Pullen provides annual Huron County Forest update, reflects on 75th anniversary
BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN
Last week, Huron County Forest Conservation Officer Dave Pullen presented his annual report to Huron County Council, citing major improvements to the county forests and extensive outreach work with forest management over the course of 2022.
Pullen spoke to council at its April 5 meeting and detailed the growing usage of the county forest system, which has been on the rise since council’s decision to keep the trail systems open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, giving residents and visitors an opportunity to get active outdoors in a safe, distanced environment during the height of lockdowns and COVID-19 infection waves.
Pullen told councillors that, in 2022, the county installed new boardwalks and parking areas in the county forests and any costs to the trails were offset by the sale of timber products sustainably harvested from the forests, in addition to through a partnership with the county’s Public Works Department.
He added that forest management and forest conservation bylaw compliance by woodland owners continues to be a focus for the department, adding that a growing number of woodland owners using independent foresters to mark trees and co-ordinate timber sales has been encouraging.
The department, he said, is continuing to work with woodland owners to restore areas that have a high percentage of ash trees, many of which are also wetland areas. He said The Huron Clean Water Project should be helpful in those efforts going forward.
The goal, he said, is to maintain the county’s existing level of forest cover, which sits at 16 per cent.
He also noted some of the specific forest management activity for Huron East Council, including work at the O’Connor Tract in Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh (ACW), the Stevenson Tract in Morris-Turnberry and the Sheppardton Tract north of Goderich.
“A significant harvest and tornado salvage was completed in the O’Connor Tract in ACW in the winter of 2022, resulting in revenue of $48,428. A small harvest of white pine and ash trees in the Stevenson Tract resulted in value-added sales of $12,800 of live-edge and dimensional lumber on GovDeals.ca. This method of marketing surplus lumber and trail maintenance trees from the county forests has resulted in revenues of over $64,000 since 2017. It is a good demonstration of value-added marketing, as it represents 23 per cent of the value of total forestry sales from less than five per cent of total volume of timber harvested,” Pullen said in his report.
He also noted that the Stevenson Tract, which is the county’s second-largest forest tract, is now home to the first Forests Ontario “It Takes a Forest” sign in southwestern Ontario, promoting the role that forests play in protecting water quality.
The sign was unveiled at a celebration that coincided with the 75th anniversary of the Huron County Forests last year, Pullen said in his report.
Also at the Stevenson Tract, the county opened a new walking trail just east of the Maitland River and a new stone culvert crossing over Sunshine Creek.
As part of the 75th anniversary, the county also completed a boardwalk to connect a trail network through previously-impassible areas in the Sheppardton Tract north of Goderich.
“Thanks in part to some federal-provincial COVID resiliency funding, an accessible trail is 95 per cent complete in the Hays Tract south of Goderich and this feature will be signed and opened to the public in 2023,” Pullen added.
“The county forests continue to be an invaluable resource to county residents for health and recreation during the pandemic. An unprecedented number of residents continue to use the properties for hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. To ensure safety and accommodate the increased demand, occasional winter maintenance of parking areas has been undertaken in partnership with Public Works.”
He noted that, in 2022, 138 Notices of Intent were filed, approximately 30 per cent of which were marked by independent professional foresters using good forestry practices.
There are currently no forest conservation bylaw cases before the courts, Pullen told councillors, but two were resolved over the course of 2022 with guilty pleas and fines that totalled $4,000 plus a 25 per cent victim surcharge and court-ordered replanting paid for by the defendants, which Pullen added is now part of most resolutions. He said that two replanting orders from 2022 are still outstanding and expected to be completed later this spring.