Forestry on Crown Lands in Frontenac County

by Matthew Mertins, RPF

Logging in Plevna , © Meghan Balogh

The Crown forests of Ontario provide endless social, economic and environmental benefits to the people of Ontario. These forests are located on land owned by the government and managed for the people of Ontario to enjoy and benefit from. Over 75,000 hectares of Ontario’s Crown forests lie within the boundaries of Frontenac County and range from small isolated parcels to large continuous areas many kilometres across. The majority of Crown forests are located within the central and northern parts of the county and include some of the most remote and unsettled areas of Frontenac County.

The area is geologically controlled by the Canadian Shield and is covered in a diverse mixture of hardwood and conifer forest. Due to the shield topography; lakes, streams, wetlands and rolling hills are common, making it one of the most ecologically diverse areas in Canada due to its southern locale. Many of the most highly valued forest areas in the County have been set aside as parks or conservation reserves (such as Frontenac Park) to ensure their protection for future generations.

The forests of Frontenac County are considered a transition between the Carolinian forest and the northern boreal forest referred to as the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Lowland Forest. The most common tree species in the forest are: hard maple, American beech, soft maple, ironwood, white pine, red pine, poplar, white birch, red oak, white cedar and hemlock. Many other tree species may be found here in scattered occurrences.

The forest industry has relied on these forests for its existence for many generations (dating back as far as the square timber era) and the forest continues to support a vibrant industry today. The most common wood products that are made from Frontenac County’s forest continue to be traditional forest products such as sawlogs, pulp and paper, veneer and personal fuelwood. Many area mills continue to be small family owned businesses that have been around for generations and employ local people. Personal fuelwood is often delivered directly from Crown land harvest blocks to peoples’ homes as an alternative way of heating rather than by using conventional methods such as heating oil. Many changes are currently being experienced by the forest industry with new uses for forest products, such as wood pellets, emerging as world demands on forest products change.

Crown forests in Frontenac County are managed using three silviculture systems. The three silviculture systems are: selection, shelterwood and clearcut. On Frontenac County Crown lands, selection and shelterwood silviculture are each applied approximately 40 per cent of the time, with clearcutting making up the remaining 20 per cent of the harvest.

Selection silviculture is suited for shade tolerant hardwood forests and forest stands dominated by eastern hemlock. Selection involves treemarking individual tree stems for harvest with the objective of improving tree quality and stand structure while maintaining important wildlife habitat features, such as cavity trees and mast trees (trees such as oak which produce nuts that wildlife depend on for food).
Shelterwood silviculture is practiced in forest stands that contain a sufficient amount of tree species that are mid-tolerant of shade.

Species such as white pine and red oak are often managed this way by harvesting the stand in three or four progressive harvests while establishing seedlings in the lightly shaded conditions. The final removal of overstory trees is ready when seedlings are established well enough to grow in full sunlight.

The third silviculture system that is implemented on Crown land in Frontenac County is the clearcut silviculture system. This silviculture system is best suited for tree species that are intolerant of shade such as poplar, white birch, red maple, red pine or white spruce. The objective of the clearcut silviculture system is to create full sunlight conditions on the ground for the establishment of trees that are intolerant of shady conditions. Some trees are maintained in the clearcut as seed trees to help provide a seed source for regeneration as well as for the maintenance of wildlife habitat. Tree planting is a commonly prescribed treatment in the clearcut silviculture system.

Forestry activities on Crown lands in Frontenac County are carried out by Mazinaw-Lanark Forest Inc. in cooperation with the Ministry of Natural Resources. Mazinaw-Lanark Forest Inc. is fully owned and funded by a group of five sawmills, one pulp mill and an association of 14 independent logging companies. Mazinaw-Lanark Forest Inc. maintains a Sustainable Forest Licence permitted through Ontario Legislation called the Crown Forest Sustainability Act. In accordance with the Act, Mazinaw-Lanark Forest Inc. is required to prepare a forest management plan that follows Ontario’s applicable forest management manuals. The forest management plan covers a 10-year period which is split up into two five-year terms. After the first five-year term the plan is reviewed and updated to confirm that the planning direction originally set out is still applicable for the second five-year term.

The primary objective of forest management planning is to ensure the long-term health of forest ecosystems. Within the forest management plan a number of objectives are developed for forest cover, wildlife habitat, wood supply and the protection of forest values identified through the planning process. Strategic level planning is done to find a balance among all of these objectives with the help of a forest modelling tool, referred to as the Strategic Forest Management Model (SFMM). The model is used to help find the balanced solution that meets the desired level for each of the objectives developed for the plan. The SFMM allows for the input of information to represent forest growth, yield, natural disturbances, wildlife habitat and harvest volume, then tries to maximize the objectives based on the information given to the model. A key output of the SFMM is the level of operations such as harvesting, site preparation, tree planting and tending that are required in order to meet the objectives of the plan. The level of sustainable harvest is referred to as the annual Allowable Harvest Area (AHA) which is the maximum amount of harvest that can be sustained by a given land base and still meet all of the desired forest objectives.
Compliance and monitoring is completed throughout the implementation of the plan by both Mazinaw-Lanark Forest Inc. and the Ministry of Natural Resources and an annual report of completed operations is produced. The annual report compares the operations carried out during the fiscal year to what was planned for implementation during the forest management plan in order to meet the plan objectives.

Crown land forests in Frontenac County managed by Mazinaw-Lanark Forest Inc. and the Ministry of Natural Resources continue to support a strong and vibrant forest industry. These forests found throughout the county (but mostly in the north) provide excellent opportunities for recreational activities such as hunting, fishing, camping, bird watching or simply a place to escape for a drive on a back-country road. The Crown forests of Frontenac County are an excellent place to work and an even better place to play. ■

Matt Mertins attended Lakehead University in Thunder Bay where he graduated in 2005 with an Honours Bachelor of Science in Forestry degree and is now a Registered Professional Forester with the Ontario Professional Foresters Association. In his short career he has worked in three Canadian Provinces in the Forest Industry and for various Non-governmental Organizations as well as with the Ontario Public Service. He currently works for Mazinaw-Lanark Forest Inc., located in Cloyne where he is developing the 2011-2021 Forest Management Plan as the Plan Author. In his spare time, Matt enjoys exploring the Frontenac County backcountry by canoe as well as fishing and camping.