Forests Ontario and Ottawa Valley mill owners applaud Ontario government’s $2.1 million investment in private-land tree planting

In late September 2022, Forests Ontario and representatives from forestry sector mills in the Ottawa Valley met with the Honourable Graydon Smith, MPP for the adjacent Riding of Parry Sound-Muskoka and Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, to discuss how working together could benefit the future of the forestry sector in the region.

At Forests Ontario’s 9th Annual Conference on February 17, 2023, Minister Smith announced that the Ontario government was making a one-year, $2.1 million investment to support tree planting through Forests Ontario’s programs.

“We are proud to support Forests Ontario’s mission to make our forests greener,” Minister Smith said. “With this investment, our government is taking action to ensure the long-term sustainability of Ontario’s forests and forest sector businesses, while creating stability for workers, families and communities that depend on this sector.”

The Ottawa Valley boasts one of Ontario’s most vibrant forestry sectors and employs thousands of local residents. According to County of Renfrew Councillor Peter Emon, the area’s 20 mills contribute to the employment of approximately 2,200 people and generate over $85 million in taxes ($42 million federally, $32 million provincially and nearly $12 million municipally as of 2019).

One reason for the area’s current prosperity is the past support for tree planting efforts by the Province of Ontario. The province has supported tree planting on privately owned lands for well over 75 years. The new funding announcement helps support area mills, who anticipate that reliance on privately-owned forests will continue to grow in the coming years.

“Softwood wood supply from private land is projected to decrease over the next few decades without significant tree planting investments locally,” notes Matt Mertins, Registered Professional Forester, Wood Fibre Manager, Roseburg Forest Products Canada. “If there was a significant reduction of trees available from private lands, log costs would immediately increase and some of our supplier sawmills would run out of wood or struggle to find cost effective wood for their operations.”

“The forestry sector is an important industry today but will be even more important in the coming years. The County of Renfrew is 70 per cent covered by trees and our mills can support Canada’s builders but we need the province’s investment to help plant the trees that support our mills,” adds Councillor Emon.

The mills in the region include Lavern Heideman & Sons Limited, Ben Hokum and Son Limited, Cascades Containerboard Packaging - Trenton, McRae Lumber Company, Freymond Lumber Ltd., Roseburg Forest Products Canada, Murray Brothers Lumber Company, and Herb Shaw & Sons Limited. Their ability to source wood supply locally is a key part of their success and long-term viability.

“We are very appreciative of the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry’s support and recognition of the importance of private-land tree planting to the local forestry sector as well as all the other benefits healthy forests provide to communities,” Rob Keen, Registered Professional Forester and CEO of Forests Ontario, said. “We are also very grateful to the local mills who have all provided financial support to assist us in keeping landowner tree planting costs to a minimum in the Ottawa Valley area.”

The province’s investment will greatly assist Forests Ontario’s tree planting programs in the Ottawa Valley. Area landowners who are interested in tree planting should contact Forests Ontario at restoration@forestsontario.ca.