Liscomb Game Sanctuary is a

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

that straddles the border of

Halifax Regional Municipality Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

and

Guysborough County Guysborough County is a county in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia. History Taking its name from the Guysborough, Nova Scotia, Township of Guysborough, which was named in honour of Sir Guy Carleton, 1st B ...

in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

Nova Scotia Route 374 Route 374 is a collector road in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It connects New Glasgow at Exit 24 of Nova Scotia Highway 104 with Sheet Harbour at Trunk 7. The highway runs through the Halifax Regional Municipality, Guysborough County & P ...

runs north–south through the sanctuary. Within the sanctuary are two nature reserves and parts of two wilderness areas.

The game sanctuary

Administered by the Department of Natural Resources of the

Government of Nova Scotia The Government of Nova Scotia (french: Gouvernement de la Nouvelle-Écosse, gd, Riaghaltas Alba Nuadh) refers to the provincial government of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia is one of Canada's ...

, Liscomb game sanctuary was established in 1928 as an area where

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

and

trapping Animal trapping, or simply trapping or gin, is the use of a device to remotely catch an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, the fur trade, hunting, pest control, and wildlife management. History Neolithic ...

were prohibited. Its boundaries have been revised since then, but it now covers an area of . Since 1996 there has been a short hunting season in which only muzzle-loading firearms are permitted. The Alder Ground wilderness area and the Boggy Lake wilderness area partially overlap the sanctuary, resulting in 844 hectares being designated as both sanctuary and wilderness area. However, a quarter of the reserve is privately owned, largely by pulp industry interests. The sanctuary is habitat for

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

and the endangered mainland Nova Scotia moose. It was one of the last areas left to contain caribou. There is current contention amongst wilderness groups as to whether forest harvesting practices involving clear-cutting are affecting wildlife. The Forest Products Association of Nova Scotia contends that the presence of even aged forest stands is due to wildfire rather than harvesting practice. Parts of the Liscomb Game Sanctuary are of geological importance as they are within the Quartzite Barrens of Nova Scotia, which historically produced lots of gold. Exploration drilling was taking place in 2018.

Abraham Lake Nature Reserve

Within the game sanctuary is the Abraham Lake Nature Reserve, a provincially designated nature reserve owned by the

Nature Conservancy of Canada The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is a private, non-profit, charitable nature conservation and restoration organization based in Canada. Since its founding in 1962, the organization and its partners have protected of land and water across ...

(NCC). Extending over , it is noted for its

old-growth An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

red spruce ''Picea rubens'', commonly known as red spruce, is a species of spruce native to eastern North America, ranging from eastern Quebec and Nova Scotia, west to the Adirondack Mountains and south through New England along the Appalachians to western ...

, some of which are 200 years old and 30 m tall, which is now a rarity in Nova Scotia. The land was donated to NCC in 1995 by

Scott Paper Company The Scott Paper Company was the world's largest manufacturer and marketer of sanitary tissue products with operations in 22 countries. Its products were sold under a variety of well-known brand names, including ''Scott Tissue'', ''Cottonelle'', ...

and is surrounded by industrial forest lands. There is a 4.5 km hiking trail on the reserve.

Rush Lake Nature Reserve

Also within the game sanctuary is the 307-hectare Rush Lake Nature Reserve which has one of the last stands of mature

Acadian forest The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the des ...

within the sanctuary. Tree species present are red spruce,

sugar maple ''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the prima ...

yellow birch ''Betula alleghaniensis'', the yellow birch, golden birch, or swamp birch, is a large tree and an important lumber species of birch native to northeastern North America. Its vernacular names refer to the golden color of the tree's bark. In the pa ...

and

American beech ''Fagus grandifolia'', the American beech or North American beech, is a species of beech tree native to the eastern United States and extreme southeast of Canada. Description ''Fagus grandifolia'' is a large deciduous tree growing to tall, w ...

. It provides habitat for

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

, an endangered species in mainland Nova Scotia.

References

Protected areas of Nova Scotia Landforms of Guysborough County, Nova Scotia Landforms of Halifax County, Nova Scotia

The game sanctuary

Abraham Lake Nature Reserve

Rush Lake Nature Reserve

References

Further reading