Environmentalists rally round N.S. forester besieged by forestry industry

KENTVILLE, N.S. Conservationists and environmental groups throughout Nova Scotia are coming to the support of Jamie Simpson of the Ecology Action Centre, the subject of a recent forest industry complaint.
"I really admire Jamie Simpson," conservationist Martin Rudy Haase said in an interview Wednesday. "He stepped up to the plate and has been leading the charge against poor biomass harvesting practices."
Haase, who founded the Friends of Nature group over 50 years ago and has donated land to the Nova Scotia Nature Trust, said the forest industry is attacking Simpson's credibility because he dared to speak out.
"It's an attempt to downgrade his credibility," said Haase, a recipient of a Nature Trust conservation award. "They want to discredit him by claiming he isn't a genuine forester."
Simpson, the forest program co-ordinator with the Halifax environmental group, has publicly criticized clearcutting and whole-tree harvesting for biomass production.
He also recently criticized the Sustainable Forestry Initiative as "greenwashing," an attempt by some large forest companies to appear more environmentally friendly than they are.
The Registered Professional Foresters Association of Nova Scotia has filed a formal complaint against Simpson. It claims he breached the professional code of ethics by misrepresenting his qualifications in using a registered professional foresters designation he attained in New Brunswick.
The association has demanded that he stop using the registered professional foresters designation when dealing with local forestry topics in Nova Scotia.
It also said Simpson publicly called into question the work of other foresters and acted in a way that reflects poorly on the profession.
"He's a dedicated forester," said Haase, who has a copy of Simpson's recently published book, "Restoring the Acadian Forest: A Guide to Forest Stewardship for Woodlot Owners in the Maritimes."
Brad Armstrong, a conservation officer with Friends of Nature, said Wednesday that Simpson deserves credit for informing Nova Scotians of some of the large-scale harvesting practices taking place.
"I think he's a leader in this respect," said Armstrong. "The fact that the registered professional foresters of Nova Scotia don't want to give him the time of day because he got his education in New Brunswick is ridiculous.
"If you go to a doctor around here, mostly likely he didn't get his education in Nova Scotia. Professional people travel between borders all the time.
"They are trying to stifle free speech. I support his efforts personally and our group does. There are numerous groups and individuals in the province who think what he's doing is a good thing."
Kathy Didkowsky lives near an area in Caribou Mines that was whole-tree harvested last fall. She said Simpson's photos of the site, which appeared in the Halifax Chronicle Herald, have become the "poster for bad forestry practices."
"I'm so proud of him for speaking up," said Didkowsky, a member of the Save Caribou group, which is trying to stop clearcutting and whole-tree harvesting.
"He dares to speak to the truth. He stands up for what he believes in, and is definitely on the side of the forests, not on the side of large industry.
"People just have to take a look and see that what he's saying is true."