FERTILIZER PRICES UP … WITH QUAKES SPIKING, OIL INDUSTRY IS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE IN OKLAHOMA … NOVA SCOTIA NOT DOING ENOUGH FOR SPECIES AT RISK, SAYS REPORT … CONSULTATION BEGINS ON SUNDAY HUNTING … THAT CLAYOQUOT SOUND …OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST...

FERTILIZER PRICES UP
Source: FCC
Crop input retailers are reporting fertilizer prices increased approximately 35 percent since the fall and they believe that upward trend will continue. “My advice is purchase now,” says Garth MacDonald, CEO of G-Mac’s AgTeam in Saskatchewan. “Don’t wait until April or May because I am confident the price is not going to go down in time for early crops to be seeded this spring, and it’s still going to go up.” (read more)

WITH QUAKES SPIKING, OIL INDUSTRY IS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE IN OKLAHOMA
Source: NPR
Out on Oklahoma’s flat prairie, Medford, population about 900, is the kind of place where people give directions from the four-way stop in the middle of town. It seems pretty sedate, but it’s not. “We are shaking all the time,” says Dea Mandevill, the city manager. “All the time.” The afternoon I stopped by, Mandevill says two quakes had already rumbled through Medford. “Light day,” she laughs. But, she adds, “the day’s not over yet; we still have several more hours.” Mandevill may be laughing it off, but Austin Holland, the state seismologist, isn’t. (read more)

NOVA SCOTIA NOT DOING ENOUGH FOR SPECIES AT RISK, SAYS REPORT
Source: The Chronicle Herald
Nova Scotia’s Natural Resources Department is not doing enough to protect mainland moose and other species at risk in the province, a local environmental law group says. In a report released last weeks, the East Coast Environmental Law Association and the Environmental Law Students’ Society at Dalhousie University’s Schulich School of Law in Halifax, allege the department has not fulfilled its legal obligations under the Endangered Species Act with respect to 20 of Nova Scotia’s 37 endangered or threatened species. “Nova Scotia’s mainland moose, listed as endangered in 2003, is an example of a species possibly threatened by the province’s shortcomings under the Act,” the 11 page-report, Protected on Paper Only, said.
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CONSULTATION BEGINS ON SUNDAY HUNTING
Source: NSDNR
Nova Scotians are invited to contribute their opinions on lifting the ban on Sunday hunting. The Nova Scotia Wildlife Act states that, for the most part, no one is allowed to hunt on Sundays. The Mi’kmaq have the right to hunt on any day. Lifting the ban would mean that anyone with the appropriate license could hunt on Sundays during hunting season. “In my travels across Nova Scotia, I’ve met various people who wish to discuss the prospect of Sunday hunting,” said Zach Churchill, Minister of Natural Resources. “No decision has been made but the public consultation will provide further information about how Nova Scotians feel with regard to this issue.” (read more)

THAT CLAYOQUOT SOUND
Source: AtlanticFarmer.com
St. Margaret’s Bay is seriously up in arms. Three huge clearcuts are proposed for the mouth of the Ingram River. People are readying chains and padlocks. Ringing in their ears, the echo of BC’s massive (and successful) demonstrations, “Clayoquot! Clayoquot! Clayoquot!” Bay people ... (read more)