Historic Shelburne River Protected

A Canadian heritage river in Nova Scotia that is a traditional Mi'kmaq travel route used for centuries, and made famous in the book The Tent Dwellers, is now protected by a designated wilderness area.

Shelburne River Wilderness Area in Queens County, includes lands purchased in 2007 from Bowater Mersey Paper Company (now AbitibiBowater) along Shelburne River and adjacent Crown lands.

"In 2007, the province committed to protecting the lands acquired from Bowater and this shows we are following through on that commitment," said David Morse, Minister of the Environment. "Protecting the environment is a government priority and the work to protect 12 per cent of Nova Scotia is advancing."

The new wilderness area includes 1,636 hectares of land purchased from the paper company, as well as adjacent Crown lands and waterways for a total of 2,270 hectares (5,602 acres).

It protects exceptional old-growth forests and wetlands, habitats of rare species, important ecosystems, and unique natural and cultural features. This historic canoeing and sport fishing area was celebrated by the popular Tent Dwellers Festival in 2008.
The festival marked the 100th anniversary of the book The Tent Dwellers by Albert Bigelow Paine. It is a well-known paddlers' travelogue of the historic Nova Scotian canoe route.

The Shelburne River was declared a Canadian Heritage River in 1997, a designation given to some rivers for their natural or cultural heritage, under the Canadian Heritage Rivers program.

The new wilderness area will protect most of the lower Shelburne River, about 40 kilometres of river frontage. Upper parts of the river are within the Tobeatic Wilderness Area.

Wilderness areas are places for people to enjoy hiking, paddling, fishing, camping, hunting, and other wilderness recreation. Legal protection of land by the province prohibits development, forestry, and mining. They can protect aspects of natural and cultural heritage.

The work to designate Shelburne River Wilderness Area included a socioeconomic analysis, a 60-day public consultation period and consultation with the Mi'kmaq.

A map of the wilderness area and information about all of Nova Scotia's protected areas are located at: www.gov.ns.ca/nse/protectedareas/wa_shelburneriver.asp .