Simcoe County forests are growing — and not just up.
Councillors got a brief update Tuesday on the county’s forest management activities last year, as well as finding out what the future holds as the county moves into its 103rd year operating the local forest system.
“Last year, the team oversaw the planting of over 22,000 trees, acquired more lands and notably saw revenues of over $2.5 million in our harvest activities,” said Rob Elliott, the county’s general manager of engineering, planning and environment.
That property acquisition resulted in the expansion of existing tracts in Springwater, Tiny and Severn townships, noted the staff report, which also pointed out that county residents were also fortunate to receive a “very generous donation” of land in Innisfil.
The county now manages more than 13,700 hectares (close to 34,000 acres) and forest management activities over the last year include the planting of 23,000 trees on four different sites.
The fact the county has been managing these forests for more than a century is “quite exceptional,” Graeme Davis, who works as a forester for the county, said during Tuesday’s committee of the whole meeting.
“It’s quite exceptional when you think about municipal programs," he added. "In some ways, it’s a steady-as-she-goes report. Continued growth, continued surplus in our budget, continued tree planting and continued investment in restoring the forest as well."
Of particular note is that the county forests are very active and working forests, Davis added.
“We do sell a lot of timber, but we do so in such a way that is always planning for the future," he said. "It’s about having healthy forests down the road and that all feeds into it.”
The county has also continued its extensive investments in invasive plants management, Davis noted.
“It’s always difficult to highlight in a report like this just how much work we put in to monitor those impacts, measuring the impacts and in constantly making decisions on how we move forward in trying to manage and mitigate those things,” he said.
Staff have put in “significant efforts” to limit the impact of a range of invasive plants, as well as having monitoring for other invasive species including insects and disease.
“The discovery of oak wilt in 2023 within Springwater Township was fortunately not repeated — there were no further discoveries of this disease in Ontario in 2024,” stated the report.
While harvesting does play an important role, Davis said it’s also important to note that they are about much more than forest harvesting — they also provide “incredible” recreational uses.
“Our partnerships continue to be strong. We have upwards of 700 kilometres of trails that are in place through agreements. There is a tremendous amount of volunteerism that continues to the success of our system as well,” he said.
Staff also work hard to reinvest in ensuring local forests are healthy and productive moving forward, added Davis, and take advantage of funding opportunities whenever they can.
“Over the last years, almost all of our tree-planting activity has been funded through partnerships, primarily with Forests Canada. They have leveraged the funding through the Two Billion Tree program so we work through them. For many years, almost all of our tree-planting activities are fully funded,” said Davis.