Nature Canada

War Memorial at Green Cove Headland

Picture of Dr. Sandra BarrDr. Sandra M. Barr is a Professor and J. Austin Bancroft Chair in Geology in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at Acadia University. During her career she has shared her passion for Earth science with thousands of students, helping them to better understand and appreciate Earth processes and history. Her research has a strong emphasis on studying rocks, and to see them she has hiked many of the rivers, streams, and shorelines in Nova Scotia. Sandra is a founding member of Women for Nature and is sharing her thoughts on the beauty and importance of “Green Cove” and her concern about a proposed monument being erected in Cape Breton national park.  

[separator headline=”h2″ title=”Preserve & Protect Beauty in Canada”]

Michelle Valberg's photoIn spite of the fact that the Cape Breton Highlands National Park in northern Nova Scotia is renowned for its scenic beauty, and the fact that the mandate of Parks Canada is to preserve and protect that beauty for all Canadians, a private foundation has made a proposal to build a huge war memorial at Green Cove headland. The proposed monument (24 metres in height!) will cover a prominent coastal rock outcrop that is currently visited by many as one of the most scenic look-offs in the park. It will transform the scenery from natural to “man-made”. I am one of many people shocked by the way in which this proposal has been moving ahead – construction could begin this autumn, and already test drilling has been done on the site. Many more details can be found on a website set up by a group of concerned citizens, of which I am one.

I am especially concerned because I have done geological research in that area since 1978, and together with my former students, I am responsible for much of what is known about the 375-million-year-old rocks that will be covered by the memorial and related structures (including a 300-car parking lot!). The Green Cove site has no particular significance to war veterans – no one ever set sail for war from Green Cove. In contrast, it has tremendous significance for Canada’s geoheritage.

The bedrock exposed at Green Cove headland is beautiful and unique. It is a glacially shaped and polished granite surface, kept clear of weathering and seaweed by waves and winter ice.  

[separator headline=”h2″ title=”Where One is Free to Wander…”]
The geological history preserved and displayed in the rocks on the Green Cove headland is remarkable. greencoveIt is not the only outcrop of these rocks in the park, but it is arguably the best, and the most accessible. At Green Cove one is free to wander around and view the rocks and try to understand their story. That story and the beauty of the location are the reasons why my co-author (Dr. Martha Hickman Hild) and I included Green Cove in our guidebook on the Geology of Nova Scotia (Boulder Publications 2015). Green Cove is one of 48 sites that we selected for the book as the very best places to view the rocks that tell Nova Scotia’s geological story. We dedicated our book “To the people of Nova Scotia, stewards of a unique geological heritage”. There are no doubt many alternative sites on private land where the Never Forgotten National Memorial could be built, but there is only one Green Cove. It should be left as it is for future generations.

Want to Help?

Canada’s wilderness is the world’s envy. It’s our duty to keep our true north strong and green.

Donate