After 24 days of being forbidden from entering the forest, some Nova Scotians are returning to nature. The province lifted its wildfire-related ban in Halifax and counties farther northeast on Aug. 29, with Premier Tim Houston saying in a news release that conditions were “heading in the right direction in certain parts of the province.”
Every Atlantic province had some form of fire or burning restriction at different points during the dry summer of 2025, but Nova Scotia invited fresh controversy when it banned all access to the woods provincewide on Aug. 5. The province set its fine for violating the woods ban at $25,000, the same amount it fines those that set illegal fires. According to CBC, more than $1 million in fines has been issued for illegal burning in the last two and a half years.
New Brunswick followed Nova Scotia’s lead and restricted industrial and recreational activities on Crown land, a ban that was mostly lifted on Aug. 26.
Nova Scotia’s problems aren’t over. Crews are still battling fires in Long Lake, along the province’s north shore in the Annapolis Valley region. Despite the continued risk and considerable damage — over 1,000 residents were evacuated because of the Long Lake fire and 20 homes were lost — not everyone agrees with the restriction on entering the woods, which remains in place in 11 of the province’s 18 counties. In mid-August, Jeff Evely of Westmount, N.S., recorded himself violating the ban.
“I want to challenge this in court,” Evely says to Department of Natural Resources officers in the video. “And the only way for me to do that is to get the fine. So, I’m not trying to make trouble for you guys, okay? I just want a piece of Tim Houston and I want to be as accommodating and as nice as I can be.”
Evely, a veteran who was a People’s Party of Canada candidate for Sydney-Glace Bay in last spring’s federal election, wasn’t alone. The social media response to the woods ban invoked COVID-inspired debates about safety and government overreach.
Opinions were just as mixed last weekend in Halifax’s Point Pleasant Park and Shubie Park in Dartmouth, as families, dog-walkers and runners headed back into the woods. Some parkgoers said they were glad to follow the rules to help keep the province safe from fire, while others said at least some public spaces should have stayed open.
Everyone said they were happy to be back.
Interviews have been condensed and edited for clarity.
Point Pleasant Park — Halifax
James Byers, public servant
What he was doing in the park: walking his dog.
James Byers at Point Pleasant Park in Halifax.
“It gets boring walking the same routes and I like feeling grounded, but I think the ban was a good preventative measure and I think that most people respected it. I had coworkers that lost their cottages and had to evacuate last year with the fires out in the Beechville, Hammonds Plains area.
We did our camping and our summer trips earlier in the season, so it didn’t impact our vacation plans. We had family who went camping and couldn’t light a fire but they still had a good time.”
Chris Webster, student, and Lauren Theriault, film and television costumer
What they were doing in the park: walking their dog.
Chris Webster and Lauren Theriault with their the dog at Point Pleasant Park in Halifax.
Theriault: “We’ve had a sad dog. It was really hard because it was too hot during the day to walk her on pavement.”
Webster: “It’s been a long month and a half. I think the worst thing was trying to get the unhoused community in Halifax out of the woods. They have nowhere else to go and they’re already kicking them out of encampments. They go to the woods to get away from the city that they’re being kicked out of and then they’re being kicked out of the woods.”
Abdoulaye Barry, founder, Ten Toes Down run club
What he was doing in the park: leading a run.
Abdoulaye Barry at Point Pleasant Park in Halifax.
“I’m the type of guy that loves the outside, and every member here loves Point Pleasant. We tried running at [a local track called] The Oval but a lot of people didn’t like it that much.
Honestly, Point Pleasant, there’s no better place to run. I think a place like this should always be open to the public, because everyone has reasons why they’re here. For the run club, it’s health benefits, right? Social benefit and psychological growth.
I live downtown in an apartment that has a gym and equipment. So, when it came to physical fitness, I had other [options], but I’m sure other people were affected.”
Jay Gaerlan, digital creator
What he was doing in the park: running with Ten Toes Down.
Jay Gaerlan at Point Pleasant Park in Halifax.
“This community really started in Point Pleasant Park. To have that taken away was really awful. It feels good to be back. A lot of people relieve stress by being in nature. It felt like something was missing.
We almost had to evacuate when there was a fire in Bayer’s Lake. My house was like a kilometre away.”
Shubie Park — Dartmouth, N.S.
Jared MacPhee, comic artist
What he was doing in the park: walking his dog.
Jared MacPhee and his dog at Shubie Park in Dartmouth, N.S.
“I have a very high-maintenance dog and the ban prevented me from going to parks in the area, so he was going stir crazy in my house.
I thought it was reasonable. I understand the precautions. Obviously, I don’t want forest fires. Obviously, post-COVID you never like government lockdowns. A bit of a PTSD situation, but I go along with the rules, even if I don’t like them.
There’s a little trail in the woods that we walk every day. It’s just weird, having a little slice of your neighbourhood you’re not allowed to go into anymore.”
Roberto Guebara, chef
What he was doing in the park: showing a friend from Italy “one of the most beautiful parks we have in the city.”
Roberto Guebara with his family and a friend at Shubie Park in Dartmouth, N.S.
“Feels great, bringing the kids back to breathing fresh air and enjoying the views, seeing this beautiful thing we have here. I’m not really completely in agreement with the ban but we had to follow the rules and respect the fires that were happening.”
Donna King, anesthesia assistant
What she was doing in the park: walking her dog.
Donna King with her dog at Shubie Park in Dartmouth, N.S.
“I think it was a little over the top. I wish they’d have kept those city parks open, because it wasn’t deep in the woods. There’s not many places to go in the city. It’s tough not being able to take [my dog] Dino to water.”
Cheryl Cort, retired, and Kimberlee McTaggart, film and television editor
What they were doing in the park: running with the Heart and Sole Running Club.
Cheryl Cort and Kimberlee McTaggart at Shubie Park in Dartmouth, N.S.
Cort: “If it had to be, it had to be. We don’t want fires. That’s what they thought was necessary.”
McTaggart: “I’m glad they left the path along Lake Banook open. I really wish they would have opened the waterfront trail, which is a paved path through a tiny bit of woods that people use as commuters.
I like to bikepack and I was hoping to get one more weekend in August. My usual is out to Dollar Lake. That was the only thing that affected me and I wasn’t that upset about it because we needed to do it.
We have a place in Porter’s Lake and there was a fire nearby, mostly in Lake Echo. It didn’t hit us but it hit Mineville Road and it felt like it was on the way.”
