Comment submitted to halifaxfieldnaturalists.ca on November 3, 2009:

Long Lake in East Uniacke under threat

From: Angela Hodder
shodder@accesswave.ca
website: longlake.landandwater.ca

I live in Mount Uniacke Nova Scotia and our community has been fighting a proposed development in Long Lake. Our Long Lake is approx. 16 kms, and virtually pristine as is undeveloped land. The publicland.ca website (http://www.publicland.ca/easthants.html) has this to say about the Long Lake area:
There are dozens of "Long Lakes" in Nova Scotia. This one lies in the midst of old growth forest in central Hants County. The towering white and red pines at Long Lake make up one of the largest old forest concentrations in central Nova Scotia. The site also boasts several thousand feet of undeveloped lake frontage.

Long lake
Photo by Douglas M. Smith
**It is one of only four counties in Nova Scotia without a single acre of designated Wilderness Area.

**Just 168 of the County's 313,050 hectares are protected (0.05% of the County).

** The Province considers the level of land protection to be "inadequate" for seven of the eight natural regions found in the County.

** The County's population is expected to increase by 24% by 2021.

** It is being logged faster than most other regions.

Crown lands account for just 12% of Hants County, compared to 28% province-wide. The low proportion of public land is the main reason for the lack of protected spaces. Yet a 1998 evaluation of Crown lands in central Nova Scotia by the Ecology Action Centre found that many of the County's public lands merit protection to safeguard old forests, tourism and recreation values, watercourses, and to provide adequate landscape representation.

In September 2000 the Municipality of East Hants called on the provincial government to legally protect five tracts of public wilderness within the municipality: South Maitland, Long Lake, Devils Jaws, and two sites at Nine Mile River. Their resolution also called for a development moratorium in these areas. Council also called for a Wilderness Area assessment of the County's largest Crown land block near Stanley.

A "Cottage Country" bare land condominimum will be built on this land if approved by council. Somehow this land was rezoned R1 in 2000/2001 from forestry and the land owner Wagner has an äs of right"now to subdivide. Wagner (forestry Co.) has advised if Cottage Country development is not accepted by council in East Hants he will develop the land. We are devestated this last untouched lake with many resources may slip away and want this to be protected land. Why, if there are so many protected areas in the province, does the Mount Uniacke area and its Long Lake continue to be ignored?

The Municipality of East Hants has no land set aside for protection and government has set aside money for land purchase. Our councilors have two options to pick from development by Wagner and development by Cottage Country, can you advise how we could possible gain a third option for council? Our municipality is poor and cannot purchase the land.

Any assistance and support you could give would be greatly appreciated in this matter. Please visit the URL and click on letters to council for more info.