Environmental group maps herbicide use in N.B. forests, tells province to stop spraying protected watersheds
An environmental group has launched two online maps showing areas of forest that have been sprayed with herbicide or approved for herbicide treatment, including some sections of protected watersheds.
Sackville’s drinking water supply wasn’t directly targeted for herbicide spraying, at least last year, but the provincial government approved herbicide spraying by forestry giant J.D. Irving Limited on land a few kilometres north of that area, according to one map.
A volunteer from Stop Spraying New Brunswick pieced together the maps using publicly-available data from the provincial government. The group says the government should do a better job of making the information available, and the responsibility shouldn’t fall on the shoulders of a volunteer-run organization.
“If protected areas are being sprayed, I think the public has a right to know,” said Caroline Lubbe-D’Arcy, the group’s chair. CHMA has reached out to the Department of Environment and Climate Change for comment.
Listen to the interview with Caroline Lubbe-D’Arcy:
One of the maps shows areas of Crown land that have been treated with herbicide from 1969 up to the present date. Private land isn’t included because that data simply isn’t available, according to Lubbe-D’Arcy.
A second map shows areas of land where the government approved spray licenses during the 2022 spray season for both public and private forests. … Continue
Sackville non-profit raises funds to protect, restore ‘forgotten’ Wabanaki forest
Community Forests International, a non-profit based in Sackville, has launched a fundraising campaign to purchase and restore 2,500 acres of forests in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
The Wabanaki Forest, also called the Acadian Forest, historically spans the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and parts of New England.
It includes a mix of northern adapted species, such as spruce, poplar larch and birch, along with southern adapted species including oak, pine, maple and hemlock.
But this unique forest is endangered, according to CFI.
A media release announcing the Forgotten Forests campaign says that “scientists have affirmed what Indigenous communities already knew — that most of the Wabanaki forest has been drastically altered.”
“The small remnants of this forest that remain intact today are often on hilltops and in hard-to-access ravines, where forest clearing could not easily reach.”
For more on this story, CHMA spoke to Craig Tupper, CFI’s forest program manager.
Tupper and his colleagues have been searching for remnants of the Wabanaki Forest — usually found in corners of larger properties — lining up sales agreements with landowners.
The group also plans to purchase and restore areas that have already been harvested, “actively managing younger forests back to their full ecological potential to augment their ability to sequester carbon and adapt to climate change.”
CHMA’s David Gordon Koch asked Tupper about efforts to locate those remnants of the Wabanaki forest.… Continue