Destruction of a Pine Forest - Cambridge, N.S.

11 February, 2025 - Reading time: 4 minutes

Over the winter 2018-19, one of the few remaining pine forests on the Annapolis Valley floor was clear cut of every tree standing. The image below shows how there is no forest left at all (click on the photo for a larger image).

The area is shown in the aerial photo from Google Earth below before it was cut.  The blue in the aerial images is the cut over area and about 47 hectares.  It is located between highway 101, Cambridge Road and the Old Ratchford Road as well as the Annapolis Valley First Nations.

One tree beside the Old Ratchford Road was left whieh represents what was lost. The forest was made of trees like this. Examination of a stump left by the cutting shows trees that were only about 70 years old. Typical White Pine can live to several hundred years.

Line White Pine at clear cut site

Below is an image of one of the stumps left in the clear cut. It shows that this tree was a little over 70 years old when cut.

 Cutting for immediate profit such as this destroys the forest as habitat for any wildlife and leaves no seed trees to regrow the trees. Any person concerned for their community would use the forest wisely and harvest a few trees annually so that the forest is maintained  while providing income. 

This cutting now destroyed wildlife habitat and will be unavailable for birds and mammals for decades.  If it does grow back it will probably be completely different.  

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The web manager lives in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia and is retired from teaching at the university level. He is very much invested in nature and citizen science related to nature. This includes big trees, butterflies, birds, the stars, weather, and life in general. This takes him outdoors where he enjoys geocaching, bicycling, walking, and kayaking.

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