Macphail Woods Articles
Will the new buffer zone legislation be enough?
by Gary Schneider

It is becoming clear that the province wants to promote "green marketing" in its new Food Initiative Strategy without doing the necessary groundwork. After spending a great deal of money setting up the Round Table on Resource Land Use and the Stewardship, the government continues to erode the group's recommendations.

Section of an Island Stream.

In the most recent instance, the province announced a 10 metre buffer zone along all year-round waterways. On steeply sloped land. there is an additional 50 metres zone that must have some fall protection. Is it better than nothing? Of course. Is it a step in the right direction? Absolutely. Is it the step we should have taken? No.

Macphail Woods Articles
Will the new buffer zone legislation be enough?

The new buffer zone legislation is now in place for both forested land and farmland, but will it result in a healthier environment for PEI? No question. Any buffer zone is better than what we have had up 'til now, which is nothing . People were free to plow down to the edge of the water and when pesticides washed off the land there was nothing to slow it down. The result? Dead fish and streams almost devoid of life. Are these buffer zones adequate? Not until water stops running downhill.

Section of an Island Stream.

The Round Table on Resource Land Use and Stewardship called for 20-30m buffers on all land. No row cropping would be allowed in this area. The Round Table stopped short of banning all forestry operations in these buffers, but it did recommend that cuttings could not detract from the buffer zone s ability to buffer. What the province legislated is a I Om farming buffer (which gets wider as the slope increases) in which you cannot row crop but can grow 'hay or grain. In the forested areas, it s even more open. You can extract 33% of the basal area every ten years, and though it s called selective harvesting, the clearcuts can be up to 'A acre.

January 30, 2008
The Guardian

In a landmark case of environmental protection, an Island potato grower has been charged and convicted for a land slope violation under a new section of provincial legislation.

Dean Hayden of Cherry Valley was charged with violating a section of the Agricultural Crop Rotation Act by planting potatoes on a sloping field that exceeded a nine per cent slope. The field was located in Grandview near Montague.
Counsel for Hayden entered a guilty plea at the Georgetown courthouse just before Christmas and the grower was fined the $3,000 minimum.