Irving lands for sale! Property consists of 170,000 acres in Digby, Annapolis and Yarmouth counties to be sold in three parcels.

 Buy Back Nova Scotia is a local coalition of groups that has formed to lobby the government to buy our lands back for future generations. Click on the menu and check out their “fact” sheet.  Word is finally getting out about the Irving land sale, especially in western NS, where A LOT of people are getting very worried and asking the Province to step in and buy the land. The biggest threat is massive real estate developments around the dozens of undeveloped lakes and miles of river frontage. This is going to be a big issue, and a huge opportunity for the Crown to secure a lot of land for conservation, access, etc.

Bids for the land are due April 2nd. The main thing now is to secure public ownership. It’s a once in a generation opportunity. The properties are profiled on Landvest’s website. (Landvest is a real estate broker.)

There was discussion of it today on CBC’s Maritime Noon.

The premier’s # is 1-866-267-1993 or 424-6600. Please add your voice by telling the province to ” buy back Irving’s land in southwestern Nova Scotia!” Property consists of 170,000 acres in Digby, Annapolis and Yarmouth counties to be sold in three parcels. Bidding closes April 2, 2009. It includes

• critical wildlife habitats
• old growth forests
• rare plant sites
• habitat for trout, bobcat and the endgangered mainland moose. 

From the Fact Sheet: http://www.buybacknovascotia.ca/

1.Weymouth Timberlands in Digby Co. (128,000 acres) including most of the Sissiboo River drainage area, Long Tusket Lake, Silver River, and historic New France

2.Tusket River Lakes in Clare and Yarmouth Co. (28,000 acres) including Barrio Lake, Barrio Falls and the east bank of the Tusket to North Kempt

3. Carleton River Lakes in Clare and Yarmouth Co. (17,000 acres) including the east and south sides of Ogden Lake and the east bank of the Carleton River to Lake Fanning.

To put a face to these 170,000 acres, consider:

• This is twice the size of Keji National Park; it represents 1/3 of Digby county  
• It includes the watersheds of the Bear River, Sissiboo River, Tusket River, Silver River and Carleton River 
• It encompasses two of Nova Scotia’s largest hydro electric systems, feeding over twelve hydro related dams 
• It spans 16 km of frontage on the historic Tusket River 
• It includes over 250 km of lake frontage on 69 undeveloped lakes 
• It includes a 600 km trail system, and a 300 km road network  
• The property includes historic and culturally significant areas including New France (Electric City); a WW11 plane crash site; and the Lake Jolly Clothes Pin Factory 
• It borders the Tobeatic Wilderness Area ( shares 12 Miles) and proximity to Keji Park (2 miles)