- Sandy Lake: The way it was meant to be
- Why we have to protect all around Sandy Lake
- Existing threats to the water quality of Sandy Lake
- Diversity of forests/Old growth within proposed Sandy Lake Regional Park
- Where to go from here/What you can do
1. Sandy Lake: The way it was meant to be. June 16, 2019
There is a beautiful natural park sitting between the Hammonds Plains Road and Sackville River. The Sandy Lake – Sackville River Regional Park is a proposed 2800 acre park with 1000 of those acres currently protected as park. We are seeking protection for all currently undeveloped land in the Sandy Lake watershed plus additional lands to protect this outstanding natural area for all time.
Within the current 1000 acres is the Sandy Lake Lions Park that we know today is a real “hidden gem”. It is rarely mentioned on City maps and is hard to find, as there is no signage leading to the park until you get on Smith’s Road. Some maps call it Jack Lake Regional Park and some call it Sandy Lake Park. No matter the name, it is a place that needs our help.
To those who know about Sandy Lake Lions Park, they know it as an uncrowded swimming spot that has life guards on duty during July and August. Some walk their dogs along the power grid trails, and sometimes follow one of the trails winding through the woods. Others go mountain biking right next to the Rifle Range, where various bumps and jumps have been built by bikers going back to the 1980’s. Bird watching, fishing, ice sports, cross-country skiing, and canoeing are also popular Sandy Lake activities.
All these activities have been going on for a long time. All the different users of the trail should know that their little secret gem right here in Bedford is threatened by development. The West side of Sandy Lake Park is slated for development (circled in brown).
Many have already probably noticed the clear-cut that was done recently in the past few years. This is the beginning of a potentially huge development, an extension of the current Kingswood subdivision. At the same time, the Jack Lake Wilderness Park, adjoined to Sandy Lake Lions Park is receiving very little protection, and has not been officially designated. You can’t even find it on a map. (Try. There is no map showing the limits of Jack Lake Park.) While development has been a tremendous economic boom in Bedford over the past 10 years, the area around Sandy Lake was singled out for protection going back fifty years…
You may hear talk that it is already being protected (areas in pink). To a certain extent, this is true but strictly as a theoretical park. There is almost no signage, park limits or enforcement of any rules to protect the nature and wilderness. The land that is owned by HRM is fragmented and not actually marked as such in any practical way. What is marked in yellow is being proposed by the Sandy Lake Conservation Association, as well as the Sandy Lake – Sackville River Regional Coalition as a bigger, better and unified park. This park would help protect the natural history of the area, create an effective protected wilderness area for both citizens of HRM and (perhaps most importantly) wildlife. It would also finally meet goal of the park suggested in the 1970’s and provide a key link to the recent, HRM City Council approved, Green Network Plan.
In the early 1970’s, Halifax City published a report advocating for the protection of seven “priority areas” to be preserved for their recreational potential, ecological richness and community educational value. The Sandy Lake Regional Park was considered one of the jewels in the crown. The city was ambitious outlining the park as being “…between the Sackville River and Hammonds Plains Rd., and from the Bedford Rifle Range west towards the Lucasville Road (including buffers and flood plains)”.
The new proposal that has been made (combination of yellow and pink colours on our map, would make a park:
- that is connected and united within a common boundary
- protects Sandy, Jack and Marsh Lakes and the Sackville River
- Follows the guidelines proposed by The Green Network Plan – Sandy Lake would provide an essential wildlife corridor onto the Chebucto Peninsula.
Give access to an urban wilderness multi-use park within the HRM.
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2. Sandy Lake: The way it was meant to be. July 29, 2019
With the existence of the current Sandy Lake Lion’s Park and Jack Lake Park, it may seem as though the lake is being effectively protected. One of the main concerns with the current size of Sandy Lake Lions Park is that it is very small, protecting only one small section of one side of the lake. The most striking example of this can be seen when looking at the West shore of the lake – one can’t help but notice the clear-cut that happened a number of years ago.
This clear-cut was done by a property developer in 2013 with the eventual goal of building a suburb next to Sandy Lake.
That suburb is scheduled to add homes for 16,000 people and would add up to 8,000 more cars to the Hammonds Plains Road.
This map shows Big Sandy Lake at the centre of the picture. All the rivers and streams running into Sandy Lake are marked in light blue. The lake and all the water sources that feed into it are part of the watershed for the Sackville River. This means that anything polluting the water sources of Sandy Lake will also, eventually, pollute the Sackville River.
The clear-cut is easy to see as the brownish section to the left of Sandy Lake. It is easy to see how almost all the water sources of Sandy Lake run through the clear- cut. With all the trees cut in 2013 the soil retention in that area is much weaker than when the trees were there. Without soil retention, all the sediment will eventually wash into Sandy Lake, suffocating fish, plant and other aquatic plant life. Some may say that having been cut, the damage has been done and we can allow the development to go ahead. There is however, still a chance to remediate the damage already done as well as prevent any further damage – increasing the boundaries of the current Sandy Lake Lions Park to protect the land surrounding the lake. In fact, the clear-cut is already regenerating a full suite of Acadian forest and it is already starting to protect the lakes again.
The proposed enlargement of Sandy Lake Park would also help to maintain a vital wildlife corridor onto the Chebucto Peninsula. The Recent Green Network Plan has specifically pointed out the vital importance of the undeveloped lands around and including the current Sandy Lake Park. The yellow lines show wildlife corridors that are currently threatened by development but need to be protected. One can see that 3 of the 4 suggested corridors pass through lands surrounding Sandy Lake. Increasing the size of the current Sandy Lake Lions Park is the only way to ensure that these corridors are protected.
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3. Existing threats to the water quality of Sandy Lake. January 18, 2020
As can be seen in the map above, most of the surface water flow into Sandy Lake occurs on the west side of the lake, the area that is threatened by development. Currently, there is input road salt, fertilizers and some organics via Johnson’s Brook and feeder streams which enter Sandy Lake at its southwest corner.
Historical measurements show that Sandy Lake was near-pristine in the 1950s and earlier. Recent measurements show big increases in salt loading and reduced oxygenation in deeper water (which is critical for trout and salmon) due to organics and fertilizers. Also, there has been significant input of organic debris at the NW corner of the lake from the clear-cuts.
These types of inputs need to be reduced to protect Sandy Lake for wildlife, and for recreation. Clearly, significant development on the west side of the lake would be highly deleterious, and could put the lake ‘over the edge’.
4. Diversity of forests / old growth within the proposed Sandy Lake – Sackville River Regional Park. March 10, 2020
If you have ever walked some of the trails surrounding Sandy Lake, leading to Jack Lake or even trails past the power lines, it becomes very evident how special the forests in this area are. Not having been clearcut in the past 100 years, the area around Sandy Lake is a “forgotten park”; forgotten by developers, city officials and even the general public. By sheer luck, this has led to an urban wilderness that has been relatively untouched.
Being forgotten, the trees of Sandy Lake are both very big and also quite diverse. Just walking in the area to the South of the Sandy Lake parking lot, one can see many diverse trees of considerable size. The various coloured points are trees including white pine, red spruce, eastern hemlock and red maple (see below). All the labelled trees have trunks between 30 and 110 cm. Having trees of such size, age and diversity are all key components corresponding the the definition of the Acadian Forest – the traditional and natural forest type of N.S. Sadly there are very few sections of Acadian Forest left in N.S. To have one right here in Bedford is a gift that needs to be protected.
5. Where to go from here / What you can do
It may be tempting to simply say that you can’t stop progress, that it is not natural to have such an amazing wilderness within the HRM. This, however, is not the case! The wilderness, trees, waters and lands of the proposed Sandy Lake – Sackville River Regional Park are very natural. So natural that we need to make sure they stay that way! If you don’t want to see this Old growth Acadian Forest, swimming lakes, or wildlife threatened, you can:
Tell your friends. Such a beautiful area needs to be appreciated by all the citizens of HRM.
Join our Friends of Sandy Lake email list by contacting us through this website: www.sandylake.org, or message us on Facebook.
Call your city Councillors. Tell them what you like about Sandy Lake and why you feel it should be protected.
Help maintain the park. Make sure you don’t litter. Maybe pick up any litter you see. Stay on current trails.
Enjoy this urban wilderness!!