature and should have been harvest, died. Maybe I should have listened to him a little closer. I'm an electrician by trade and you know I would not leave a forester wire my house so why did I think I could tell him how to manage a forest.

A lot of people need to be told that clear cutting is a means of good forest practise but there is also wood lots that can be managed by select harvesting. NOT KNOWING RIGHT FROM WRONG HAS CAUSED A LOT OF FALSEHOOD. Some forestry workers do a much better job leaving their work site in a state of respect for the forest. One problem is they do not get paid any extra for doing a good job and at times it my cost them more to do a good job. I do not see a lot of rich woods workers. I see a lot of hard work with food on the table. The big machines that replaced the man with a power saw has made an impact that might not be what Nova Scotia needs. Far more foresters go bankrupt today then what we seen in years past, before the big machines. We do need wood to our mills that they can afford to maintain their operations, but we also need to maintain our forest without destruction of its surroundings. It maybe time for the government to look at paying a supplement to the well managed wood lots. In this way a man with a small machine would be as economically viable as the big machines. This would help rural Nova Scotia keep their people and their jobs.

Community's Priorities:
The government did a good job by starting to buy back some of its forest. This helps keep our mills running in hard times and will provide areas of more recreational use for tourist and the general public. A win win for all parties.

Guiding the health and sustainability:
Working together for the good of Nova Scotia.

Additional Comments:
Mining has some good but more bad. Be very careful about allowing uranium mining because the wealth will leave the province and the death will stay. The majority of Nova Scotian's don't want it, leave it in the ground. It will always be there.

Tidal power is a natural resource that needs to be managed for Nova Scotia. Don't give it away. This resource can be developed by the province for the people. DO IT.