Inducted to the Nova Scotia Forestry Hall of Fame in 2014
David (Dave) F. Barrett, lumberman and businessman, has spent a career promoting forest management in Nova Scotia. Dave, along with his brothers, owns and operates Barrett Lumber Company. He has made a longstanding commitment to the industry through service to provincial organizations such as the Forest Products Association, the Wood Products Manufacturing Association, Nova Scotia Voluntary Planning Committee and the Nova Forest Alliance. Dave has always expressed his passion for the woods by speaking up and speaking out to defend the rights of lumber producers. His belief that the best solutions are found by working with the community led to the creation of the “Family Forestry Stewardship Agreement” which allows responsible users access to Barrett Lumber woodlands. Dave also took a lead role in developing the protocol to allow the transport of sawmill chips from the brown spruce longhorn beetle quarantine zone to pulp mills thereby maintaining a critical component of the industry. Dave has used his career to promote a shared responsibility of forest stewardship between landowners and community and continues to be a voice for the forest industry.
Free Gifts from All Nova Scotia Forest Land Owners
This research was done by me, David F. Barrett (BLC), because Halifax Water and the Nova Scotia Utility Review Board (URB) dismissed the BLC stormwater appeal. To my knowledge, Halifax Water and the URB did not use any professional forestry personnel to help them in making a decision on how much stormwater if any was produced after the harvest of timber. They just assumed it was the same as a Costco parking lot and charged the Barrett Lumber Company accordingly ($3000/year). Thus, making forestry unsustainable in the Halifax Regional Municipality. To this day I cannot understand how so many intelligent people of Halifax Water and the URB could compare a timber lot to a Costco parking lot where the stumpage, roots, tree limbs, tree tops, moss with its water containing properties, etc. Not to mention where the top soil is removed and replaced with pavement.
The never-ending benefits to Nova Scotia from the Harold T. Barrett Family and all Nova Scotians who keep their land in forestry especially a managed forest.
Recognize that forests help:
− To provide an income for forest land owners for their investment in forestry property.
− To sequester the large amount of carbon (trees) rather than have them rot and release all that carbon into the air.
− Fight flooding, for a forest is like a great sponge.
− Slow the water flow by reducing the surface runoff.
− Fill the groundwater.
− Fill the underground aquifers while sustaining watershed stability and resistance.
− Provide mulch with its water saving qualities.
− Act as a natural reservoir, treatment plant and stormwater management system.
− Pump water into the air by way of its leaves, needles etc.
− Accept the runoff of adjacent roadways.
− Mitigate pollution from highway spills etc.
− A managed forest provides a higher quality of drinking water.
− A managed forest provides positive carbon credits.
− A non-managed forest provides negative carbon credits.
− Provide shade and cool air.
− There are more Forests in Nova Scotia now than 100 years ago despite twice the population.
Recognize that:
− Private forest land owners do more stormwater control than the land produces. In fact, the forest land owners provide relief to the storm water infrastructure.
− Private forest land is completely different than retail, service businesses and industrial land.
− Satellite imagery is wrong as it relates to forestry and does not work on freshly harvested forest or forest blow downs.
− The misrepresentation of forest land by satellite imagery has the potential of destroying forestry.
− Satellite imagery taken before the leaves are out on private forest land in the spring will give false readings.
− Rock outcrops are a fact of nature and has nothing to do with private forest land disturbances.
− Trees blown down by hurricanes or other large wind storms are a fact of nature and has nothing to do with forest land owners disturbing the forest land.
− A forest landowner should not be penalized because the local planning committee zones forest land commercial (1986 Beaver Bank Plan).
− HRM Fire departments were able to stop the Kingswood fire because BLC had a gravelled ditch forest extraction road in front of that fire.
− Thousands of Nova Scotia private forest land owners provide forest extraction roads for recreation.
− Private forest land owners spend thousands of dollars each year to maintain and upgrade miles of forest extraction roads for public use and fire protection.
− The more private forestry land owners that keep their land in forestry, the less stormwater management our municipalities have to do.
− No government should tax forest land beyond its ability to grow wood fibre.
− Forests continue to sustain communities across Canada as well as a vast diversity of plants, animals, fungi and ecosystems.
“Gills of the Planet”
− Forests are one key source of breathable air. They provide oxygen, an essential element to life.
− Every ton of wood that a forest grows releases 1.07 tons of oxygen.
− On average one tree produces nearly 260 lbs of oxygen each year.
− Two mature trees can provide enough oxygen for a family of 4 per year.
− One acre of forest produces enough oxygen for 18 people to breath for a year. This is one of the reasons you feel better after you walk in the woods.
Sequesters Carbon Dioxide
− Every ton of wood that a forest grows it removes 1.47 tons of carbon and can store that carbon for centuries.
− One acre of mature trees absorbs the amount of carbon dioxide produced when you drive an average car 26,000 miles in a year.
− Forest provides jobs and efficient building materials that store carbon.
“The Lungs of our Land”
− A forest helps to stabilize and cool the climate in general, helping to regulate regional temperatures, by releasing water vapor into the air through leaves.
− A forest absorbs odors, pollutant gases such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, ammonia, sulfur dioxide and ozone… a forest filters particulate matter which causes respiratory irritation and illness. Trees do this by trapping particulates on their leaves and bark. In other words, trees act as filters to clean the air of dust etc. that we breathe. A single tree can absorb 10 pounds of air pollution per year.
Water Purifiers and Flood Control
− A forest contains the necessary mechanisms for clean healthy filtered water.
− A forest fights flooding for it’s like a great sponge. The forest slows the water flow by reducing the surface runoff, refilling the groundwater and underground aquifers while sustaining watershed stability and resistance.
− A forest provides mulch with its water saving qualities.
− A forest promotes regular rainfall.
− A forest acts as natural reservoirs, treatment plants and stormwater management systems.
Healthy Living
− A forest provides society a healthy atmosphere of shade, greenery, activity and tranquillity be it visual, physical or spiritual.
− A forest provides both food and shelter to humans, animals, birds etc.
− A forest reduces pollution.
− A forest provides a wind break.
− A forests root network stabilizes huge amounts of soil.
− A forest reduces ultraviolet radiation levels and noise (USDA Forestry Service).
− A forest uses Phytoremediation to clean up a contaminated environment. Trees can either sequester the toxins away or degrade them to make them less dangerous such as sewage, roadside spills or contaminated runoff.
A forest is great at controlling and curing mental health.
− A forest provides great places for recreation such as:
Because private forest owners, like the Harold T. Barrett family, harvest the blown down trees, private land owners help -to eliminate the danger of large forest fires like HRM had in Mineville and Spryfield because the dead, dried out trees from Hurricane Juan were not harvested. A number of homes were lost to those fires.
Kingswood Fire
Since Barrett Lumber Company had harvested the timber around Little Ash Lake and had built a high-quality forest extraction road, the Halifax Fire Department was able to get control of the Kingswood fire. Until the fire reached Barrett Lumbers property line, the fire was running treetop-to-treetop. Due to our harvesting where we created these high-quality roads (fire breaks), the fire had no choice but to go down to the ground where the firefighters were able to fight the fire. They fought the fire throughout the night. This in turn saved the Blue Mountain Wildlife and Protected Area.
Forestry Fact Sheet
Forest Products Association of Nova Scotia
Forests are a Renewable Resource – When many people think about forestry, they think about cutting trees – a moment in time. What’s hard for some to remember is that the minute those trees are cut, a new forest starts to grow. Trees are a renewable resource that not only build and heat our homes, but they provide for countless products we use every day and cutting-edge new products that will be green and renewable because they come from trees.
Deforestation vs. Forestry – Deforestation is removing trees from an area and not allowing them to regrow – think of a parking lot. In forestry, when we cut down trees the next step in our plan is to grow more trees as soon as we can, to provide wood to the mills and jobs for Nova Scotians. There is a huge difference. Don’t let people tell you that forestry is the same as deforestation.
Backbone of the Rural Economy – Natural Resources like our forests tend to be developed in the more rural regions of our province, and our country. From private woodland owners, contractors and mill sites – most of our industry is based in rural Nova Scotia and is a major driver of the economy of those areas. The people in our industry build homes, pay taxes, buy groceries, do their banking, and invest in their rural home communities. Their jobs in forestry keep them home – and keep them as an important part of the community.
An Interconnected Industry – The many sectors of the forest industry (i.e., woodlot owners, silviculture, harvesting, trucking, specialty product mills, sawmills, pellet mills, pulp/paper mills, biomass facilities, etc.) in our province are highly interconnected and rely heavily on one another. When one sector does well, the others follow. The same is true when one struggles, which can result in a domino effect of work stoppages, shut-downs and closures. Strong markets, a reliable workforce and a clear regulatory environment help keep our interconnected industry moving forward.
Economic Impact – The forest industry has a major economic impact on our province as a whole. Forestry contributes more than $575 million annually to our GDP, and creates work for more than 10,200 Nova Scotians – equalling $414 million in household income. We’re also a leader in Nova Scotia’s international exports, accounting for 10.1% of exports in 2012. That’s impact.
Different Harvesting Practices – Clearcutting may not be pretty to look at, but it is often the right harvest choice for the forests of Nova Scotia. Saying we should ban clearcutting is as ‘silly’ as saying we should always clearcut. Our forests can tell us by the characteristics of the landscape how we should harvest, and what we should promote to grow on a site. That’s the science behind forestry and Nova Scotia’s industry is a world-wide leader in using science guide management.
Balance – It’s vital to find the right balance of environmental, social and economic goals as we manage the forests of Nova Scotia. Our industry works to seek that balance every day. And it’s by keeping that balance that our industry will continue to grow into the future.
Forests continue to sustain communities across Canada as well as a vast diversity of plants, animals, fungi and ecosystems. The following sections are from an article from a July 11, 2022 Chronicle Herald newspaper:
Yours truly,
David F. Barrett
Woodlands Manager
Barrett Lumber Company
Phone: 902-452-8137
David F. Barrett 