Liscomb Game Sanctuary is a

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

that straddles the border of

Halifax Regional Municipality Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

and

Guysborough County Guysborough County is a historic county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. The area was first inhabited by the indigenous Mi'kmaq, and was colonized by France in the 17th century. Following the defeat of France in North America, the area w ...

in the

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

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

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 & ...

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 (, ) is the government of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia. The powers and structure of the province are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867. In modern Canadian use, the term ...

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

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

and

trapping Animal trapping, or simply trapping or ginning, is the use of a device to remotely catch and often kill an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including for meat, fur trade, fur/feathers, sport hunting, pest control, and w ...

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 Common name, commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, North, Central America, Central and South America. It is the ...

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 organisation based in Canada. Since its founding in 1962, the organisation and its partners have protected of land and water acro ...

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

old-growth An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without Disturbance (ecology), disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organizati ...

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 wester ...

, 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 a 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'', ''Baby Fresh'', ''S ...

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 (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, w ...

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 the eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the ...

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 p ...

and

American beech American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

. It provides habitat for

moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

, an endangered species in mainland Nova Scotia.

The game sanctuary

Abraham Lake Nature Reserve

Rush Lake Nature Reserve

References

Further reading