Media Clipping — February 5, 2002 from The Globe and Mail

Firm halts contentious N.S. logging for winter

By Kevin Cox

CHESTER, N.S. — Nova Scotia environmentalists are claiming a small victory in their fight to save what they believe is the last remnant of old growth forest in the province.

International forestry giant Bowater Mersey Paper Co. took some of the steam out of a news conference called by environmental groups yesterday by announcing over the weekend that it had temporarily ended its logging operations in a remote area north of Chester.

The company, which operates a large pulp mill in Liverpool, N.S., has been criticized by some local residents and environmentalists who accuse loggers of cutting century-old trees and disrupting habitat for everything from moose to Atlantic salmon.

Bowater has taken the unusual step of inviting the provincial Department of Natural Resources to review the company's forestry practices.

Bowater spokeswoman Robin Anthony said yesterday that the company stopped cutting trees last week to get the lumber out before roads become impassable in the spring.

Brad Armstrong, head of a Chester-area group that has been protesting against the logging in the 1,200-hectare area, called the company's move a small victory for people who want to save the remaining old trees.

Mr. Armstrong, head of the Kaiser Meadow Brook Preservation Group, accused Bowater of destroying wildlife and fish habitat by clear-cutting in the remote, hilly area.

He said the destruction of the large, older trees would cause erosion on steep slopes in the area and eliminate habitat for large animals such as moose and deer. As well, the large trees also protect waterways where the endangered Atlantic salmon come to spawn, he said.

"I'm saddened to see there is no effort to protect these trees," he said. "These are the last remnants of old growth forests in Nova Scotia."

The environmentalists, who staged a protest blocking a logging road two weeks ago, say the area should be declared a wilderness preserve because it is one of the last stands of Acadia forest -- a mixture of hardwood trees such as maple and beech and softwoods such as hemlock and spruce.

But Bowater officials insist they were logging on only about 170 hectares last month and have shut down the operation for the winter.

They are equally adamant that the trees are not an old, or original, growth forest, although there are a few trees that are more than 90 years old.

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