Author: Paul Berry

The important message to councillors “we need to have people telling their Councillors and provincial MLAs that HRM ought to get on with building cell 7 and stop the deception about a need to build the landfill higher.” For WRWEO comments on the Otter lake Landfill, see Link

Deer hunting season began Friday October 30th. The season always begins on the last Friday of October and goes to the first Saturday of December, inclusive, excluding Sundays Except the first two (new for 2016), i.e. Nov 1 and Nov 8. Wear hunter orange when you are out on The Bluff Trail and put an orange vest on your dog. Deer hunting is permitted on protected land and that includes the area of The Bluff Trail. Both hikers and hunters should use extra caution during this season. Other types of hunting are permitted for specific periods that extend outside of the deer season. Check in with the NS department of natural resources to see what applies to you.

On Saturday, October 24, the public is invited to come to the first ever Open Forest Day for a free, fun, and informative visit to a beautiful wilderness area that is located just outside the Halifax core. The target audience for the event, which has been organized by the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, is anyone and everyone – young and old, landowners, new Canadians, outdoor enthusiasts, and “couch potatoes.” Read more

This first Interim Report on the Green Network Plan will be discussed at a meeting of the COMMUNITY PLANNING & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STANDING COMMITTEE on Thursday Oct 15 in the Council Chamber, City Hall, viewable online. The full interim report is available in sections at http://www.halifax.ca/HalifaxGreenNetwork/Themes.php. View Agenda for the Thursday meeting. View Item 8.3.2 Halifax Green Network Plan which includes highlights of the Interim Report. The full Interim Report bears close reading. There are 52 maps.

You won’t make a bouquet out of them, but flowers of witch-hazel do provide some colour and interest though the fall. Witch-hazel is a common understory shrub in the oak woods of The Bluff Trail. More

It’s prime huckleberry season right now. Sometimes I have reached for what looks like a really delicious-looking cluster of huckleberries, throw them in my mouth and spit ’em out quickly. Then I look at the leaves and realize I had picked black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa), not black huckleberry (Gaylussacia buccata). They often grow together and the berries are not readily distinguished. The leaves are superficially similar, but on inspection can be readily distinguished. Click on these pics to enlarge them and see how the leaves differ – those of chokeberry have distinct “teeth” on the margins while huckleberry has smooth margins. – David P.

Approx. 30 people participated in the Hike-the-Greenbelt event on The Bluff Trail wed evening. The rain stopped shortly after we set out. Tristan Cleveland lead a run, and Tristan Glen a walk with WRWEO member David Patriquin talking about the natural history of the area. View Tristan C. talking about the Hike-the-Greenbelt series and the Halifax Green Network initiative in this youtube video .

Participants in Bluff Trail run and hike Aug 12

WRWEO/The Bluff Trail wants to remind users of the Bluff Wilderness Hiking Trail to carry their garbage off the trail. All garbage should be carried home to be properly sorted into the various waste, recycle, and compost streams. Please note that the garbage barrel located at the trail head will soon be removed. The volunteers who have generously emptied this garbage barrel are no longer able to maintain this service and WRWEO asks for your help to keep both the Bluff Wilderness Hiking Trail and the BLT Rails to Trails free of garbage and litter. For more information about Leave No Trace principles and practice please visit: Leave No Trace Canada Outdoor Ethics http://www.leavenotrace.ca/home.