HRM Monitoring Drought Conditions in Parks
(Friday, September 21, 2001)-- Halifax Regional Municipality is closely monitoring conditions in its parks and wooded areas in light of the continued drought this fall. Less than normal amounts of rainfall in July and August have continued into September.
Peter Bigelow, General Manager of Parks and Recreation Services, said today the saving grace so far has been cooler fall temperatures this month, which have lowered forest fire risk.
Mr. Bigelow urged the public to exercise extreme caution when using the municipality's parks and wooded areas. As a precaution, the ban on fires in barbeque/open fire pits will continue and smoking and the use of any other sources of ignition (e.g BBQs, camp stoves etc) within HRM's parks and wooded areas are prohibited.. (Note: Patrons of Shubie Campground in the Waverley area are permitted to use BBQ's and camp stoves on their designated camp sites, but no open fires are permitted.)
Among the more popular parks affected by these measures are:
Point Pleasant Park (Halifax)
Sir Sanford Fleming Park (The Dingle)
Hemlock Ravine Park (Rockingham)
Shubie Park/Lake Charles Trail System (Dartmouth)
Admiral's Cove (Bedford)
Albro Lake/Spectacle Lake Trail System (Dartmouth)
Sandy Lake/ Jack's Lake (Bedford)
Western Common Watershed Lands (Prospect Road)
Mainland Commons (Clayton Park)
HRM staff will continue to monitor conditions at these sites. The municipality's parks and wooded areas were closed due to dry conditions this summer for one week in August. They were also closed during the summers of 1997 and 1999 due to lack of rain.
Forecasts call for showers over the weekend, but not in appreciable amounts.
-30--
John O'Brien
Corporate Communications Officer
(902) 490-6531
Peter Bigelow
Manager, Parks and Open Spaces
(902) 490-6047
