N.S. woods restrictions impacting outdoor businesses

Some Nova Scotia businesses are feeling the impact of the ongoing ban on entering woods.

Nova Scotia’s restrictions on access to wooded areas could be impacting businesses that rely on outdoor traffic.

OnTree, an outdoor adventure park, says July and August are typically their busiest months.

“We would have hundreds of people here, this year it’s a little different,” says owner Juergen Weigelt, who notes that sales are already down. “Yesterday was a good day, today is extremely slow. I think today we have maybe 50 people in the park and normally it’s 200, you feel those impacts.”

Working with the Nova Scotia government, Weigelt is grateful their business is allowed to remain open, but it falls on them to ensure everyone is following the guidelines.

“Nobody can take any phones, smart watches, glass items or fire-starters or e-cigarettes in the park. Before that we had no problems with people bringing certain items in the park, but since the fire ban is in place especially with smartphones and those temperatures 31 degrees,” says Weigelt.

Their rules came into effect after the government banned access to trails, parks and campgrounds that are covered in woods.

“Since we have been working with the government, we had the same when we had COVID, people saying why can they stay open. Well, it’s because we are working with the government to give the people a chance to get out of the house and do something in a controlled environment. We control what you bring in and we control what you do, so we are minimizing the risk 200 per cent,” says Weigelt.

They have staff patrolling the park and trails frequently, and their vehicles remain stationary at the park unless someone needs help or there is a fire.

“Our pump, which is three kilometres away from us, is on the Avon River. So this was checked this week so it can run at any time, so it can pump water here from three kilometres to a lake that we have here,” says Weigelt.

Cyclesmith Halifax is seeing a drop in their numbers, which they attribute to trail use being prohibited.

“The impact has actually started to be felt. It’s still too early for numbers but anecdotally we are seeing a slow down,” says owner Andrew Feenstra, who notes 70 per cent of their sales are between March and September. “We have already started to think about how we are going to do this, what are we going to do, what can we do to encourage things to happen and stuff. Obviously we can’t control Mother Nature but we can see what we can do to get things moving.

“There are trails in the city that are next to golf courses that are closed and it’s paved, fully accessible, there’s a lake on one side and a golf course on the other, and the rails for trails aren’t open. That’s a commuter area that a lot of people commute on and stuff. So, things like that would just allow people to get outside and not just cyclists, but people walking, rollerblades.”

The restrictions on access to wooded areas are in place until Oct. 15 or until conditions improve.

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