Halifax Field Naturalists

On Tuesday, October 25, the provincial government will announce protection of The Five Bridge Lakes Wilderness Area under the Wilderness Areas Protection Act. This area includes The Bluff Wilderness Hiking Trail as part of the 20,000 acres of protected Crown Land. The announcement will be made in Tantallon – see poster

Peter Neily and Eugene Quigley of the Nova Scotia Dept. of Natural Resources will talk to the Nova Scotia Wild Flora Society about Forest Ecosystem Classification (FEC) in Nova Scotia, highlighting results of ten years of study on over 1500 FEC plots. All welcome! 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct 24th at N.S. Museum of Natural History, enter via the parking lot. Read more

The province released its Wetland Conservation Policy on Oct. 14th. The policy “identifies what legislation, regulations, and policies are currently relevant to wetland conservation; clarifies the roles and responsibilities of government and the public in relation to wetlands; and makes this information more accessible to Nova Scotians. Ultimately, the policy establishes specific objectives intended to prevent the net loss of Nova Scotia’s wetlands.” Read more

The government posted the much awaited draft Coastal Strategy today and is seeking feedback until November 30th, 2011. See Our Coast to download draft Coastal Strategy, feedback questions and online feedback form. The Coastal Coalition of Nova Scotia comments: “A Good Start; now let’s get moving on an Act!” – see Press Release

Bob Bancroft, President of Nature Nova Scotia (the umbrella group for N.S. natural history organizations) will give an overview of his 56-acre property in Pomquet, focusing upon the results of 36 years of active stewardship working with nature’s forces. He ill also give a brief overview of some of Nature Nova Scotia’s current activities. 7:30 pm at NSMNH. Read more

Join us for a leisurely bike ride from Bissett Road along the Salt Marsh and Atlantic View trail to Lawrencetown Beach. View details

Bruce Smith and others from Halifax North West Trails Association will make presentations at 7 pm related to impending sale of 180 acres of Public Lands in the Bayers Lake Business Park which will impact access to Susies Lake/Blue Mt-Birch Cove Lakes area. Also, future plans for the extension of the trails in Halifax West will be discussed. For details, please View Poster.

The Nova Scotia Mycological Society is holding its fourth annual mushroom foray September 30-October 2 (Friday to Sunday). This year it’s at Debert; rooms are available at the Debert Hospitality Centre. The event includes a cookoff competition, instructions on identifying mushrooms, forays followed by sorting and identification sessions, and workshops (e.g., on growing mushrooms). Details

A newly released Identification and Information Guide for the Atlantic Coastal Plain Flora in Nova Scotia is available online in English and French versions. The Guide, produced by produced by Megan Crowley (Parks Canada) and Lindsey Beals (MTRI), provides photos, descriptions and distribution maps for 87 species. See Guide.

At our first meeting for the new season, Alain Belliveau will talk about the status of red and yellow-listed ACPF populations populations in southwestern Nova Scotia. All are welcome. 7:30 p.m. at the NS Museum on Summer Street. Read more

Workshops for the Nature-Oriented at Harrison Lewis Centre The Harrison Lewis Coastal Discovery Centre at East Port L’Hl’bert on Nova Scotia’s south shore hosts a variety of workshops of interest to nature orinted people. Amonst those coming up: July 29-31: Know and Grow Wild Mushrooms, Aug. 3,4: Low Impact Forestry Workshop, August 12-14: Plein Air Watercolour, Painting with Roger Savage. See 2011 Schedule for details, except for Mushroom Workshop and Low Impact Forestry Workshop.

Thinking about swimming in the NW Arm (when it hasn’t been raining for several days)? Satlantic offers free online access to continuously recorded data on water variables measured at its LOBO (Land/Ocean Biogeochemical Observatory) platform on the NW Arm: see LOBO.