A year after hurricane Juan tore through Nova Scotia, Halifax's Point Pleasant Park is beginning to recover from losing 70 per cent of its trees.

The 186-acre park overlooking the harbour has been an important fixture since 1873, when Queen Victoria gave the land to the people of Halifax. More than one million visitors stroll through it every year.

Gary Westall, right, surveys new growth in the Park
Gary Westall, right, surveys new growth in the Park

Over the course of 90 minutes in the early morning of Sept. 29, 2003, hurricane Juan moved north through the middle of Nova Scotia, killing two people, smashing buildings and leaving about 300,000 homes and businesses without power.

The hurricane also toppled as many trees as the entire Nova Scotia logging industry cuts down in one year.

Juan was a natural event, said provincial forester Gary Westall, and nature is fully capable of repairing even the catastrophic damage that Point Pleasant suffered as it buffered Halifax from some of the howling storm's force.

Thanks to the hurricane, for example, red spruce seedlings now have the light they need to become mighty trees. Before, they would have been small players in the undergrowth.

"The forest is a living, dynamic thing," said Westall. "Just because trees have been knocked down doesn't mean it's over.

"In fact, it's the opposite. It's a chance for the forest to revitalize, and that's what is happening."

Much of the lumber at Point Pleasant cannot be turned into commercial lumber. The longhorned spruce beetle has infested much of the downed wood, so that it can't be moved, let alone milled. All crews can do is chip it and burn it.

But some of Halifax's downed trees are being turned into mulch and will eventually break down into organic matter that will feed other trees.

"This is going to be soil ... soon. This is stuff that's going to make our seedlings grow," said Peter Bigelow, manager of real property planning for the Halifax Regional Municipality.

"This park has the ability to regenerate itself."

Questions surround future growth

One big question is what kind of seedlings will be allowed to take root to create the Point Pleasant Park Haligonians will enjoy 20, 30 or 40 years down the road.

Repairing the nearby Public Gardens was an expensive task but relatively easy by comparison. It was a Victorian garden square, well-planned and well-manicured, straight out of a book from the 1880s.

Not so Point Pleasant. Foresters could use selective plantings and continuing care to make it a hardwood forest or a carefully chosen mixture of trees. They could also just let nature take its course, and accept whatever species take hold.

"We don't know yet," said Bigelow. "We are looking at all options and will decide soon."