News release

Information Sessions on Crown Land Strategy

Natural Resources (to July 2018)

Co-ordinating the increasing number of uses of Nova Scotia's limited Crown land resources will be the focus of a series of information sessions this fall.

The Department of Natural Resources will hold sessions in early September to allow the public to view its proposed integrated resource management (IRM) strategy for provincial Crown land.

"This is an opportunity for the public to view our proposed strategy for provincial land," said Natural Resources Minister Ernest Fage. "These plans incorporate information gathered during our initial public consultations."

Over 1,500 individuals and companies across the province provided input, identifying over 4,300 issues on Crown land. IRM includes planning for wilderness, wildlife, water, recreation, parks, minerals, forests and energy.

"IRM is a planning process that considers all potential users and uses of Crown land," said Mr. Fage. "It is important to balance the diverse and sometimes competing interests to ensure that these lands are available for a variety of purposes."

Less than 30 per cent of Nova Scotia's land base is Crown land, which is one of the lowest proportions in any province in Canada.

"Demands upon the land and the resource base have been increasing," said Mr. Fage. "The IRM process co-ordinates resource use to ensure that our resources are sustainable and to minimize conflict among the users."

Regional planning teams have created strategic level plans that assign one of three categories to individual areas of Crown land. These categories are C1 - General Resource Use Area, C2 - Multiple and Adaptive Resource Use Area, and C3 - Protected and Limited Use Area.

The next step is detailed planning for resource use on Crown land through the development of long-range management plans.

The information sessions will be held across the province from 4 to 8:30 p.m., with an overview presentation at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Stops include Lawrencetown and Port Hawkesbury on Sept. 5; Kentville, Bible Hill and Sydney River on Sept. 6; Bridgewater, Springhill and St. Andrews, Antigonish County on Sept. 7; Tusket, Upper Rawdon and Inverness on Sept. 11; Weymouth, Lower Sackville and Cape North on Sept. 12; Liverpool and Baddeck on Sept. 13; Shelburne, Middle Musquodoboit and Guysborough on Sept. 14; New Glasgow on Sept. 18; and St. Marys, Guysborough Co., on Sept. 19.

For more information on the locations of the sessions and the IRM process, go to the website, www.gov.ns.ca/natr .