Western Crown Land Forest Roads to Temporarily Close

Forest roads on western Crown land formerly owned by Bowater will be closed to all motorized vehicles as of Thursday, April 3, to protect drivers and roadbeds.

The road closures are temporary. They are part of the province's ongoing management of the western Crown lands, to protect the roadbeds during the spring softening period, and as a safety precaution, to protect vehicle drivers.

Travel on roads in wet spring conditions can cause severe damage that is expensive to repair. Closing the roads temporarily gives roadbeds time to dry as weather grows warmer. It will also help protect against vehicles getting stuck in remote wooded areas where cellphone coverage is weak and personal safety could be at some risk.

The former Bowater lands, now owned by the province, have 2,500 kilometres of forest roads, many of them gated. Many of the gates will be closed by Department of Natural Resources until further notice. Provincial Crown land policy allows Nova Scotians access to all provincially-owned land except where restricted for appropriate reasons, such as ecological protection, and in the interest of roadbed protection and the safety of road users.

To view an updated map of western Crown forest road gates that will be closed until further notice, visit, www.novascotia.ca/natr .

The gates could be closed for several weeks and will be reopened when conditions allow. The reopening will be announced.