Imagine a sacred place where three rivers meet to form a beautiful peninsula of rolling hills, mixed farming, forests, brooks, and a heritage that is alive. Each farm has a little dykeland, a little fertile bottomland bordered by streams and large trees, a little upland, and a little forest land. The farms are like slices of pie, and the middle of the pie is the forest. It has been called the Commons because farmers managed the roads and fences together. People go fishing off the community-built wharf, and go for guided walks in the magical gypsum woods on Sundays. There are vineyards and apple orchards and boat-building and community halls. Newcomers and the older established families mix at barbeques, fundraisers, community hall breakfasts, and the annual Great Little Art Show.
The Avon Peninsula is a real place in Hants County near Windsor. And it has a really urgent challenge.
Most of the things we love about the place are not counted in our economic analysis when a new development option is being considered. The question for this community: does it make sense to allow a US-owned strip-mine company—which has already laid waste to thousands of acres in the area— to expand its operations into the middle of the peninsula? Similar questions face many rural communities.
Residents are worried that strip-mining the peninsula’s watershed will upset the ecological systems that provide free services. First, the Commons forest would have to be cleared. This forest has provided wood for building and for heating. It provides a little extra income for farmers. The forests and wetlands are the sponge of the Peninsula – absorbing excess rainfall, evening out the fluctuations in stream flows, reducing the chance of flooding and easing the effects of drought. The forest filters water, improving its quality. The forest is also a place to enjoy nature, get some exercise, hunt, play, contemplate, and learn. This particular forest is unique for its hilly, mossy, orchid-strewn karst topography (irregularities in the landscape associated with gypsum-rich deposits, like the white cliffs emerging from tidal lands near Brooklyn). It is riddled with streams and ponds and special plants. And the forest provides all of this for free. Renewably free. All of this would, of course, be sacrificed if the strip-mine goes ahead.
Farmers and residents are naturally concerned about water supply. This place is like an island. Strip-mining the island will definitely affect the already tenuous water supply for people living around the perimeter. It is easy to disregard water supply issues when water flows out of the tap. With a big crater in the middle of the Peninsula, water supply and natural filtration will not be a certain thing. If the water does stop flowing, engineers will propose technological fixes, for the short term. Expensive technological fixes. Will farmers have to go out of business because they can’t afford to buy water for their livestock and irrigated crops?
Another “free” resource that is up for consideration has to do with mental well-being. Many people live in the country so they can see the stars at night, breathe fresh air, hear the birds, experience the peepers in the spring, and enjoy the views. This may sound like a frivolous need for some, but for others, it is key to a sane way of living. Consider the money spent on stress leave, stress drugs, and stress-related illness. Take a small fraction of that sum, and allocate it to the value of an environment with less noise, lights, traffic, dust, or blasting. An impending strip-mine could precipitate a sudden drop in property value if people suddenly panic and decide to move. This itself has a serious cost.
What about social fabric and community spirit? This is also undervalued and uncounted. A proposed strip-mine has the potential to cause serious tears in the fabric that weaves people together. An uncertain future for the community is traumatizing. Cracks start to form even before any blasting begins. Some people want jobs with the quarry and resent any effort to stop it. Fair enough. Others want to step back and make a plan for sustainable work that doesn’t compromise the very things they need to stay. Why is it so difficult to find out how many jobs come with the proposed strip-mine, for how long, at what real price?
On the issue of jobs, many questions arise. We are seeing a trend of fewer jobs per tonne of raw material extracted. Why can’t we make a new plan that allows us to create more jobs per tonne (of gypsum, or fish, or apples)? If jobs are what we want, this is what we should be aiming to achieve. If we can’t achieve it now, we should be – like the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers Union (CEPU) of Canada – making a plan for a “just transition” to a more sustainable economy that suits our needs.
It is easy to forget that the economy was created as a means of exchange to help meet our needs. If it is not meeting our needs, then we have to have the courage to change course. 
The CEPU of Canada recognized that Canadians need to use fewer resources, they saw that their jobs were not sustainable in the long run, they supported the ratification of the Kyoto accord, and they made a plan for how they could move into more sustainable industries and occupations, while using their skills and maintaining their incomes.
(Ferns found on the Peninsula)
Many communities in Nova Scotia are, like the communities of Avondale, Polar Grove and Belmont on the Avon Peninsula, trying to create a vision for their watersheds, their rural and agricultural quality of life, and a sustainable future for themselves and their children. 
(Ram’s Head Orchid is a rare and threatened species Courtesy of Mira MacNeil)
The province has developed much progressive policy towards this end. The Department of Economic Development is including sustainable prosperity and full cost accounting in their policy documents. The Department of Environment and Labour has included the precautionary principle in the Environment Act. There is a statement of agricultural interest in the Municipal Act. Even the Mineral Resources Act gives sustainable development as its purpose. But are these policies just for show? It is time to connect the dots between policy statements and what is actually being done on the ground—and to the ground—in our communities.
There is no time to waste in calling on elected representatives and civil servants to stand behind these polices. Nova Scotians cannot afford to let any more of what they value to be sacrificed. The Avon Peninsula has many priceless assets. It is worth it to put out the energy now to protect them, while developing a just transition to a more sane and sustainable future.
Premier MacDonald’s government will soon decide whether to allow the strip-mining of the Avon Peninsula. Let them know what you think of strip-mining Nova Scotia’s most valuable assets—our communities and our environment. Contact your MLA, Premier Rodney MacDonald (258-2216), Environment Minister Mark Parent (678-2730), Natural Resources Minister David Morse (6811257), or Hants West MLA Chuck Porter (798-5779).
The APWPS is a community organization of neighbours working with neighbours to develop and implement a sustainable land use plan for the Avon Peninsula.For more information contact Raymond Parker, , 792-0272. 
