The DNA (Development of Natural Resources) of the St. Mary’s River Valley: Reflections of OOG (old old guide) & AWOC (a wise old crow)
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John Cameron is a member of the Class of '67, former Director of Development at 'X' and the Founding President of the St. Mary's River Association. This article was submitted in response to a letter from Sean Kirby that the Xaverian Weekly published on November 19, 2019.
Each Fall I make my way to one of my favourite places on the St. Mary’s River, the shallow end of Harrison’s Pool. It is a resting place for salmon as they make their way up the West Branch of the river to their spawning grounds. From the wintering waters off Iceland and Greenland, the salmon have been making this journey for thousands of years. It is truly one of the ‘natural wonders’ of the world! You see its at Harrison’s Pool that I get perspective on life, on how nature is doing, and what is really important!
At Harrison’s, there is peace and a wonderful stillness and strangely, I sense, a glimmer of hope. Facebook is replaced by a ‘murmuring brook.’ Twitter is there, emanating from ‘nature’s house’ and not the ‘Whitehouse.’ And there you can get ‘LinkedIn’ to nature’s wisdom !
I have a favourite stump that is my ‘perch’ when I visit Harrison’s. Not far from my perch is a majestic hemlock, and home to AWOC (a wise old crow). Recently, I was sitting on my ‘perch’ listening to nature’s symphony of songbirds, and I heard my old friend AWOC caw, “OOG, I was just musing over the words of Henry Ford: “If you keep doing what you have always done, you will keep getting what you always got.” AWOC continued: “I hear there are plans to develop an open pit gold mine not far from here at Cochrane Hill. As a matter of fact, if you look to your right, down the river valley you can see Cochrane Hill, and OOG let me tell you, Henry had it right, “if you keep doing what you have always done, you will keep getting what you always got.” You see OOG, a hundred and fifty years ago there was gold mining at Cochrane Hill and the area was polluted with radioactive elements, asbestos-like elements, and metallic dust.
As you are well aware OOG, the crow family spend a lot of time listening and observing. For instance, I heard a discussion just recently between a couple of environmental scientists who were very familiar with the mining research being done by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Quoting from a MIT report, they said:
“Open pit mining is particularly damaging to the environment because strategic minerals are often available in small concentrations which increases the amount of ore needed to be mined. Environmental hazards are present every step of the open pit process. Hardrock mining exposes rock that has lain unexposed for geological eras. In addition to exposing the elements already described, during separation, residual rock slurries, which are mixtures of pulverized rock and liquids, are produced as tailings; toxic and radioactive elements from these liquids can leak into bedrock if not properly contained.”
So, OOG, if we keep on doing what we have always done, we will keep on getting what we always got: pollution. And let’s face it, the pollutants are as deadly today as they were one hundred and fifty years ago. However, one thing has changed—today, mining companies engage ‘spin doctors’ and ‘lobbyists,’ to convey a message that everything is under control. Their message is summed up in Bobby McFerrin’s song: “Don’t worry be happy!” But OOG, I do worry, and I’m concerned. You see I get a perspective on the environment and wildlife that eludes most, because I spend most of time above the ‘rush’!
OOG, our environment, our wildlife, our oceans, our rivers, indeed the air we breathe are in trouble! The explanation for this turmoil can be summed up in one word: ‘greed’. Think about it OOG! A few years ago, we had a thriving groundfish industry along the ocean shores of Guysborough County, employing huge numbers. Today it has all but disappeared including many of the once abundant species. Why? Primarily because of overfishing by giant fish companies and mismanagement!
Our forests have been decimated by giant forestry conglomerates! The victims of this abuse of nature comes very close to home. Wildlife is disappearing at an alarming rate! How do you know, you ask? OOG, I live here! Think about it, thousands were employed in the forestry industry. There were numerous sawmills and related industries. The industries are gone, along with the forests and wildlife.
Why did all this happen? One word seems to sum it up best - greed! When you destroy, and demolish pristine parcels of nature, our oceans, our rivers for the benefit of a few, it is a prescription for disaster!
However, OOG, we can avoid disaster by not doing what we have always done! There are alternatives to an open pit mine which will be for the benefit of all. Did you know that most of the land designated for the open pit mine is Crown land? Most of the land between the proposed mine site and the St. Mary’s River has been donated to the Nova Scotia Nature Trust. To the east of the proposed mine site there are thousands of acres of Crown land, which effectively has the St.Mary’s River bordering the land on one side and Country Harbour on the other. If you don’t know, Country Harbour is rated is one of the best natural and most picturesque harbours in the world. Between the river and the harbour there are numerous lakes, streams and a river. This is the perfect setting for a nature or a wilderness park.
Now OOG, that would be something to ‘crow’ about.
