The Report makes a series of Recommendations which include:

• Planning: A Need for Greater Long Term Vision (7 through 10)
  • 7. Establish or designate an agency at arms length from government (referred to as "the Agency") to advise on land use planning and policy with a particular emphasis on the coastal zone. This should involve ongoing consultations with citizens.

    In so far as planning is concerned, the mandate of the Agency should include but not be limited to the following:

    • (a) to develop a provincial interest statement on coastal coordination and planning which would offer guidance from the province to municipalities on this issue
    • (b) to conduct an access audit of prime recreational areas and then to develop a long-term access strategy for the benefit of both citizens of and visitors to the province
    • (c) to take a lead role in completing a study on current Crown land assets and usage and then to design a plan that results in greater public enjoyment of these important resources

    We are proposing that this Agency would also spearhead the acquisition of additional lands, or assist other groups in making such acquisitions, once a Right of First Refusal mechanism has been put in place. These duties are described in recommendations 8 through 10.

  • 8. Working with and on behalf of communities, the Agency should be responsible for identifying and exercising a Right of First Refusal for properties deemed essential to the quality of life and well being of the province.

  • 9. The Agency should be responsible for seeking private funding for the purpose of either directly acquiring land or conservation easements to be held in the public domain, or providing assistance to other community organizations wishing to do so.

  • 10. The Agency should also be provided with fixed funding mechanisms to support both its own efforts and those of other conservancy groups.

• Access
  • 11. As part of its study of overall Crown assets, the Agency, in cooperation with the relevant departments of government, should first undertake a thorough analysis of current Crown-owned recreation and conservation property for the purpose of developing a coordinated communications strategy. This would improve the level of knowledge among both Nova Scotians and visitors about existing opportunities for access to these prime recreational venues.

  • 12. The provincial government should communicate all pertinent information about access rights and privileges on both private and Crown land for the benefit of citizens, visitors, and land owners alike.

  • 13. The provincial government should commission a province-wide inventory of important traditional access paths and roads that have been used historically by community members to access prime recreational venues. The province should then vigorously pursue both legal and voluntary avenues to permanently entrench these rights of access wherever possible.

  • 14. The provincial government should immediately increase the Department of Natural Resources' budget for acquiring Crown Land in the form of recreational and conservation land from the current $80,000 to $3,000,000. The Department of Environment & Labour and the Department of Tourism & Culture should share in the administration of this fund.

  • 15. The provincial government should encourage private land conservation in Nova Scotia by identifying and eliminating all possible financial and administrative obstacles that currently discourage this practice.

  • 16. The provincial government should establish a tax-exempt status or other tax incentives, to select properties that provide valuable contributions to either recreational pursuits or ecological protection through permanent easements.

  • 17. The provincial government should support and encourage municipalities to create access easements to the coast and other waterfront areas in Nova Scotia, both through legislation and in other ways.