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Well written, John.
The laws are deferentially enforced, as you point out. Sometimes, it's a
matter of enforcement resources. Sometimes, it's an inappropriate balance
between the economy and wildlife.
Randy
On Tue, May 29, 2018, 6:10 PM John Kearney, <john.kearney@ns.sympatico.ca>
wrote:
> Dear NatureNS readers,
>
> I wish to express my sorrow about the state of environmental policy in th=
e
> Province of Nova Scotia. I thought I couldn=E2=80=99t get more dishearten=
ed when
> the Premier indicated that oil and gas development should be permitted in
> Marine Protected Areas. While such a statement would be par for the cours=
e
> (no pun intended) for US President, Donald Trump. I didn=E2=80=99t expect=
it here.
>
>
>
> Yesterday, however, this sorrow hit closer to home. In my home village of
> Carleton, in Yarmouth County, I witnessed what I believe to be the
> destruction of a Common Nighthawk nest by a forestry operation. I believe
> this because I was listening to a tree harvesting machine, blocked from m=
y
> view from a stand of softwood, but very loud as I was only a couple hundr=
ed
> of meters away. All of a sudden, at about 2 PM, a Common Nighthawk flew u=
p
> from where the machine was harvesting and subsequently circled the machin=
e
> a couple of times before disappearing.
>
>
>
> I immediately called the local office of the Department of Natural
> Resources. The regional biologist was not in but about an hour later a
> wildlife technician called to tell me not to worry. The biologist had
> indicated that Common Nighthawks don=E2=80=99t nest in the forest and hav=
e a wide
> foraging area so it was just passing by. I disputed this claim, noted tha=
t
> forestry should not be permitted during the bird breeding season, and ask=
ed
> that at minimum, the Department inform the landowner that an endangered
> species, listed under the Species at Risk Act, was likely nesting in the
> area of forestry operations. I was then informed there was nothing the
> government would do because the forestry operation was on private land.
>
>
>
> So despite the fact that it is against the law (Migratory Birds Conventio=
n
> Act) to destroy the nest, eggs, or young of a migratory bird, and despite
> the fact the Common Nighthawk is protected by federal and Nova Scotia
> species at risk legislation, it is ok to destroy the nest, eggs, or young
> of an endangered migratory bird if it is on private property. I wonder if
> they are planning on allowing the hunting of fawns and moose calves on
> private property year-round too?
>
>
>
> Thanks for listening to my lament.
>
> John
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div dir=3D"auto">Well written, John.<div dir=3D"auto"><br=
></div><div dir=3D"auto">The laws are deferentially enforced, as you point =
out. Sometimes, it's a matter of enforcement resources. Sometimes, it&#=
39;s an inappropriate balance between the economy and wildlife.=C2=A0</div>=
<div dir=3D"auto"><br></div><div>Randy</div></div><br><div class=3D"gmail_q=
uote"><div dir=3D"ltr">On Tue, May 29, 2018, 6:10 PM John Kearney, <<a h=
ref=3D"mailto:john.kearney@ns.sympatico.ca" target=3D"_blank">john.kearney@=
ns.sympatico.ca</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" s=
tyle=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div=
lang=3D"EN-CA" link=3D"blue" vlink=3D"purple"><div class=3D"m_-82849953965=
87038056m_730800203769880002WordSection1"><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span styl=
e=3D"font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Dear Natu=
reNS readers, <u></u><u></u></span></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">I wish to exp=
ress my sorrow about the state of environmental policy in the Province of N=
ova Scotia. I thought I couldn=E2=80=99t get more disheartened when the Pre=
mier indicated that oil and gas development should be permitted in Marine P=
rotected Areas. While such a statement would be par for the course (no pun =
intended) for US President, Donald Trump. I didn=E2=80=99t expect it here.<=
u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><u></u>=C2=A0<u></u></p><p class=3D=
"MsoNormal">Yesterday, however, this sorrow hit closer to home. In my home =
village of Carleton, in Yarmouth County, I witnessed what I believe to be t=
he destruction of a Common Nighthawk nest by a forestry operation. I believ=
e this because I was listening to a tree harvesting machine, blocked from m=
y view from a stand of softwood, but very loud as I was only a couple hundr=
ed of meters away. All of a sudden, at about 2 PM, a Common Nighthawk flew =
up from where the machine was harvesting and subsequently circled the machi=
ne a couple of times before disappearing.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoN=
ormal"><u></u>=C2=A0<u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">I immediately called =
the local office of the Department of Natural Resources. The regional biolo=
gist was not in but about an hour later a wildlife technician called to tel=
l me not to worry. The biologist had indicated that Common Nighthawks don=
=E2=80=99t nest in the forest and have a wide foraging area so it was just =
passing by. I disputed this claim, noted that forestry should not be permit=
ted during the bird breeding season, and asked that at minimum, the Departm=
ent inform the landowner that an endangered species, listed under the Speci=
es at Risk Act, was likely nesting in the area of forestry operations.=C2=
=A0 I was then informed there was nothing the government would do because t=
he forestry operation was on private land.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"Mso=
Normal"><u></u>=C2=A0<u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">So despite the fact =
that it is against the law (Migratory Birds Convention Act) to destroy the =
nest, eggs, or young of a migratory bird, and despite the fact the Common N=
ighthawk is protected by federal and Nova Scotia species at risk legislatio=
n, it is ok to destroy the nest, eggs, or young of an endangered migratory =
bird if it is on private property. I wonder if they are planning on allowin=
g the hunting of fawns and moose calves on private property year-round too?=
<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><u></u>