UPDATE: HARRISON LEWIS CENTRE HANDMOWING WEEKEND 2015 . . . MINISTER ISSUES DECISION ON TWO APPEALS, EXTENDS DEADLINE ON ANOTHER  . . . WAR IN THE WOODS COULD RETURN AS LOGGING COMPANY TARGETS WALBRAN VALLEY . . . LARGE-SCALE COMPOSTING COMING WITH TIME: MINISTER . . . OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST...

UPDATE: HARRISON LEWIS CENTRE HANDMOWING WEEKEND 2015
Source: Harrison Lewis Centre
Is the grass in your yard knee deep and harboring who knows what? Are your pastures getting ahead of your animals? Why not try a scythe? Imagine being able to hear what’s going on around you as you clean up your lawn, yard, field, or ditch. Come to the Harrison Lewis Centre July 4 and 5 to learn the ins-outs-ups-downs-and around the corners of scything under the swift blades of Peter and Helene Redden. The husband and wife team are well known for their skill in using, building, and maintaining scythes and other traditional hand-held implements used to put up hay and grains. Join us for cutting, stooking, peening, and more. We will learn in the daylight hours and have music and good food in the evening. Bring your own scythe if you have one. A major sponsor has come forward to provide core funding for the handmowing weekend. With their generous support, we are able to offer the weekend program at minimum cost to participants. The new dates for the weekend are July 4 and 5. Email HCL@eastlink.ca for details.

MINISTER ISSUES DECISION ON TWO APPEALS, EXTENDS DEADLINE ON ANOTHER
Source: N.S. Dept of Environment
The Minister of Environment has completed a review of two of three appeals for the industrial approval issued March 9 to Northern Pulp. The appeal from Clean Pictou Air focused on concerns the industrial approval did not address the department’s need to protect the health and wellness of citizens and businesses. It included a request for more monitoring of the area’s ambient air quality and emissions from the mill. The minister denied the appeal, finding the industrial approval represents the department’s role in protecting citizens and the environment. The appeal from Pictou Landing First Nation focused on a perceived insufficient Aboriginal consultation, and stated the industrial approval does not reflect agreements between Pictou Landing First Nation and government. The Minister has denied this appeal on the grounds that meaningful consultation on the industrial approval took place with Pictou Landing First Nation before the approval was issued. (read more)

WAR IN THE WOODS COULD RETURN AS LOGGING COMPANY TARGETS WALBRAN VALLEY
Source: Wilderness Committee
One of Canada’s most important old-growth rainforests is under direct threat of clearcut logging. New maps obtained by the Wilderness Committee show logging company Teal Jones has laid out eight new cutblocks in the central Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island, a focal point of the War in the Woods for decades. (read more)

LARGE-SCALE COMPOSTING COMING WITH TIME: MINISTER
Source: The Aurora
A completed consultant’s study looking at large-scale composting in the province (Nfld), costing more then $160,000, will not be thrown away by the government. Municipal Affairs Minister Keith Hutchings says it will be of use, despite a delay in planned composting infrastructure, as announced last week in an update of the provincial waste management strategy. (read more)