New Generation Owners Named Woodland Owners of the Year

The winners of the 2021 provincial Woodland Owner of the Year Award are Jonathan and Abbey Veinotte of West Northfield, Lunenburg Co. The Veinottes are the youngest winners in the program’s history and will host a community event on Saturday, Sept. 18.

The Nova Scotia Woodland Owner of the Year Award recognizes landowners for outstanding stewardship of their woodlands. It was developed to encourage woodlot owners to practice sustainable stewardship and to increase public awareness of the importance of privately held woodlands in Nova Scotia.

“Proper management is vital to the health and well-being of Nova Scotia’s precious woodlands,” said Tory Rushton, Minster of Natural Resources and Renewables. “This year’s award not only showcases the strong stewardship of our province’s private woodland owners, but also highlights a new generation of owners that are fully committed to ecological forestry practices.”

All of this year’s winners show how sustainable woodland ownership and ecological forestry go hand in hand.

Luther and Joyce Sears of Brookfield, Colchester Co., won the Central Region award and Warren and Barbara MacMullen of Sydney Forks won in the Eastern Region.

The Woodland Owner of the Year Award recognizes excellence in forestry techniques and methods on private land. Nominations were evaluated using several criteria, including the quality of integrated resource management practices, employing environmental standards, meeting sustainable goals, protecting wildlife habitats, improving woodlots in general and for recreation, and developing and growing their knowledge of the field of forestry and woodlot management.

The winners will be recognized with a prize and a field day in their respective woodlots for the local community to visit and learn more about sustainable forestry.

More information about this year’s winners and their field days can be found at: https://novascotia.ca/natr/woodlot/woya/2021.asp

Quick Facts:

• the Woodland Owner of the Year award program has honoured private woodlot owners for outstanding resource stewardship for more than 30 years
• about 60 per cent of Nova Scotia’s woodlands are privately owned
• Nova Scotians who own between 20 and 2,000 hectares of woodland are eligible to be nominated

Additional Resources:

Woodland Owner of the Year website: https://novascotia.ca/natr/woodlot/woya/

Department of Natural Resources and Renewables on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NS_DNRR

Nova Scotia Woodlands on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NovaScotiaWoodlands/