The new forestry plan for the province will see the the amount of protected old growth forest go down from 30-percent to 23-percent while allowing 20-percent more softwood to be cut on public land annually.
Margo Sheppard, who has spent more than 30 years in the environmental field, tells CHSJ News almost half of those species-at-risk in New Brunswick are associated with old forests and if those are gone, so are the animals. She says the forestry plan as its been announced is taking the province down a path of minimizing areas that are less intact for wildlife, for erosion control and for habitat.
The Alward Government says the plan will maintain and create jobs, encourage investment and manage forests in a sustainable way.
