New Shelburne River Wilderness Area created in Nova Scotia

Old-growth forest at Pollards Falls added to the wilderness area

HALIFAX - The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) welcomes the creation of the Shelburne River Wilderness Area, near Kejimkujik National Park.

"This is an important designation for an important waterway", says Chris Miller, National Manager of Wilderness Conservation and Climate Change for CPAWS. "The Shelburne River is nationally-significant, so we are quite pleased that the Nova Scotian government has taken the step to designate the wildlands here as a legally-protected wilderness area".

Added to the wilderness area through the public consultation phase are public lands at Pollards Falls. This area contains what are believed to be the largest hemlock trees remaining in the Maritimes. The stand of hemlocks had been originally left out of the wilderness area in the interim phase of protection, but was added to the final boundary proposal that has now been approved.

"Adding the public lands at Pollards Falls to the wilderness area is a smart thing to do", says Miller. "It contains some of the oldest and biggest hemlock trees remaining in the Maritime Provinces".

The lands at Pollards Falls were initially identified for protection way back in the 1970\'s, and has been a candidate for protection as an International Biological Program site since that time.

Click here to view a map of the area protected

Contact:

Chris Miller
National Manager
Wilderness Conservation and Climate Change
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
902-446-4155
cmiller@cpaws.org