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A slightly editted version of the letter below went into the Sunday News Halifax, 17 Sept. It is provided here for the benefit of general awareness and as an encouragement to those few remaining but important environmentalists in the community to consider the science, get off the fence and come out publicly to support this up hill struggle by a small but dedicated band that have taken on this cause and to date: * achieved an unprecedented Court injunction against a Federal Govt. agency in the middle of a major program; * have gained majority public support in Halifax as evidenced by an objective public opinion poll (55% public in favour of no more tree removal and the arguments of the Friends, only 30% supporting tree removal). When you consider the odds stacked against the Friends - professional communication experts brought in from Ottawa; the summer hunger of the press for a panic; "uncontrollable epidemic" story; active recruitment of scientists to take contracts with the CFIA or at least remain silent during the debate; the active program od denigration of the qualifications, backgrounds and motives of the participants among the Friends, this has been a remarkable David & Goliath story. Unfortunately it has to be said from our view that there were from the beginning environmentalists who did not view the scientific evidence with as much caution as they should. They appear to have bought into the story (for that is what is was) of a voracious, healthy spruce tree-eating foreign beetle about to munch its way across the continent. Some of these environmental 'friends' among us have even surreptitiously supplied what was thought to be damaging material and comment to members of the press, but without voicing these questions or concerns openly. We now call upon these folks to come forward publicly and ask their questions and engage in a constructive debate on this issue if they still harbour doubts about the science of what is happening among the remnants of the badly abused Park. We would ask all who support us on this issue to consider writing a letter of support to the Minister Ernie fage and the Minister for Agriculture in Ottawa, Lyle Vanclief and also assist us where it now urgently needed - funds for the on-going Court action and the appeal against the Injunction launched by CFIA by sending a cheque to: deposit with any Bank of Montreal c/o Friends PPP Mail to Treasurer FPPP, Philip Pacey, 6269 Yukon St. Halifax, B3L 1E9. Dr. Iain C. Taylor President, Friends Pt. Pleasant Park Assoc. ========================= 13 Sept. 2000 Dear Mr. Fage, In an e-mail reply to my fellow association member on the 12 or 13 Sept. you used the following phrase: "Infested trees removed from two sections of the park ..." May I respectfully inquire how your staff arrived at the conclusion that the trees taken down in Pt. Pleasant Park were indeed "infested" as you call it? I watched many trees being felled - some as ancient as 120 years old. Not only were no beetles to be seen on the trunk or on the stump, there were no signs of their presence past or present whatsoever! Not only that, Mr. Fage, your staff and the contract workers conducted NO inspection that I saw, that might categorically determine this matter even after the trees were down and being sawn into logs! I find it incredible given the public furore over this matter and the real concerns over the lack of science and the panicked statements that appear to have stampeded the CFIA and your Department into these actions, that your staff cannot EVEN NOW produce any retrospective proof that the actions were IN ANY WAY justifiable! We do not count as 'proof' for the presence of these beetles such supposedly secondary characteristics as the exit holes and resination as both phenomena are common to other species of native beetles as your staff well know. Perhaps you might have good reason also to inquire of your staff whether any of the T. fuscum (long horn immigrant beetle ) were even trapped during the summer's activities. Our information has it that there were virtually no confirmed trappings of adults flying despite many traps and many hundreds of field hours spent looking for them (presumably to refute our statements). Our field workers have also confirmed the beetle's apparent absence. Again we do not count as proof of the beetle 'infestation' the raising of these insects artificially in a lab from slabs of wood away from predation and the effects of climate. So it would seem that, despite heavy expenditure of time and money, the villain cannot be found. If I can use the words of Shakespeare no doubt known to the theatre company your Department's activities has almost bankrupted over the summer, it's been a case of Hamlet without the Prince! The 700+ trees were then in all probability sacrificed in vain, losses to the vital greenery and wildlife of Halifax and a lesson in the herd behaviour of even supposed experts when 'professional pride' starts to take over from rational scientific analysis and discourse with other non-interested scientific observers. Any justifications and observations that address these facts would be welcome to myself and to the membership of our association. Sincerely, Dr. Iain Taylor President, Pt. Pleasant Park Assoc. Halifax, NS -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- The preceding message was posted on the Sustainable Maritimes mailing list (sust-mar). http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/lists/sust-mar -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Sponsors: Chebucto Community Net http://www.chebucto.ns.ca Sierra Club - Chebucto Group http://www.sierraclub.ca Volunteer moderator: Paul Falvo mailto:sust-mar-owner@chebucto.ns.ca To submit a message to sust-mar, please send it to: mailto:sust-mar@chebucto.ns.ca PLEASE SEND MESSAGES TO SUST-MAR IN PLAIN TEXT ONLY MESSAGES CONTAINING HTML (MIME) CANNOT BE POSTED
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