|
History of Forestry in Dufferin County
By 1900, much of Dufferin County had been cleared of trees to
facilitate farming. As there had been no reforestation, the trees
disappeared, and so did the lumber companies. Many farmers who had
supplemented their income with logging fell on hard times. The removal of the
tree cover had more far-reaching effects: without stabilization, the thin,
sandy soils were eroded by wind and water. This made farming impossible.
Dufferin was not alone in this predicament. Similar settlement patterns in
other parts of southern Ontario
had created similar problems. As early as 1908, the Ontario Department of
Agriculture had published a Report on the
Reforestation of Waste Lands in Southern Ontario. This report
outlined the development of blowsands that had resulted from large-scale land
clearing. It also described the economic and environmental benefits of
reforestation:
"The policy of
putting these lands under forest management has many arguments in its favour.
It will pay as a financial investment; assist in insuring a wood supply;
protect the headwaters of streams; provide breeding ground for wild game,
provide object lessons in forestry, and prevent citizens from developing
under conditions which can end only in failure."
In Dufferin County,
land reclamation through planting began in 1905. Gradually, tree planting
gained momentum, as people realized that trees were not a nuisance in
land-clearing, but were important for stabilization of soils, maintenance of
water supplies, and ongoing timber production. This change in opinion could
not have come about without the leadership provided by local municipalities.
In 1914, the Town of Orangeville
planted 4,000 trees; further plantings occurred in 1916, 1924, 1925, 1926,
and 1932. The Township
of Mulmur planted
16,000 trees in 1924. This was followed by more plantings in 1925, 1927, and
1928. The Town of Mono
began planting in 1925, and by 1952 there were 228,300 trees planted on lands
in Mono that were formerly barren.
From aerial photography
taken in 1953, it was estimated that there were approximately 19,600 hectares
of grass and meadow (poor pasture) lands, and wooded pasture (grazed
woodlots) lands in Dufferin
County that were
suitable for reforestation and woodlot management. Reclaiming the majority of
these areas would require plantings of about one million trees per year for
thirty years. By March 31, 1974 over 17 million trees had been planted in Dufferin County.
In 1953, the Grand River
Valley Conservation Authority initiated a forest management agreement with
the Department of Lands and Forests with the purchase of 190 hectares in the Township of East Luther. Many of the lands owned
by the Conservation Authority are important water source and water-holding
areas. However, they also have value in terms of wildlife, recreation, and
timber production.
In 1967, Woodlands Improvement Act (WIA)
Agreements began to take hold in Dufferin
County. These
agreements provided private landowners with assistance from the Department of
Lands and Forests (now the Ministry of Natural Resources) in the planting and
management of their woodlots. In 1982, the 9000th Woodlands Improvement Act
Agreement in Ontario was signed in Dufferin County. Prior to the recent
cancellation of the WIA program by the Ministry of Natural Resources, there
were approximately 200 WIA Agreements in Dufferin County,
covering a total area of about 2,000 hectares.
The most significant step
in the reclamation of barren lands in Dufferin
County came in 1930 when the County of Dufferin entered into its first forest
management agreement with the Department of Lands and Forests.
The County
of Dufferin, following the lead
taken by the County
of Simcoe in 1922,
signed a forest management agreement with the Department of Lands and Forests
under the auspices of the Counties
Reforestation Act.
The Dufferin
County Forest
began its existence on July 3, 1930 when a motion was introduced at the
Dufferin County Council meeting requesting the Ontario Forestry Branch to
secure options on lands in Mulmur
Township for
reforestation purposes. This motion was instigated by County Treasurer James
Henderson. The first purchase of land for what would become the Dufferin County Forest
was made on November 7, 1930. It consisted of 426 ha (1,013 acres) on
Concessions VII and VIII in Mulmur
Township. The cost of
this initial purchase was $7,637.32.
During the next 40 years
Dufferin County made additional purchases bringing the current area of the
Dufferin County Forest up to 1,050 ha (2,596 acres). The last purchase was
made on September 17, 1971. It consisted of 40 ha (100 acres) on Concession
VI in Mulmur Township acquired at a cost of
$25,000.00 (including a $19,012.65 grant from the Ministry of Natural
Resources). The Dufferin
County Forest
is distributed over twelve tracts in all six of Dufferin's rural
municipalities.
Although the Dufferin County
Forest is owned by the County of Dufferin, it was always managed by the
provincial government. (Originally the Department of Lands and Forests, which
became the Ministry of Natural Resources in the early 1970s.) On November 26,
1930, the County
of Dufferin signed its
first Forest Management Agreement with the Department of Lands and Forests.
The agreement was made under the Counties
Reforestation Act; later coming under the jurisdiction of the Forestry Act R.S.O. 1950. Subsequent
agreements were signed, remaining relatively unchanged until 1991.
When the last agreement
expired (April 1, 1991), the County
of Dufferin decided
that increased demands on the forest properties, as well as changes to the
Ministry of Natural Resource's agreement forest program, meant it could not
simply sign a new agreement. The County decided that a comprehensive
management plan would have to be prepared for the Dufferin County
Forest before a new
agreement was signed.
In the spring of 1992,
the County of Dufferin
approached the Faculty of Forestry at the University
of Toronto to have the fourth year
forestry class prepare plans for the Dufferin County
Forest as part of their
thesis work. These plans were presented to the County of Dufferin
and the Ministry of Natural Resources in April, 1993.
In December, 1993 the County of Dufferin and the MNR approved the
Terms of Reference for a new management plan. Subsequently, the County of Dufferin, in partnership with the
Ministry of Natural Resources, hired a management plan author to develop a
forest management plan for the period 1995-2015. This management plan would
describe in detail the operations for the period 1995-2000 and, more
generally, the operations for the period 2000-2015.
Our Forest,
Our Future:
Dufferin County Forest Management Plan 1995-2015 was passed by Dufferin
County Council on June 8, 1995. This plan guides the use and management of
the Forest, as well as serving as a model for other agreement forest plans
throughout Ontario.
The plan emphasizes three main points:
- An ecosystem approach to
forest management.
- Protection of the provincial
interest in natural resources.
- A community-based approach to
the planning and management of the forest properties.
The Dufferin County
Forest is managed and
used for a number of purposes including: recreation, natural heritage
protection, erosion and water control, provision of wildlife habitat, outdoor
education, protection of biodiversity, and support of the rural economy
through timber production.
Following the adoption of
the long-term forest management plan by Dufferin County Council, the County
in 1995 took over the control and co-ordination of all activities having to
do with the Dufferin
County Forest.
In order to fulfill this new role, Dufferin hired a County Forest Manager,
the first County in Ontario
to do so.
In 1995, the Ministry of Natural
Resources introduced the Ontario Stewardship Program. Based in
the southern part of the province, Ontario Stewardship, answers the
question, "What positive role can agencies play in influencing the land
management practices of private landowners?" Ontario Stewardship seeks
to link landowners with funding, information and expertise to ensure that
good management practices flourish. The Program's strength lies in its
40 Community Stewardship Councils, volunteer groups of representative
landowners and land interest groups who determine what are the environmental
priorities for a given area (usually a county) in Ontario. Each Community Stewardship Council has,
dedicated to it, an Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources staff person known
as a Stewardship Coordinator, an individual who through work
experience, training and aptitude acts as an Executive Director and
facilitator to the Council and hence the community. Since the inception of
the program, the County of Dufferin has been actively involved in the local
stewardship council, the Land
Stewardship Network serving the communities of Dufferin and South Simcoe.
On March 13, 1997, the
County signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Natural
Resources (MNR). This Memorandum,
which expired in 2002, outlined the County’s and the Ministry’s
responsibilities in the management of the Dufferin County
Forest. A new
Memorandum will not be signed, thus terminating the formal relationship
between the MNR and the County in the management of the Dufferin County
Forest.
|
