Halifax Field Naturalists

Highway 113 would be a connector highway between Highways 102 and 103 and would skirt the NW boundary of the Blue Mountain Birch Cove Lakes Wilderness Area. The EA for this highway is now available and under review with public comment due by Feb 22, 2010. See NSE: Highway 113 Project for the EA.

An article in the November issue of The Bridge describes old growth red oak and red spruce stands in the Five Bridge Lakes Wilderness Area (now a Candidate for protection under the Wilderness Protection Act). Additional photos are posted at versicolor.ca/forest .

Those of us in Halifax treasure our Long Lake. Another beautiful Long Lake, in East Uniacke, which supports populations of Snapping Turtles (species of concern – COSEWIC) and possibly Wood Turtles (threatened – COSEWIC), as well as being highly valued for its natural history by local residents, is under threat from development. Read more.

HRM endorsed the citation of the Avon Peninsula as the Lady Slipper Capital of the Maritimes, but a major challenge looms: Fundy Gypsum’s plans to construct a strip mine in the forested “watershed commons” at the centre of the Peninsula. Read more

Join the HFN walk led by Peter Webster to explore a little of Long Lake Provincial Park, the largest provincial park in the Halifax area. It begins at 10 a.m. Read more

Today, at a celebration for the official designation of Ship Harbour Long Lake Wilderness Area under the Wilderness Areas Protection Act, N.S. Minister of Environment Sterling Belliveau announced that the province is evaluating options for a large wilderness in and near Chignecto Game Sanctuary and that The Five Bridge Lakes Wilderness Area is now a candidate for protection. Read more.

There’s lots going on right now in policy development in the areas of water, wetland and coasts, with opportunities for discussion and input to government. Key dates: Oct. 28 (discussion about wetlands with John Brazner), Nov. 3 (integrated forum), Nov. 6 (deadline for feedback on wetlands policy) Read more

Three public lectures and a concert are being offered free to the public in connection with an international workshop on Darwin which is being held in Halifax this week. The presentations are on Wed., Thurs., Fri., Sat evenings (Oct. 14-17) at 8 p.m. See Article in The Coast for details.

Friends of McNabs are offering their annual Fall Foliage Tours of McNabs Island Provincial Park on Sunday October 18, 2009 (rain date October 25). More info…

Please note that Oct. 18th is also our date for a biota survey of the Purcell’s Cove Lands – See Walks

We’ve got talks on life at the poles, aquatic restoration, urban ecology and variety of field trips (Sunday Oct. 4: Mosses at Long Lake). All are welcome, members & non-members alike!

Our June 25th walk on the Capt. Arnell Conservation Lands revealed lots of new growth in areas that were burned on April 30/May 1. See photos. Please send us photos and other observations if you are walking in this area.

Welcome to the new HFN website! We are still adding content but the basics (details of membership, dates and descriptions of upcoming walks and talks) are here. We have taken out our own domain: halifaxfieldnaturalists.ca, which should be easy to remember. Please change links to this site accordingly. (The old URL was http://hfn.chebucto.org/fieldnat.html.)

We welcome comments and suggestions. They can be sent by e-mail (hfnwebmaster@yahoo.ca) or via comments boxes on this and some other pages.