Photo Opportunity
New Point Pleasant Park Website to be Launched
(Monday, May 6/2002)-- In honour of National Forestry Week, a website to document a unique partnership between the municipality and students at Prince Andrew High School to assist with reforestation efforts in Point Pleasant Park will be launched in Mayor Peter Kelly's office tomorrow.
The partnership between HRM, students at Prince Andrew High, in Dartmouth, and members of the Prince Andrew Woodlawn Environmental Enhancement and Conservation Association (PAWEECA) was approved by Regional Council on December 12, 2000.
The mandate of the partnership is to work with HRM staff and the Point Pleasant Park Advisory Committee to help ensure the long-term sustainability of the park. The website is seen as a venue to inform residents about what efforts are being undertaken to improve the park, as well as provide general information about the park. Over the past several years, Point Pleasant Park has borne the effects of the Brown Spruce Longhorn Beetle (BSLB) infestation, an ice storm and an overall increase in use. Discovery of the beetle was the first ever recorded in North America. Approximately 2,500 trees have been removed from the Park so far in an effort to eradicate the beetle, which feeds on, and eventually kills, Red Spruce trees. Prince Andrew students conducted a test planting of Red Spruce seedlings in Point Pleasant in May 2001.
The new website features maps of Point Pleasant Park and a virtual tour of HRM's most popular and most visited park.
Mayor Kelly and District 13 Councillor Sue Uteck, in whose District Point Pleasant is located, will also be presented with 100 seedlings to mark the "Trees for Kids" program at the IWK Hospital and in support of HRM's "Naturally Green" environmental awareness program.
When: Tuesday, May 7, 2002
Where: Office of the Mayor, 3rd Floor, City Hall, 1841 Argyle Street
When: 5:15 p.m.
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John O'Brien
HRM Corporate Communications Officer
902) 490-6531
