Environmentalists are pointing to a recent woodland harvest near Upper Musquodoboit as an example of what Nova Scotia forests might look like if the province allows wood biomass to be burned to generate electricity.
"I don’t think that Nova Scotia is ready to be promoting biomass energy on a large scale and this is why, when you see a site like this," said Jamie Simpson, forestry program co-ordinator for the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax.
Mr. Simpson was referring to a site near Caribou Mines that was recently harvested by Northern Pulp Nova Scotia Corp. for pulpwood and biomass for its Abercrombie plant.
"My biggest concern is this whole-tree harvesting in Nova Scotia, particularly for biomass," he said in an interview Tuesday.
About 260 hectares were whole-tree harvested and clearcut this summer and fall.
The Ecology Action Centre and nine other environmental groups are calling on the province to stop whole-tree harvesting for biomass.
The harvested site, owned by Northern Pulp’s parent company, Neenah Paper, is the worst he has seen, said Mr. Simpson, a professional forester and author of Restoring the Acadian Forest: A Guide to Forest Stewardship for Woodlot Owners in the Maritimes.
"It’s hard to believe this is happening in Nova Scotia in the 21st century," he said. "It’s an embarrassment.
"This is the worst of the worst, and the science is clear that this practice is not sustainable. It’s detrimental to wildlife, water systems and soil productivity."
Mr. Simpson said such harvesting causes a net loss of carbon from the forests and soils.
"It’s not a carbon-neutral energy source. . . . That’s nothing but a myth."
He toured the harvested site Nov. 13 and took photos showing a barren, rutted and muddy wasteland where almost every tree in sight has been removed for pulp, along with their stumps for biomass.
"Whole-tree harvesting, combined with clearcutting, should not be an acceptable practice in Nova Scotia."
Mr. Simpson is urging caution as the province moves closer toward the harvesting of so-called wood waste to generate electricity.
Natural Resources Department spokesman Dan Eidt said he is aware the Ecology Action Centre would like to see whole-tree harvesting banned.
"The department is concerned about harvesting and how much biomass is retained," said Mr. Eidt, the province’s director of resource management.
"The department is working on coming out with biomass retention guidelines that would require quantities of material to be left on site.
"But we haven’t finished that process and we’re still involved in strategies and gathering information from experts."
Mr. Eidt said whole-tree harvesting may not be the method of choice on some poor growing sites with low fertility.
"But there are some cases where whole-tree harvesting actually helps bring a site back, in places where we don’t want balsam fir and we’d like to get tolerant hardwood established."
"In some places, it works very nicely and gives a good result. But we’re wrestling with all of that to come out with biomass retention guidelines."
Mr. Eidt said Northern Pulp is not finished with the site yet and that work had to stop because of wet weather. He said the company plans to go back and fix the ruts and replace some organic material.
He said the site is not Crown land but is privately owned by Northern Pulp’s parent company, Neenah Paper, which is based in the United States.
The biomass issue has been much in the news lately, following the Dexter government’s decision to approve conditional harvesting of biomass from Crown lands for use by NewPage Port Hawkesbury Ltd. to generate electricity.
The company plans to build a $60-million biomass generator at its paper plant in Port Hawkesbury and harvest hundreds of thousands of tonnes of low-grade hardwood to fuel it.
It is also anticipated that renewable energy consultations underway in the province will lead to a recommendation that Nova Scotia Power burn wood waste in order to meet tough new environmental regulations.
Those regulations require that 25 per cent of the province’s electricity come from a combination of wind, biomass and tidal power by 2015, and possibly 40 per cent by 2020.
Mr. Simpson said NewPage has committed to not using the practice of whole-tree harvesting for now, but there is nothing to rule it out in the future.
"I think they have reviewed the science around it and see the detriments. They also know that if they want to promote biomass, they will have to provide assurances that it’s not going to cause a lot of harm, if they want the right to use public Crown land."
Northern Pulp Nova Scotia Corp., an affiliate of Atlas Holdings LLC and Blue Wolf Capital Management LLC, has a licence to harvest 80,000 hectares of Crown land in the province and an agreement to manage Neenah Paper’s 195,000 hectares of private land.
Wayne Gosse, Northern Pulp’s chief administrative officer, could not be reached comment. But in a recent interview with The Chronicle Herald, he said the company has sustainability in mind when it harvests.
"Clearcutting is what it is and sometimes it’s not pretty. But we do manage for sustainability," Mr. Gosse said in a Nov. 10 interview. "It is in the company’s best interests to do so."
Supporters of biomass energy say most of the wood that would be harvested is of low quality and needs to be replaced with new forest.
© 2009 The Halifax Herald Limited
