Landowners Can Access Images of Hurricane Damage

NATURAL RESOURCES--Landowners Can Access Images of Hurricane Damage

Landowners can now access images of their own forests, taken after Hurricane Juan, on the Department of Natural Resources website. The information was gathered to help the province assess the extent of forest damage.

The website offers a seamless view of more than 680,363 hectares, from Halifax to the Cobequid hills, Colchester Co. It includes more than 1,000 photographs taken in October and November. The images are available on the internet at www.gov.ns.ca/natr/juan .

"We are providing this service as part of the salvage assistance program for private landowners that was announced under the disaster financial assistance program," said Natural Resources Minister Richard Hurlburt. "Landowners can use the images provided on our website to review and assess the damage to their own properties."

Hurricane Juan caused significant damage to standing timber on both Crown and private land holdings throughout the hurricane zone, with the majority of damage east of the eye of the storm.

The James W. Sewall Company of Old Town, Me., was hired to carry out digital orthophotography of the area impacted by the hurricane.

"Now that we have the initial survey of the forests from the air, department staff will be able to work with landowners to determine the extent of damage sustained and what salvage work is required," said Mr. Hurlburt.