The Bluff Trail

Please support Councillor Blackburn’s motion for a Sandy Lake Regional Park Boundary Extension Study (Agenda Item 15.5.1) being presented at this Tuesday’s Council meeting, Nov 9.

Here is the link to the council agenda and the motion of Councillor Blackburn: https://www.halifax.ca/city-hall/regional-council/november-9-2021-halifax-regional-council

There is very little time!!

Please contact your councillors to support this motion! And/Or send a quick letter to Council in support of the motion, you can send an email to clerks@halifax.ca and/or to the mayor mayor@halifax.ca. You can find your councillors contact information on the city website here: https://www.halifax.ca/city-hall/districts-councillors

The Woodens River Watershed Environmental Organization (WRWEO) is part of the coalition to protect Sandy Lake. We support the expansion of the Sandy Lake – Sackville River Regional Park (SL – SRRP) by an additional 1,800 acres as advocated by the SL – SRRP Coalition.

We oppose the efforts of developers to destroy the wilderness located in the unprotected lands in this area to accommodate a new housing project. That would be contrary to what is needed to fight climate change and protect biodiversity and also contrary to the conception of the Halifax Green Network Plan adopted by Regional Council in 2018.

There are two major reasons for our support of the proposed Sandy Lake-Sackville River Regional Park and to stop development in that area:

1. Population and outdoor recreation continue to grow in HRM, while greenspace declines. We have experienced greatly increased use of The Bluff Wilderness Hiking Trail over the last 5 years and already we are at or over our capacity to accommodate this use. The Jack Lake lands within the proposed Sandy Lake-Sackville River Regional Park lie between major growth areas and have extensive informal trails currently. Many of them are old logging roads through magnificent forests and would require little modification and maintenance to accommodate much more use than they receive currently.

2. The lands west of Sandy Lake within the proposed SL-SRRP are part of an existing wildlife corridor important for connectivity between the lands of the Chebucto Peninsula and the greater mainland, as identified in a recent report (Appendix G in the submission from the SL-SRRP Coalition). The Halifax Green Network Plan highlighted the need to ensure such connectivity, although not this particular corridor apparently because parts of it south of Hammonds Plains Road are now committed to development (Halifax Bedford West).  Regardless, even if partially fragmented in that way, as the Green Network Plan says in section 4.1.3.1 “…maintain the largest possible remnant patches and encourage best management practices in intervening areas to provide opportunities for wildlife movement between patches.”  It is still worth retaining the lands west of Sandy Lake in their natural state as “stepping stones”. They might be considered analogous to the ferry system between Halifax and Dartmouth, not carrying as much as the bridges, but still vital for many people.

Thus for the sake of both wildlife and healthy outdoor recreation well into the future, it is urgent to incorporate measures that will protect the integrity of the lands of the proposed SL-SRRP in the Regional Plan.

Are you interested in helping out on trail? Would you like to meet some board members and volunteers? We are planning an excursion to address trail markings at the junction of the Pot Lake and Mi’kmaw Hill Loops – many people get confused here and we are trying to make it clear with markers in buckets but folks have been kicking over our buckets so we are paddling some cement out there and filling the buckets with cement. You can join us on the hike out where we will pick up trash and fix some trail barriers on the way to the junction.

You will need to review and sign this waiver form.

Rules and procedures to follow for all WRWEO events.

Please be advised that the B.L.T. Rails to Trails will be closed for trail maintenance from May 13 to May 14. This closure will only affect a portion of the trail, from KM7 (Bay Storage/Bluff Parking Lot) to KM 13 (Hubley). The trail will have heavy construction equipment and therefore for safety purposes the trail will be closed to all users. We ask all users to check www.blttrails.ca on a regular basis for more information. Please share with your networks and post on any social media pages.

The AGM will be held on April 28, 2021 via Zoom. The meeting starts at 6:00 pm and will conclude by 7:30 pm. 

This past year we have seen increased activity and harmful human impacts on The Bluff Wilderness Hiking Trail. We need your help more than ever to protect and maintain the Bluff Trail and Five Bridge Lakes Wilderness Area.

We will elect this year’s Board of Directors, present the Chair’s report, review WRWEO’s financial statements and Mike Lancaster will provide highlights of the Bluff Trail Stewardship Program, which has now been going for four years.

Registration – online via our form on Website, or send your name, email, phone # and address to info@wrweo.ca.  We will email you the Zoom link in order to participate.

Membership costs $5, pay online – membership must be up-to-date in order to participate.

Link: 2021 WRWEO AGM Agenda

Link: 2020-07-07 WRWEO AGM 2020 Minutes 

Link: Bluff Trail Stewardship Program, Year In Review Report, 2020 

Link: WRWEO Chair’s report AGM 2021

Link: WRWEO Financial Statements 2020 

From the Sandy Lake Coalition – There is still time to respond to this important survey that could protect wildlife corridors at the fragile pinch point between (& from beyond) Sandy Lake-Sackville River and the Chebucto Peninsula:

https://www.halifax.ca/recreation/parks-trails-gardens/park-planning-projects/bedford-west

It is important that citizens who live in Bedford West and those who do not live there respond to this survey by the March 5^th deadline. This issue is bigger than just Bedford West resident’s park access.  Its primary problem is that it ignores the Halifax Green Network Plan (HGNP). There is no reference to HGNP wildlife corridors within this area, and clearly no plan as to how wildlife is to move from the BMBCL Wilderness Area to the Mainland or the Chebucto Peninsula. There are a number of opportunities to make comments in the survey, and one for general comments at the end. Ecological decisions and park decisions need to be closely connected, especially in this serious pinch point identified in the HGNP.

WRWEO also encourages you to advocate that all these areas have Leave No Trace principles applied to them and that the city seeks to implement a community stewardship program (like we have in the Bluff Trail Stewardship Program) to ensure ongoing sustainability and stewardship of the lands.

The proposed Ingram River Wilderness Area needs your help! Please fill out this survey by Nov. 22nd, and specify that you would like to see this incredible area protected. You can learn more about the area and the St. Margaret’s Bay Stewardship Association’s campaign here.

You are invited to our 2020 annual general meeting. 

It will be held via Zoom on Tuesday July 7, 2020.  The meeting starts at 6:00pm and will conclude by 7:30pm. 

Registration – online via our form on Website,

or send your name, email, phone # and address to info@wrweo.ca 

Membership costs $5, pay online – membership must be up-to-date in order to participate

We will elect this year’s board of directors, present the Chair’s report, review WRWEO’s financial statements and Mike Lancaster will provide highlights of the Bluff Trail Stewardship Program which has now been going for three years. 

Register for the virtual 2020 AGM

2020 WRWEO AGM Agenda

2019-04-01 WRWEO AGM 2019 Minutes

Bluff Trail Stewardship Program, Year In Review Report, 2019

WRWEO Chair’s report AGM 2020

WRWEO Financial Statements 2019