Brant Woodlot Owners Association

January 2018

January 2018

Brant Woodlot AGM and Speakers Night

We hope that all of our members and friends will be able to join us at the Brant Rod and Gun Club on Tuesday, February 13, 2018, for a great evening with people who appreciate trees and wood. A reception will be held at 5:30 pm, with dinner at 6:00 pm. At 7:00 pm the meeting will come to order with speakers on forest related topics. The AGM will follow at 8:30 pm.

A new feature of this year’s AGM is that our door prizes will be awarded as raffle prizes ($2.00 per ticket). Funds raised will be split between the Brant Tree Coalition and our BWOA Kids in the Woods initiative.

If you would like to nominate yourself or someone else for a position on our executive, please speak to our president, Jim Haley, ahead of time.

Greetings from our President

Hope everyone survived the extreme cold weather that we experienced over the holiday season! If you were like me, you wouldn't have gone too far from the warmth of your home. I also got caught up on some good books when it was -25C with the wind chill...and didn't feel guilty spending time doing so! We have some great speakers lined up for our Feb.13th AGM. Neil Dunning has been busy coordinating everything behind the scene. Thanks, Neil, for all your hard work and for the great newsletters you regularly put together.

I hope to see you all at the upcoming AGM. 2018 is off to a great start for the BWOA!

Jim Haley

Pres. Jim Haley 519-647-2979 Vice Pres. Joe Vansickle Treasurer Jim Brown Secretary Neil Dunning

Joe Vansickle calculating board feet in a large standing ash in Dr. Chris Crombie’s woodlot in November

25th Annual Kawartha Woodlot Conference and Tradeshow, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018, 8:30 am – 3:30 pm in Lindsay. Details can be found at Ontariowoodlot.com/events.

-Brant Woodlot Owners, AGM and Speakers Night, February 13th, Brant Rod and Gun Club.

-Kemptville Winter Woodlot Conference, Wed. February 21, 2018—8:00 a.m. – 4:00 pm in Kemptville. Details at Ontariowoodlot.com

-Invasive Plant Workshop, Niagara Woodlot Association, Wellandport, March 13, 2018. Email paul@treesunlimited.ca

-OWA AGM and Tours, Shakespeare, Ontario. April 12-13. More details to follow at Ontariowoodlot.com.

One highlight of the November tour of Dr. Crombie’s woodlot was a tall straight forest grown sycamore

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Mark Funk of the GRCA Burford Tree Nursery gave us a fascinating grower’s tour in November

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GRCA Tree Planting Programs for Landowners

Online tree orders can be placed anytime up to March 1, 2018. Ordering early is advisable, because this means there will be a broader selection of trees.

Private landowners make an immense contribution to the tree cover in the watershed, because nearly 80 per cent of land is privately owned. Many landowners order trees every year and the GRCA always welcomes new orders and inquiries. Landowners in the Grand River watershed who have at least one hectare (2.5 acres) of land are eligible to order trees. Tree orders can be

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picked up in the spring. The minimum order is 200 seedlings or 20 tall stock trees (this includes saplings, whips and potted).

For more information and to view the tree availability list, go to the forestry section of the GRCA website at www.grandriver.ca/Trees.

Brant Woodlot Owners on Social Media

Search for us on Facebook under Brant Woodlot Owners Association. While you are there “Like” us and leave a comment. Check out the Ontario Woodlot Association on Facebook too. Follow the Ontario Woodlot Association on Twitter @OntarioWoodlot for updates on woodlot events across

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Ontario and around the world.

Kids in the Woods Most children today probably don’t spend enough time in the woods. Children need to be experiencing the beauty and wonder of trees, learning to identify common trees around us, and to be learning about how trees are important to us. The Brant Woodlot Owners Association hopes to meet some of that need with an autumn Kids in the Woods Day.

We’ll be inviting members to bring a child or grandchild along with them for an afternoon of forest activities this fall. More details on activities and a nominal cost for the afternoon will be announced later in the spring.

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BWOA Executive and Directors Executive President—Jim Haley Vice President—Joe Vansickle Treasurer—Jim Brown Secretary—Neil Dunning Directors Jim Tank (past president) Keith Dawes Bruce Zavitz Joe Demeulenaere Ted Shelegy Doug Burt Len King Peter Kyle

A massive bur oak stands behind Syl Apps Arena in Paris—it is guaranteed to instill a sense of awe.

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It is no secret that our Brant County Mayor, and Brant Woodlot Owner member, Ron Eddy, likes trees a lot. I recently had the opportunity to talk with another tree champion on Brant County Council, Dave Miller. Dave is the Chair of the Brant County Tree Conservation Committee and he agreed to take time out of his busy schedule to explain his role on this committee.

Brant County has two tree related by-laws. By-law 197-07 is the Tree Conservation By-Law and is designed to provide for the “conservation of trees and to prohibit the destruction or injuring of trees in woodlands in the

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County of Brant.” By-law 275-99 regulates “the planting and maintenance of trees adjacent to County of Brant highways.” The Tree Conservation Committee functions by provincial mandate to work with government, business and private citizens in applying these by-laws. In 2013 the mandate of the committee was updated to include the following goals, among others:

• Promoting forest health and increasing County tree canopy

• Sustainable management of County owned forests

In speaking with Dave and reading through

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committee minutes, it emerged that the Tree Conservation Committee deals with complex issues. The regulations that need to be followed are often from a provincial or conservation area level, but are applied at the County level. Business owners such as farmers are also responding to economic and work efficiency pressures. At the same time County goals of maintaining a healthy forest canopy also come into play. Most items considered by the committee concern people and businesses seeking exceptions to by-law 197-07. Dave explained that the committee strives to balance the needs of

An Interview with Brant

County Councillor Dave Miller,

Dave Miller chairs the Brant County Tree Conservation Committee

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business and private citizens with the dictates of provincial mandates.

In document TRE-2013-01, Mandate for Trees Conservation Committee, the foundational statements recognize the economic, health and social benefits of trees. One of the most exciting things that has come to the attention of the committee is just how important forestry is to our local economy. SCOR, the five county economic group of Middlesex, Oxford, Elgin, Norfolk, and Brant have recognized that forestry accounts for 5,000 jobs in their catchment area. Dave

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also expressed much enthusiasm for the Brant County Woodlot Owners Association. He made clear that the County values the expertise of our group and welcomes submissions from us on how the County can increase the tree canopy on County land.

While the Tree Conservation Committee’s main work is considering requests for exceptions to the by-laws, submissions on other topics, such as increasing the tree canopy in Brant, are welcomed. The committee meets about four times per year, on Tuesday evenings, as

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needed. To be put on the agenda for a meeting, call 519-449-2451, and ask for the office of the County Clerk.

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This is an excerpt from the Eastern Ontario Model Forest Press Release on Carbon Credits for Community Forests

KEMPTVILLE, ONTARIO — The EOMF's commitment to promote the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through Improved Forest Management (IFM) Practices will help combat climate change, while contributing to the local forest economy and providing for clean drinking water, wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities.

The new partnership with Bluesource Canada, a leading developer of forest

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carbon and other Greenhouse Gas (GHG) offsets, supports EOMF's vision to promote sustainable forest management practices on private forest lands across Ontario. Aside from reducing GHG emissions through a long-term commitment of sustainable forest management, the development of carbon offsets will also result in a host of other ecosystem service benefits such as clean drinking water, wildlife habitat, and recreation. These benefits will be realized while maintaining a vibrant forest economy by continuing to provide the local mills with a supply of certified wood.

In the partnership, EOMF and

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Bluesource Canada will provide guidance to those community forests that are interested in pursuing the opportunity. They will also provide a framework for the development of forest carbon offset projects that generates economies of scale. Through the aggregation of multiple community forests, this framework will reduce project costs such as inventory and verification, allowing more money to be re-invested back into the forest.

To read more go to EOMF.ON.CA

Carbon Credits for Community Forests

A wood turner’s dream tree on Locks Rd. in Brantford