NOVA SCOTIA TRAVEL BAN Provincial parks, wilderness areas.

Posted on 08/12/2016 | About Nova Scotia

Effective last Tuesday, all hiking, camping, fishing and off-road vehicle use is restricted in provincial parks, crown lands and wilderness areas in Nova Scotia. The ban on all trail systems is a result of severely dry conditions throughout the province and is in effect for two weeks unless there is a major rainfall.

On Monday, Walter Fanning executive director of the regional services branch of the Department of Natural Resources said, “We just don’t want people to get farther along into the woods in a trail ... that’s potentially unsafe if there’s a fire.”
The ban does not apply to private campgrounds and beaches.
Fanning said that beaches and lakes that are accessed from a road or parking lot are permissible to visit as are municipal parks, but if access is from a wooded area, it is out of bounds.
The restriction comes after two wildfires in western Nova Scotia: Annapolis and Queens counties have just been contained. A fire at Seven Mile Lake in Annapolis County has grown to 140 hectares.
Natural Resources Minister Lloyd Hines said, “We’ve had great success with our citizens in the province who understand the situation. We are asking them for help and understanding and cooperation in this process.”
It has been 15 years since the province has had to impose a travel restriction due to dry weather conditions. Hines suggested that the fewer people who are in the forested areas means the lesser chance of a fire being started.
About 60 firefighters, DNR staff, and Parks Canada staff have fought the fires. Six water bombers from New Brunswick and one water bomber from Newfoundland were utilized as well as DNR helicopters. If another fire of significance were started, services would have to be called in from outside of the province.
Hines reported that the cost to the province to fight fires cost up to $200,000 a day.