Woodlot Owners Association asks P.E.I. government for support from Fiona
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CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Woodlot homeowners throughout P.E.I. are dealing with the continued aftermath of post-tropical storm Fiona and are asking the province for elevated help.
Regardless of help from the Forest Enhancement Program (FEP) woodlot homeowners are nonetheless struggling to heal their woodlots greater than a yr after the post-tropical storm.
This lack of monetary help has brought about huge delays and decreased restoration work in woodlots throughout the province.
“The faster we are able to get it down, the higher, there’s by no means sufficient woody particles,” Wanson Hemphill, a board member of the Prince Edward Island Woodlot House owners Affiliation, informed SaltWire on Nov. 4.
Hemphill, who has a woodlot in Covehead, is focusing the cleanup of his woodlot on eradicating harmful bushes to enhance the well being of his forest, in addition to replanting hardwood and softwood as seeds and saplings grow to be out there.
“Our greatest good friend in biodiversity is Mom Nature, and she or he doesn’t like open areas.” – Wanson Hemphill
Hemphill hosted nature walks all through 2023 for woodlot homeowners, main attendees by his woodlot to show the harm mass tree losses trigger to the forest.
“Our greatest good friend in biodiversity is Mom Nature, and she or he doesn’t like open areas,” Hemphill mentioned addressing individuals of the Nov. 4 nature stroll, the ultimate stroll of 2023.
PEIWOA
The PEIWOA represents over 100 woodlot homeowners throughout the province and stands as the biggest group for woodlot homeowners in P.E.I.
A requirement that an earnings be famous not less than as soon as each three years disqualified most woodlot homeowners in P.E.I. from receiving monetary help from the catastrophe aid offered by the Purple Cross.
“It was disappointing for us to should not obtain consideration as an business due to that definition. We have to sit down and outline exactly what an financial woodlot enterprise is,” challenge supervisor Barry Murray informed SaltWire in a current interview.
The Prince Edward Island Woodlot House owners Affiliation (PEIWOA) went earlier than the standing committee on pure sources and environmental sustainability final month, recommending elevated help and funding for woodlot homeowners after Fiona.
One of many PEIWOA’s main suggestions to the committee was to extend funding for the Forest Enhancement Program.
Murray mentioned some members of the PEIWOA imagine it doesn’t have the funds to help the woodlot homeowners, which is delaying the cleanup even additional.
“It wants a brand new injection of funding, a variety of the work just isn’t finished but,” Murray mentioned.
Murray additionally mentioned the affiliation estimated that woodlot homeowners throughout the province are dealing with $40 million in potential monetary loss.
This quantity solely accounts for the misplaced potential earnings of the bushes broken by Fiona and doesn’t account for the restore and restoration work wanted for Islanders who prioritize biodiversity of their woodlots.
“We’re nonetheless absorbing the shock of Fiona,” Murray mentioned.
The PEIWOA estimates solely 20 per cent of woodlot homeowners in P.E.I. take part within the Forest Enhancement Program, leaving the remainder of the woodlot homeowners with out assist post-Fiona.
Caitlin Coombes is a Native Journalism Initiative reporter, a place funded by the federal authorities. She may be reached by electronic mail at [email protected] and adopted on X @caitlin_coombes.
