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Nova Scotia couple named Woodland Owners of the Year
September 30, 2024 By Jason Murray, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for The Advocate
Julia and David MacMillan | Photo: Jason Murray Judy and Thomas Mailman of Bridgewater, N.S., are the western region and provincial winners of 2024 Woodland Owners of the Year.
The Mailmans took part in a silviculture project for hemlock woolly adelgid, an insect responsible for attacking hemlock trees, and helped with valuable research on the spread and control of the bug.
The Mailmans also stood out for hosting classes from the Nova Scotia Community College, working with researchers on tree care and wood heating, and putting up birdhouses on their property to better ensure the health of their forests.
The couple are also being honoured for their contributions to the Western Woodlot Services Cooperative for their work promoting their woodlands.
“We were quite surprised and pleased,” Mailman said. “It let us know we are on the right track.”
Other winners this year include Julia and David MacMillan of Tatamagouche, for their work in the central region.
They maintain more than 200 acres of land they took over from David MacMillan’s family dating back generations. He learned to take good care of the land at a young age after his great, great, great grandparents took it over after arriving from Scotland in 1843 with their large family.
Both Julia and David went to ranger school to study forestry and they continue to work hard with new goals and objectives for the properties.
They want to see more effort put into growing and restoring timber and the forests back to their original state, and to enhance the ecological conditions providing more habitat for wildlife and endangered species.
The MacMillans are also looking to provide a living lab for the next generation and a playground for walking, fishing, hunting and skiing.
Eastern region winners are brothers Brian and Steven Eadie of Clydesdale. They own the Greenwood Poultry Farm Ltd, in Antigonish County. The farm consists of 500 acres of farm and woodland. Their woodlot has been in the family for several generations and provides forest products and recreation for the whole Eadie clan.
There is an abundance of mature hardwood forest and biodiversity and it is managed with a selection of thinning approaches to use natural regeneration of the hardwood species. They use manual chainsaw falling and a forwarder to allow for smaller extraction to maintain a closed forest cover.
“I’d like to congratulate the Mailmans and thank them for passing along their extensive forestry knowledge to future generations of Nova Scotians,” said Tory Rushton, provincial Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables.
“Private woodlot owners are crucial to preserving our forests and an important part of our economy, and it’s fantastic to see so many collaborating with us to promote ecological forestry in Nova Scotia.”
The awards are given to private landowners for professional management of their woodlands and exceptional forestry practices on private land. The nominations are based on the setting and meeting of sustainable goals, improving knowledge, conditions and access to their forest lands.
The province also considers integrated resource management with an emphasis on wood production. They take into account the values of wildlife habitat, protection and recreation.
Nominations are for Nova Scotia residents who own between 50 to 5000 acres of woodland.
The awards have recognized private woodlot owners for more than 30 years from Nova Scotians owning 20 to 2,000 hectares of woodland.
About 60% of woodlands in the province are held by private holders.
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