• Clark Phillips – Memorial

    Clark Phillips passed away on June 27, 2012. He was leader in many organizations and on the forefront of social and environmental concerns, including organic agriculture and forestry. Clark was a pioneer in establishing organic farming in this province and across North America. His lifelong dedication to this work had a significant impact and will not be forgotten. He played an equally important role in the woodlot sector, encouraging and practicing forest management techniques that promote and restore the Acadian forest. He was active in developing the working land trust movement and his farm and woodlot are now owned by Community Forests International, to be maintained in a working state and managed in a sustainable manner in perpetuity. Clark was a force for change and will be truly missed.

    A memorial service and visioning session for the future of Whaelghinbran Farm will be held on July 15th from 12:00 - 5:00 at Whaelghinbran Farm (2002 Cedar Camp Rd., South Branch, Kings Co., NB E4E 5E7). Please feel free to bring a dish as the event will be a potluck. In lieu of sending flowers please consider making a contribution to Community Forests International or to the New Brunswick Community Land Trust.

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    From Jeff Schnurr, Community Forests International

    On Wednesday, June 27th, between the hours of 4-5 AM, we lost our friend, our mentor and our inspiration, Clark Phillips. There is no question of filling his shoes -- we can’t. They’re too big, too knowing and too meaningful. But we can continue his legacy. We will honour Clark by continuing his work at Whaelghinbran Farm.

    We learned from Clark.

    We learned that if you believe in something, you stand up for it. For Clark, everything was a protest. Farming was a protest. Cooking was a protest. Living a rich life with his lifelong partner, Susan Tyler was a protest for all that is good and meaningful. There is no one I respected more in this world and as hard as it is to lose him, we were able to make his dream a reality. When Clark left us he was worried about the farm, but he was not worried about succession. His last request was that we finish the second planting of potatoes.

    We planted the potatoes. We’ve always wanted our work to count for something and on Wednesday, June 27th it did. It hurt but there was a hidden joy in knowing that we were continuing his belief - we were protesting on those fields for everything Clark believed in.

    Somehow, on the farm, life and death makes sense. It seems natural on a landscape that will outlive us all. As the water and sun feed the plants, we care and toil in the earth. We are a temporary part of the landscape and we will work to make our time count. I will not last forever. Community Forests International will not last forever. But together we know that we can work towards something that is greater than ourselves, like Clark did. We can live our beliefs on the land and work with those we love and care for.

    Clark, we will miss you.

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    From ACORN (Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network)

    Dear Organic Community,

    I'm afraid I have more sad news to share with you: One of our sector's organic pioneers, Clark Phillips, passed away early Wednesday morning, on June 27th.

    Many of us were fortunate to know Clark Phillips, who, with his amazing partner Susan Tyler, first started farming in 1966 near Saint John. The both became enthusiastic organic practitioners in the 70's when they moved to their present location of Whaelghinbran Farm (near Fundy National Park, NB).

    Clark was tirelessly involved in all aspects of the organic community. Of particular significance in the Atlantic Provinces is that Clark was involved with the initial organization of a regional organic organization––which of course, became what ACORN is today. The list of his contributions and accomplishments within the organic movement, the co-operative movement, and to ecological forestry is impressive and inspiring:

    • Clark was the foundational president of ACORN;
    • Clark and Susan were awarded the Gerrit Loo Award for outstanding contributions to organic agriculture in Atlantic Canada in 2004;
    • He helped to establish the New Brunswick Chapter of The Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA NB);
    • He served on the Board of OCIA National and International;
    • He served on the Advisory Council for the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada Advisory Council (2002-2005)
    • Clark was also a Board member of the Organic Federation of Canada, representing New Brunswick's interests.

    Clark was also involved with the Co-operative Enterprise Council of New Brunswick, Southern New Brunswick (SNB) Wood Marketing Executive Board, SNB Wood Co-op Board and was the SNB director at the New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners, (NBFWLO).

    When I detail the list of Clark's life work, I am humbled, amazed, and inspired that he accomplished all of this in addition to his primary occupation: a farmer and sustainable woodlot owner. There is no doubt that he is and has been a shining example to us all in the organic sector of an engaged and dedicated citizen of a better world.

    As some of you knew, for the last two or three years, Clark and Susan were preparing to retire from actively farming the land, and embraced the role of mentoring the next generation on the farm and in the forest. Their successors are a group of passionate New Brunswicker’s called Community Forests International, who have been working alongside the duo to transition this tremendously important knowledge to a whole new generation of farmers and forest stewards.

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    Remembering Clark: An obituary by his partner Susan Tyler

    BORN PAUL CLARK PHILLIPS

    IN WARRENSBURG

    IN A HOUSE THAT STILL IS A HOUSE WE VISITED A WHILE AGO

    (UNLIKE THE POEM BY FROST BUT SOMEHOW AN ECHO)

    RAISED IN MOUNTAINS AND WOODS AND SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

    IN KITCHENS WHERE FOOD NOURISHED BODIES, MINDS AND PASSIONS

    LIFE WAS THE GOAL FOR HIM IN THE FOREST AND THE FIELDS

    COMMUNITY WAS THE GOAL FOR MEETING

    COOPERATION HIS WAY TO GET THERE

    CONSENSUS DESIRED

    COMPROMISE – ONLY AS A MEANS TO THAT CONSENSUS

    NOT GIVING UP OR IN

    HE MET PEOPLE AND LEARNED THEM AND LOVED THEM FOR WHAT THEY DID

    AND HE STOOD UP AND JOINED AND TOOK THEM WITH HIM

    AND SO

    (BESIDES HIS DAUGHTER, HIS SISTER HIS BROTHERS AND THEIR FAMILIES HIS GRANDCHILDREN HIS PARENTS HIS AUNTS HIS STEP CHILDREN HIS PARTNER)

    AND SO

    HIS HUGE EXTENDED FAMILY GREW HE NEVER FORGOT ANYONE

    A LOVER TENDER AND WARM

    FIERCE SHELTERING HEAT IN HIS EMBRACE

    HE DROVE A TRACTOR

    HE PLANTED VEGETABLES POTATOES FOOD AND IDEAS

    HE CUT TREES – TO LET IN THE LIGHT -

    (AND MAKE A LIVING BY THE WAY) BY THAT WAY

    REGENERATING ACADIA

    HARD KEPT SILENCE WAS A TOOL HE USED TO BARGIN

    THEN A QUESTION GENTLY OPENING THE DOOR TO ARBITRATION

    YES AND NO WERE WORDS HE COULD SAY

    AT THE END OF THE PAGE

    LOST IN THE TURNING

    A POWERFUL FORCE INTERRUPTED

    HEART STOPPED

    BREATH STOPPED

    STRENGTH GIVEN OUT

    STRENGTH

    GIVEN OUT

    DISTRIBUTED

    SPREAD BY LOVE

    SPREAD WITH LOVE AND COMMITMENT

    “HERE THERE EVERYWHERE”

    THE SUN THE SOIL THE RAIN A DOUBLE RAINBOW IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD

    THE FLASH OF A YELLOW WARBLER AN EAGLE FLIES

    THE TURKEY VULTURE HITCHES A RIDE ON THE AIR STREAM

    HIS BLUE EYES TRACKING

    A UNIVERSE FOR HIS LOVER TO BE LOST AND FOUND IN

  • L’alliance paix et amitié demande au premier ministre Gallant de suspendre les contrats forestiers et de consulter les Peuples Indigènes

     
    L’ALLIANCE PAIX ET AMITIÉ DEMANDE AU PREMIER MINISTRE GALLANT DE SUSPENDRE LES CONTRATS FORESTIERS ET DE CONSULTER LES PEUPLES INDIGÈNES

     COMMUNIQUÉ       23 MARS 2015

    Fredericton NB - Des membres de l’Alliance Paix et Amitié sont inquiets de la décision du gouvernement Gallant d’honorer les ententes forestières qui ont été signées sans consultation valable.

    L’Alliance est composée de groupes non gouvernementaux et de peuples indigènes du Nouveau-Brunswick, de la Nouvelle-Écosse et du Maine, en collaboration avec une coalition nationale et internationale, qui tous, sont préoccupés par les assauts de plus en plus nombreux des gouvernements et de l’industrie contre nos terres, notre eau et notre air. 

    «Les terres touchées par ces contrats sont les territoires ancestraux qui ont été pris à notre peuple», affirme Ron Tremblay, porte-parole du Grand Conseil de Wolastoq.  «Nous considérons le fait que Brian Gallant ait accepté les contrats comme un manquement à un processus juste et équitable. Les contrats ont été signés sans qu’il y ait eu consultation appropriée auprès des peuples indigènes.»

    «Gallant aurait plutôt dû annoncer qu’il allait suspendre les contrats jusqu’à ce que les peuples indigènes aient été convenablement consultés», poursuit Ron Tremblay.

    «Cela ne donne qu’une raison de plus pour intenter une action en justice contre ce gouvernement pour qu’il reconnaisse finalement que les terres qu’ils ont cédées pour être détruites appartiennent aux Autochtones »,  ajoute Alma Brooks, mère de clan du Grand Conseil Wolastoq. 

    Pour sa part, Maggie Connell, coprésidente de la section de Fredericton du Conseil des Canadiens affirme que «cette transaction forestière s’est conclue en secret et à l’insu des nôtres et des Autochtones de Wolastoq».

    «Nous voulons prévenir des dommages irréparables à la Forêt acadienne qui ne va pas pouvoir se régénérer avant des centaines d’années», d’ajouter Connell. «Après le dur hiver que nous avons connu, nos dirigeants élus ne peuvent plus prétendre que les changements climatiques n’ont pas lieu. Nos dirigeants ont une obligation de diligence de prévenir la perte à grande échelle de la couverture forestière. Plusieurs des zones maintenant autorisées pour la coupe en vertu du contrat forestier se situent sur des pentes raides et dans des endroits humides qui, une fois exploitées, ne retiendront plus autant d’eau après de fortes pluies, augmentant d’autant le risque d’inondations dans les agglomérations situées en aval.»


    Un rassemblement se tiendra à l’extérieur de l’Assemblée générale annuelle conjointe de trois (3) associations de circonscription libérales du Nouveau-Brunswick ce mercredi, 25 mars, de 17 h 30 à 19 h à la salle des Chevaliers de Colomb, au 170, rue Regent, à Fredericton, afin de dire à Brian Gallant de faire en sorte que nous ayons accès à un processus équitable et de suspendre les contrats forestiers par voie législative.Il s’agit d’une activité familiale auquel le public est invité.
  • OBITUARY OF THE ACADIAN FOREST

    OBITUARY OF THE ACADIAN FOREST - With great sadness we mourn the sudden, tragic death of more than 12,600 acres/year of Acadian Forest which, until this year, had been placed in the care of its Trustee, the Province of New Brunswick, for heritage conservation purposes. The death was caused by a routine case of what the Province of New Brunswick calls “carefully managed clear cutting." The amount cut is equivalent to cutting Mactaquac Provincial Park 10 times every year and for the next 25 years.

    This part of New Brunswick's forest had been entrusted to the Province for perpetual care by rural and urban residents alike for the benefit of all generations. Felled by the tens of thousands, primarily along rivers and streams, the premature and suspicious death means this forest will no longer be able to provide much needed water flow, temperature and flood control.

    Along with more severe soil erosion and increased flooding in its communities, this tragic 'death by clear cutting' will further reduce fish populations, notably that of the pride of New Brunswick rivers, the Atlantic Salmon. As well, thousands of deer and countless other species of animals and plants associated with Old Growth Forests will now die because the shelter and food they need to survive that had been provided by the forest was, of course, also destroyed by the clear cut.

    The Acadian Forest is survived by a very distant relative, the Tree Plantation, unable to provide the same type of life-giving function of its now dead relative. Meanwhile, yet another 'unnatural death by clear cut' in New Brunswick is prompting calls for an inquest into what has been called the reckless endangerment of all the New Brunswick Forests by their Trustee, the Province. In a stunning admission, the Province of New Brunswick has admitted to openly colluding with serial clear cutters. Adding to the concern is the fact that the Forest estate was stripped of assets by 'serial clear cutters' before its death and so left nothing to the residents of New Brunswick.

    The dead forest, more than 10,000 years old and now gone forever, was predeceased by northern cod stocks off the Atlantic coast who also fell victim to "careful management" by their Trustees.

    In lieu of flowers and other tokens of mourning for this beloved member of New Brunswick's Natural Family, letters, e-mails, tweets and other expressions of outrage directed to Premier Brian Gallant, Natural Resources Minister Denis Landry, and your MLA are requested.

    Rest in peace Acadian Forest.
  • Where do we stand? 13 years of forest loss in New Brunswick

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    The Conservation Council of New Brunswick has released a short video that shows remarkable forest loss in New Brunswick from 2000 to 2013. The animated maps reveal that the picture province is no longer home to large intact forest areas.

    The Conservation Council is concerned that the New Brunswick's forest strategy will further degrade the province's endangered Acadian forest at a time when the province needs to manage the forest for diversity and resiliency to protect our vulnerable wildlife, our rivers and streams and our people who depend on the forest for a living.

 © 2018 NBEN / RENB