Our pretty Acadian forest flowers are about to bloom! You won’t want to miss them like you won’t want to miss your chance to have a say on our forest!
New Brunswickers are busy collecting signatures to our petition for our forest. The deadline to pass in petitions has been extended to Earth Day, April 22. The petition is currently circulating at stores, cafes, markets and at events where outdoor enthusiasts, hunters and forest users gather and have been keen to sign.
Almost 600 of you have written your MLA and Premier Brian Gallant with your concerns over the future of our forest through our site. Now is the time to let your MLA and Premier Gallant know your thoughts on our forest!
The Conservation Council’s Executive Director, Lois Corbett, spoke to media following statements from Premier Gallant that the wood allotment for private industry as laid out in the controversial 2014 forestry strategy will not change. Facing heavy questioning from opposition on the forestry file, Gallant told the Legislative Assembly on March 19 that the contracts signed with industry last year would be respected. He later told reporters it was a “fair conclusion” that the wood allotment laid out under the 2014 forest plan won’t change. Gallant went on to say that his government was still reviewing the plan and would ensure it ends up being sustainable and that it recognizes the vital role forests play in our quality of life. Speaking with CTV, Corbett said the impact of the increased wood allotment could still be mitigated by changing the timeframe it is spread over or by adjusting fair volumes between industry and private woodlot owners. Watch the news clip here.
Want to know the facts on what’s wrong with the forest plan? Check out our 2-pager on what’s wrong with the forest plan. Share with your neighbour and friends.
Want copies of the petition or 2-page factsheet mailed to you? Request copies here.
Glyphosate: a probable cancer-causing agent
The herbicide sprayed yearly on New Brunswick forests was recently classified as a probable cancer-causing chemical by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an arm of the World Health Organization. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in forest herbicide products such as Vision, Vision Max and Forza.
The Conservation Council is calling for a phase out of herbicide use in our forest. Beyond public health concerns, the Conservation Council told CBC News that there are several reasons for ending the spraying of our woods: “We’re also wiping out the diversity of our forests, we’re getting rid of hardwoods, and the berries and that vegetation that is food for our wildlife too.” The Conservation Council feels that replacing aerial herbicides with thinning crews, as Quebec has done since banning herbicides in its public forest in 2001, would also create jobs in a province hurting for jobs and would be a move towards 21st century forest management. Watch the video segment that ran on the evening news.
CBC’s Information Morning in Fredericton’s Terry Seguin spoke with Dr. John McLaughlin, a member of the IARC’s scientific panel, on April 2. Listen to the interview. Acadie-Nouvelle’s stories quote the Conservation Council on our call to phase out the glyphosate spray in the forest and a government spokesperson saying that the IARC glyphosate classification will not have an effect on forestry practices here and that it is still considered safe by Health Canada. Health Canada is currently doing a re-evaluation of glyphosates and the proposed re-evaluation decision is not yet available.
Tracy
Conservation Council of New Brunswick /
Conseil de conservation du Nouveau-Brunswick
180 Saint John St.,
Fredericton, NB
E3B 4A9
Canada
Tel: 506 458-8747
Email: forest@conservationcouncil.ca
www.conservationcouncil.ca
www.acadianforest.ca
Facebook: Save the Acadian Forest
Twitter: @acadianforest