The Healthy Forest Coalition is sponsoring a “Forest Funeral” on Thursday, October 19th, 2017 – 1:00 pm, meeting at the Grand Parade Square (1770 Barrington Street) for a march to PROVINCE HOUSE.
HFN is member of the Healthy Forest Coalition. We invite all members and friends to join this event. Continue reading
From the Mac Run folks:
The McIntosh Run Watershed Association (MRWA) is pleased to announce the official opening of the first 2 km of singletrack trails in the McIntosh Run Trail System. Join us for ribbon-cutting and trail tours (hiking and biking) on Monday September 25th at 6:00 pm at the Norawarren Drive Park in Herring Cove (map to trailhead). The trails were built by volunteer labour, with financial and in-kind support from the Province of Nova Scotia, Dillon Consulting, Scotia Scapes Landscaping, BroMoc Print, Custom Clean Atlantic and Bicycle Nova Scotia. MRWA volunteers have invested over 2000 hours in building these trails – come help us celebrate this achievement!
The McIntosh Run Trail System will be over 25 km of singletrack trails for non-motorized recreation on public land between Spryfield and Herring Cove, authorized by the Province and HRM, designed, built and managed by MRWA, with funding from private and public sources. The system will connect Spryfied to Herring Cove through a combination of new trails and adopted existing informal trails. The trails are designed and built for (and by) hikers, bikers, runners and snowshoers according to standards used worldwide for shared non-motorized singletrack trails. We aim to draw a diversity of people into the wild areas surrounding the McIntosh Run, and to make it fun so that kids of all ages will want to come back again and again.
The McIntosh Run flows from Long Lake, through Spryfield, across the “Backlands” and into the ocean at Herring Cove. The McIntosh Run Watershed Association (MRWA) was founded in 1994 to protect the river and its watershed. We promote awareness and stewardship of the river and the watershed by facilitating sustainable public access to the wild lands surrounding the river.
To learn more about MRWA and the trails please visit our website: www.mcintoshrun.ca
We hope to see you on Monday!
Our first fall meeting will be held on Thursday evening, Sep 7 (2017) beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History on Summer Street in Halifax.
The featured speaker is Dr. Laura Ferguson who will walk us through how insects survive the winter, from creating their own antifreezes to “re-animation” from a frozen state.
As usual there will be Nature Notes and Announcements and a juice & cookie social after the talk. All are welcome!
HFN’s full fall program is given on our Walks and Talks page.
Clearcuts and planned clearcuts on Crown land in Halifax Co.
A detailed response was received from NSDNR Minister Margaret Miller on Aug 24, 2017.
The Conservation Committee expressed its thanks to Minister Miller for the response.
The Conservation Committee is currently reviewing the document and invites comments on the NSDNR Response from members.
In its pre-election budget address on April 27, 2017, the Liberal government announced
Yesterday (Aug 30) the government announced the review is beginning, that it would be headed up by University of King’s College President William Lahey and that it would take place in three phases with a final report on February 28, 2018.
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“Join three champions of intelligent forestry – author Jamie Simpson (“Restoring the Acadian Forest”), forest ecologist Donna Crossland, and forest carbon sequestration pioneer Dale Prest, for a weekend addressing the many ways forests benefit society – while absorbing practical knowledge for understanding and managing your own woodlot. Small class limited to 15. A few seats left.”
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“Participants in this year’s Backyard Forestry workshop will learn about basic forest ecology and how to work with a piece of land to encourage ecological and economical value. Topics covered will include: Identifying tree and shrub species, and their ecological roles in the forest; choosing which trees to cut and which trees to leave; how to promote wildlife habitat; what landowners can do to increase forest carbon storage; how our forests have changed, and what we can do to promote natural forests; what we can learn from natural disturbances in the forest; where to obtain funding for silviculture activities; legal issues such as wood theft and capital gains tax, and, the virtues of a “messy” woodlot.” Read more on HFC Website
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Bob Bancroft is giving a presentation on Forestry in Nova Scotia to the Halifax Naturalists on Thursday June 1 at the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History, 1747 Summer Street, Halifax, 7:30 p.m. All welcome. View HFN Walks and Talks for details.
May 16, 2017 | 10:00 – 11:30 AM
6350 Coburg Rd., University of King’s College
New Academic Building, Alumni Hall
As poss, RSVP via Facebook
See EAC for details
Nature NS is holding its popular spring weekend at Milford House May 26-28, 2017. As in the recent past, the Young Naturalist Club will be participating, making it a family affair. There are talks about loons, flying squirrels and trout, a variety of field trips, and good food! For the kids, nature-oriented games, fields trips, and a campfire with Frank Meuse and Shalon Joudry from Stone Bear. See Nature NS. Registration must be received by April 21.See Nature NS.
The Halifax Regional Municipality is conducting the third and final phase of public engagement for the Halifax Green Network Plan, a decision-making framework for the conservation of a region-wide network of open space. A number of planning and implementation directions have been drafted using public input and study results from the earlier phases of work and are contained in the Halifax Green Network Plan Primer Report.
Public engagement for this phase will occur in a series of public meetings across HRM from May 15 to June 12, 2017. The most convenient session for most Backland folks will be May 16 6:00 – 8:00 pm at the Atlantica Hotel Halifax (Guild Hall) 1980 Robie Street.
On Sunday, April 30, there will be an afternoon hike of the Admiral Lake loop. Meet between 12:30-1 p.m. on the Musquodoboit Valley Rail-to-Trails parking lot, in Musquodoboit Harbour. The hike is expected to take 5-6 hours, with plenty of time at the look-offs and watching for mayflowers in bloom.
This event is not part of the Halifax Field Naturalists program, but an informal / social walk. As a courtesy, would you contact burkhardplache@gmail.com if you are planning to join?
