In Canada the Government Companies that are Suppose to Protect the Forest are the one Logging and Destroying it

In York Region Ontario Canada there is a department that is suppose to protect the forests around GTA  Greater Toronto Area.

In the past logging industry cut everything in York Region so at the beginning of this century the rivers almost dissipated. Holland River was one a navigable river and is now after almost 100 years of "restoration" a very small river with a small debit.

At the beginning of the century barge canal was proposed and began to be installed on Holland River in Newmarket area because the river was navigable. Until those barge canal able to transport 20 tons of material as per technical specifications were built the river was left without water from the logging industry. A government felt because of this canal; money were spent to built it but it was never finished. Would we ever learn from the past?

At the beginning of the century because of the English rule to use conquered territories as source of wood metals and anything they can take from this land a massive deforestation took place in the area of today York Region. Wind storm started to appear because of the deforestation. After the massive destruction of the environment the tax payer dollars were used to buy back the bared land from the people that were destroying it.

 This is Holland River Now. It does not support a barge of 80 tons for transportation. That is what deforestation does to the land.

 The land was bought by town of Aurora that at least leave some shrubs on the river banks to protect the drinking water of Aurora.

 Cutting old trees is still going on in the name of forest management.

 

 This is a 400 years old tree taller that a 4 store building that was left from the majestic forest found on this land prior to occupation.

For a short period of time a reforestation process started. Now we are in a period of destruction again.
The government praise itself that he uses the protected forests to make a profit from logging. After 40 years they are proud that they make money from logging. Those trees were planted not for logging but for restoring the land destroyed by loggers in the past.

 All trees older that 10 years old are cut

 Lock how young is the forest. It is not OK. A forest needs old trees to learn how to protect against cold and fungus and beetles.

Most of the forest is in the ownership of the government that is using the wood to make paper and send flyers that are thrown right away in the garbage.


Links
York Regional Forest

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newmarket_Canal

http://www.lsrca.on.ca/Shared%20Documents/reports/east_holland_management.pdf 

Dainty Tract York Regional Forest Ontario Canada

Dainty and Clarke Tracts

Together, Dainty & Clarke have 11.5 km of trails. These tracts are good place to watch a hardwood forest grow and evolve. Ailing pines were removed and replaced with hardwoods in  1985. Make a wide loop in each tract, together making a 7.9 km hike. This mostly flat hike is good for families. These tracts are less well-known, and therefore a bit more secluded. Plan on 2.5- 3.5 hours depending upon pace. A parking lot is located along McCowan at Dainty Tract.

York Country Forests

In the nineteenth century the Whitchurch landscape was subjected to heavy timbering to clear the land for cultivation. Large volumes of Ontario’s softwood forest was shipped to Britain and the United States as square timber. Hardwoods were typically burned in piles to make potash. With the forest cleared, farming could commence.

Most farming activity was supported only for a few decades, the land had given out by the 1890s.

Large areas of wasteland were created in the light sandy soils of Whitchurch Township and elsewhere in southern Ontario. The mistake: to farm the Oak Ridges Moraine.
Realizing the problem, many municipalities like Whitchurch paid landowners 25 cents a tree to start reforesting roadsides and gullies. In 1910 the York County council passed a resolution to consider the problem, but not much was done until 1920. By 1924 an agreement was struck between the County of York and the Province of Ontario where the County would purchase land, and Provincial foresters would plant and manage the forest.

“The open fields had become blowsand deserts, drifting sands had blocked roads, the split rail fences were soon buried, and on dry windy days

the whitchurch sky was yellow from blowing sand.” 

“Drinking water began to dry up and the number of birds, deer, fish, and other animals dwindled.”

“With the top soil gone, there was not enough available nutrient in the soil to support even grass.”In hilly areas, the light soils were readily removed by water flow, the ground being gouged into ever deepening gullies. Sand-filled flash flood waters became common for every one downstream in the spring, while the same patch became a parched, waterless bake oven in the summer sun...Whitchurch had become a wasteland...

Reforestation Begins York County purchased the first property for reforestation in 1922 from Ted Hollidge. It was 197 acres and cost a little more than $4,000. Trees were planted in 1924. Part of the deal was that Ted himself be the first caretaker for the emerging Vivian Forest. 

An additional 400 acres were purchased in 1924. By 1930, 710 acres of land had been reforested; by 1938, an additional 1,166 acres. A little more than 60 years after the first purchase, the public forests across York Region (York County became York Region in 1971) totaled 4,900 acres.

In the present we repeat the bad history of the past. The trees are cut on regular basis as if they are just objects with no  respect for the nature. The name is forest management.

 The forests were managed through prescribed cuttings. Generally speaking, a third of the volume of the plantation is removed in the first thinning, and 10 years later it is again thinned. By the time of the final harvest, there are theoretically less than 200 trees per acre out of the original 800 or 1200 planted.

Prior to 1947, cutting resulted in only enough wood for internal needs and to supply a few local markets. For instance, in 1948 only 300 cords, or 25,000 cubic feet of wood were harvested from the forest.

These early sales proved unsatisfactory to the costs incurred. From 1949 onward, sales were in the form of pulpwood to the Ontario

Paper Company. Second cut produced larger material by 1957, in which sales were focused toward product for pole barn construction. A profit was finally being realized, 33 years after the first tree was plante.

So again the land and the forests and used for profit only with no respect for either of them.

The former York County forests were managed by the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests (now Ministry of Natural Resources) until 1998,

when The Regional Municipality of York assumed full management responsibility for the forest.They act like savages. It is a shame that the environment is used as profit making machine by a government of savages.

York Regional Forest system is comprised of 22 tracts totaling over 5,700 acres, in four of the nine towns and cities in York Region. Whitchurch- Stouffville, with 11 public forest tracts including new acquisitions, claims 52% of the forest system, or roughly 3,000 acres.

So the government is using the tax dollars to buy the land from the people where it plants trees that they let live only 10 years or less. And this is suppose to be good.

About 10 years ago the red pine in some area started to die out, generally called Red Pine. Decline associated with two pathogens; both are a form of root rot and not easily controlled. The moss covered remains of red pine stumps and

trunks are readily seen in areas of the forest. In recent years, the Region’s ash trees are under threat of being wiped out entirely as a result of the Emerald Ash Borer. All untreated ash trees are expected to die as a result of this infestation. Ashes represent 12% of the tree canopy cover in York Region, 8% in Whitchurch-Stouffville - this is devastating. Green slashes on trees are abound inthe forest, marking ash trees near the trail that are being removed.

Since old trees are removed only young trees are kept they do not know how to fight the diseases and cold and fungus.  So the are dying.

Solution. Stop using the forest as money making machine. The forest is a community of plants animals. The land is still used as the colonists used them when the arrived in North America. Kill destroy everything as if there is other planet to move onto.

Robinson Tract Town Whitchurch-Stouffville

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 312 - 365

Spending time in nature can relieve stress and improve your memory performance and attention span.


The York Regional Forest Ontario Canada is open to the public 365 days per year with no cost to enter. The York Regional Forest is made up of 2,300 hectares of protected land, located in different parts of the Region. Eighteen properties with more than 120 kilometres of trail are available to the public


Robinson Tract  Address: 14989 Warden Ave, Whitchurch-Stouffville, ON L4A 7X5


Maps of the tracts available for the public are available free of charge at the entrance of the tracts and on the internet


The York Regional Forest is our legacy for future generations.


Nature appreciation including wildlife watching is a welcome activity in the York Regional Forest. In the forest people can see red squirrels and chipmunks, woodpeckers, nuthatches and warblers, garter snakes toads and frogs, deer fox and raccoons.

Red pine plantations make up part of the York Regional Forest.

Environment conditions have led to the roots of red pine trees becoming infected with root rotting fungi. Over the past several years, this infection has caused the death and decline of plantations in the region.

York Region is:

• Monitoring the condition’s status
• Removing dead or declining red pine trees that pose a hazard to trails
• Planting new trees in infected plantations
• Changing tree removal operations to reduce the impact on infected areas and reduce the spread into other areas
• Converting heavily infected areas to young hardwood forests

York Region organize events for the public.


Here are some sample events in the forest for 2015

Saturday, April 25, 2015 | 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
North Tract, 17054 Hwy. 48, Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville
Celebrate Earth Week and discover the many health benefits of walking in the forest. Learn tips to decrease your impact on the wild places you love.  Registration required.

Migratory Bird Day

Saturday, May 9, 2015 | 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Happy Valley Forest Tract, 15430 7th Concession, Township of King
Site is challenging to find. In Pottageville, turn south from Lloydtown-Aurora Rd. onto 7th Concession, drive for 2.4 kilometres, location on west side.
Celebrate Migratory Bird Day in the rolling hills of the Happy Valley Forest. Learn bird calls and identification tips from bird experts and staff from the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Registration required.

Spring Forest Festival and Tree Planting

Saturday, May 30, 2015 | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
North Tract, 17054 Hwy. 48, Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville
Celebrate spring by planting trees! Take a horse-drawn wagon ride, hold slithering snakes, see birds of prey, take home a tree seedling to plant and much more. Learn about the Region’s Greening Strategy and our forest partners. Don’t forget your work gloves and shovel! Open to all.

Learn-to-Hike

Saturday, June 6, 2015 | 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Porritt Tract, 15470 Kennedy Road, Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville
Learn how to stay safe and comfortable while hiking in the forest. Find out how easy and fun a hike can be for the whole family. Meet hike leaders from the Oak Ridges Trail Association. Registration required.

Native Plants Walk

Saturday, July 11, 2015 | 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Bendor and Graves Tract, 17689 Kennedy Road, Town of East Gwillimbury
Learn how to identify common native and invasive plants found in our forest. Discover beautiful native plants you can grow in your garden and learn what plants to avoid. Registration required.

Links

http://www.york.ca/wps/portal/yorkhome/environment/yr/forests/outdooreducation/yorkregionalforestwalksandevents

http://www.york.ca/wps/portal/yorkhome/environment/yr/environmentresources

http://www.york.ca/wps/portal/yorkhome/environment/yr/forests/yorkregionalforest

https://youtu.be/0cq7o08INTo

Lumber Industry

By Liliana Usvat

Blog 244-365

Canada

As part of its restructuring, the industry lost thousands of jobs which produced substantial gains in productivity. These gains have helped it maintain positive profit margins somewhat comparable, on average, to those reported in the manufacturing sector during the 1999 to 2005 period.

The value of lumber industry manufacturing shipments fell 14.9% in 2005 and 17.5% in 2006 to reach $11.9 billion. This was the lowest level in 14 years. 

USA

However, despite relatively steady production volume during the period, employment fell markedly starting in 2001. Presently there is a healthy lumber economy in the United States, directly employing about 500,000 people in three industries: Logging, Sawmill, and Panel. Today, more than ever, many more workers rely on the industry for employment. Annual production in the U.S. is more than 30 billion board feet making the U.S. the largest producer and consumer of lumber. Despite advances in technology and safety awareness, the lumber industry remains one of the most hazardous industries in the world.

The United States remains the largest exporter of wood in the world. Its primary markets are Japan, Mexico, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Due to higher labor costs in the United States, it is common practice for raw materials to be exported, converted into finished goods and imported back into the United States.

More raw goods including logs and pulpwood chip are exported than imported in the United States, while finished goods like lumber, plywood and veneer, and panel products have higher imports than exports in the U.S.

As old-growth forest disappeared rapidly, the United States' timber resources ceased to appear limitless. Canadian lumberman James Little remarked in 1876 that the rate at which the Great Lakes forests were being logged was "not only burning the candle at both ends, but cutting it in two, and setting the match to the four ends to enable them to double the process of exhaustion."

China

 In the second half of 2008, China’s total log imports declined in 2009 to 28.1 million m3— a staggering 24% drop from 2007’s peak. Chinese log imports in 2010 are projected at about 31 million m3 — still some six million m3 below the peak level of 2007.

Softwood lumber exports from Russia have expanded, as have imports from Canada, the U.S., New Zealand and other regions. China’s growing demand for fibre is unlikely to be met by domestic and imported logs alone, and has therefore created a huge opportunity for lumber imports.

Chinese lumber imports are projected to double over the next five years to 12 billion bf or more simply to meet China’s growing appetite for wood fibre.

During the first eight months of 2012, Russia, Chile and New Zealand have increased their shipments to China, while volumes from North America have declined.  China imported logs and lumber worth 4.3 billion dollars.

Russia

Exact statistics are not available for Eastern Siberia, but logging pressures are clearly centered around the forests west and east of Lake Baikal, a World Heritage site and one of Russia's ecological crown jewels (For information about illegal logging along the shore of Lake Baikal, see FSF-5).

 50 per cent of total timber harvest in the Primorsky Region may be illegal and therefore not reflected in official statistics.

A 2001 assessment by the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis found the stock of "mature and overmature" forests (essentially conifers) in the RFE decreased from 7.1 billion cu. m in 1961 to just 5.5 in 2000.

When compared with the structure of the present-day industry, the Soviet era timber industry was more balanced. In 1989, in the Russian Far East, almost half of all timber production was used regionally, while 25 per cent was sent to other regions of the former Soviet Union, and 30 per cent was exported abroad. Processed timber (sawn wood, plywood, etc) accounted for 20 per cent of the region's total timber production [5]. Today, processed timber is just 7% of total production and the region now exports more than 70% of its total harvest.

Argentina

 It is also estimated that the consumption of wood products from cultivated forests is 5.3 million cubic meters, and sustainable wood supply to the year 2015 will be more than 20 million cubic meters. Argentina, however, is not a major consumer of wood products. For instance, wood is not commonly used in building construction. About 60 to 70 percent of wood product production is used for internal consumption (wood boards, plywood, cellulose pulp, etc.) and the rest for exports.

The forestry industry does not supply all of Argentina’s needs. Most of the harvest is used for lumber, with smaller amounts for firewood and charcoal. 

An estimated 1.115 million hectares (2.8 million acres) were planted as of 2005. It is estimated that this year, between 40,000 to 50,000 hectares (100,000 to 124,000 acres) will be cultivated mainly in the Mesopotamia region (the provinces of Misiones, Corrientes, and Entre Ríos). Among the most important species cultivated in the country are pines and eucalyptus, representing 50 and 30 percent of production, respectively.

Japan

Japan is the world's largest importer of wood, pulp, and paper products that are traded on the world market. Thus, Japan's impact is felt in many countries around the world, including the USA, Canada, Russia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Chile and many others. About one third of all logs exported from Malaysia and Russia, plywood from Indonesia and sawn wood from Chile are destined for Japan. Almost all of the woodchip exported from Australia, the USA and Chile is also headed to Japan.

Outside Japan, Japanese timber and trading corporations are known for their devastating logging techniques and their violation of community rights to resources. For example, in 1990 the Japanese paper company Daishowa blatantly disregarded the Lubicon Lake Indian Nation's land rights in Alberta, Canada and began clear-cutting the forests of the Lubicon territory.

Japan's forests cover 66% of the land, making it one of the most heavily forested countries in the world. However, after liberalizing timber import in 1960, the Japanese wood self-sufficiency rate has consistently decreased from 86.7% to 19.2% in 1999. The Japanese forest industry has been defeated by cheap wood shipped from abroad. The cheap price, however, does not include environmental costs.

Links

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-621-m/11-621-m2007055-eng.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_lumber_industry_in_the_United_States

http://www.forestsmonitor.org/en/reports/548670/549162

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forestry_in_Argentina