[NatureNS] Crown Land Clear Cuts

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To: John Lohr <johnlohrmla@gmail.com>,
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Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2019 11:59:10 -0400
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Hon. John Lohr:

     I have wondered for many years why nearly all Crown Land cuttings 
are clear cuts; and I think I now understand why. I wrote to the DNR 
minister Nov. 21 but I expect he has has no time for public input. So I 
am writing you in the hope that some opportunity may arise for you to 
personally ask a few pointed questions.

     Some weeks ago I noticed a comment on Facebook which implied that 
cutting rights on Crown Land were for one specific harvest as opposed to 
perpetual but marketable rights. A reading of the Crown Land Act appears 
to confirm this; excerpt below.


        "Sale of resources

31 (1) The Minister may offer timber or other resources from Crown lands 
for sale by tender, public auction or other means upon such terms as the 
Minister deems expedient.

(2) Subsequent to a sale pursuant to subsection (1), the Minister may 
issue a licence upon such terms and conditions as the Minister deems 
appropriate.

(3) No licence issued pursuant to this Section shall be granted for a 
longer period than two years or renewed for a longer period than twelve 
months at any one time./R.S., c. 114, s. 31."/

     If a logging company does not have perpetual cutting rights to a 
given block of woodland then they will have no incentive to manage it 
for maximum profit over the long haul and every incentive to aim for 
maximum immediate profit which naturally will be to clear cut it.     
     Consequently, for sound management of Crown Land forests, Clause 
31(3) should be modified so that cutting rights are perpetual with 
provision to sell rights back to Crown if a company closes operations.

  RATIONALE:

     Apart from soil degradation, bald spots and erosion which may 
follow clear cutting the greatest fault is loss of revenue. The 
productivity curve following a typical clear cut  is described in Farm 
Woodlots in Eastern Canada, E. S. Richards, Ottawa, 120 pp., 1939. on 
page 15. After a clear cut it takes 30 years to grow 2 cord of Spruce 
and yield in the second 30 years is 42 cord.

     The primary advantage of selective cutting, which I have practiced 
for 77 years, is that the slow growth of young trees occurs in the 
spaces between larger trees.  Consequently, in an uneven aged 
selectively cut stand, that initial 30 year period of vanishingly low 
yield is eliminated. In addition, clear cuts lead to overstocked 
regrowth and a huge non-commercial thinning investment.

      Please note that Richards, in this 1939 publication, advocates 
selective cutting. And this was a period where felling options would 
have been axe or crosscut saw. Currently, using chainsaws or felling 
equipment, selective cutting is far easier than it would have been prior 
to 1939.

Yours truly,

David H. Webster, Kentville

902-678-7824



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    <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
  </head>
  <body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
    <p>Hon. John Lohr:</p>
    <p>    I have wondered for many years why nearly all Crown Land
      cuttings are clear cuts; and I think I now understand why. I wrote
      to the DNR minister Nov. 21 but I expect he has has no time for
      public input. So I am writing you in the hope that some
      opportunity may arise for you to personally ask a few pointed
      questions.</p>
    <p>    Some weeks ago I noticed a comment on Facebook which implied
      that cutting rights on Crown Land were for one specific harvest as
      opposed to perpetual but marketable rights. A reading of the Crown
      Land Act appears to confirm this; excerpt below.</p>
    <div class="moz-text-html" lang="x-unicode">
      <h4 class="header" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:
        &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: medium; font-style:
        normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps:
        normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start;
        text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
        widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
        background-color: rgb(255, 238, 204); text-decoration-style:
        initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">"Sale of resources</h4>
      <p class="body-end-subsec-" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);
        font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: medium;
        font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal;
        font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing:
        normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px;
        text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2;
        word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
        background-color: rgb(255, 238, 204); text-decoration-style:
        initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><a name="pgfId-5151"></a>31
        (1) The Minister may offer timber or other resources from Crown
        lands for sale by tender, public auction or other means upon
        such terms as the Minister deems expedient.</p>
      <p class="body-end-subsec-" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);
        font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: medium;
        font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal;
        font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing:
        normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px;
        text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2;
        word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
        background-color: rgb(255, 238, 204); text-decoration-style:
        initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><a name="pgfId-5154"></a>(2)
        Subsequent to a sale pursuant to subsection (1), the Minister
        may issue a licence upon such terms and conditions as the
        Minister deems appropriate.</p>
      <p class="body-end-Sec-" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:
        &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: medium; font-style:
        normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps:
        normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2;
        text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none;
        white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;
        -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 238,
        204); text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color:
        initial;"><a name="pgfId-5157"></a>(3) No licence issued
        purs