The Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Eric Hammill, has announced a series of open houses designed to gauge public interest in the province's proposed Provincial Forests strategy.
Open houses will be held June 23 at Brookvale Nordic Ski Facility; June 24 at Fortune Community Centre; June 25 at O'Leary Legion; June 26 at Montague Lions Club; July 2 at Fort Augustus Recreation Centre and July 3 at Wellington Legion. All meetings start at 7:30 p.m.
"The open houses will seek public input about forming 22 Provincial Forest areas across Prince Edward Island," Mr. Hammill said.
"Public support is essential for the long-term management of Provincial Forests because Crown land is the birthright of all Islanders. As a consequence, public consultations will be ongoing, involving forestry, recreation and environmental groups as well as property owners, land users and others."
Each open house will feature maps showing the location of Provincial Forests proposed under the strategy and a question-and-answer session with provincial forestry representatives. The information sessions will include displays and a brief slide show presentation depicting management practices on Crown land forests managed by the department's Forestry Division.
Islanders attending the open houses may voice their opinions about the proposed Provincial Forests strategy or have their views recorded by completing questionnaires. Individuals or groups who are unable to attend can obtain information packages available at the following Forestry Division locations: Eastern District Office, Southampton, 961-7296; Central District Office, Beech Grove Road, 368-4800 and Western District Office, Wellington, 854-7260. Forestry representatives can avail themselves to interested community groups to discuss further the Provincial Forests proposal.
"The province wants to receive public feedback about the proposed Provincial Forests strategy," said Mr. Hammill. "If implemented, the proposal will enable the province to more effectively manage Provincial Forests in perpetuity for forest products, wildlife, recreation and aesthetics."
The province, under the proposed Provincial Forests strategy, has selected acquisition areas near existing concentrations of provincially managed forest where it may -- if resources permit -- obtain suitable property. Properties would only be obtained from the voluntary sales of willing private land owners. Of the 22 forest areas proposed, 11 would be located in western P.E.I., three in the province's central region and eight in the Island's eastern end. In addition, 177 properties of significant value currently managed by the province would be retained as individual satellite provincial forests. The department's Forestry Division manages 18,000 hectares (46,700 acres) of woodland -- about 48 per cent of the natural resource lands under provincial management.
During the past decade, lands assigned to the Forestry Division have been managed under three forest management plans which have emphasized multi-use goals. Because of the forest's continued importance to Prince Edward Island, the department will hold a second series of public consultations beginning in late fall. The consultations will focus on components proposed for the new Crown Land Management Plans as well as forest management techniques.
For more information, contact Dan McAskill at (902) 368-4802 or by fax at (902) 368-4806.