Great work on the strategy! …

Great work on the strategy! Utilizing the forests of Ontario is beneficial to the environment and the economy. The most underutilized forests in Ontario are the ones furthest from a processing facility. First Nations communities are now doing land use and forest management planning to enable the use of the forests in their area. The problem is the distance from the facilities that need them. Distance - haul cost is what drives the cost up and causes these forests to be underutilized.

I suggest that the stumpage rates for the furthest wood be adjusted to make it more attractive to harvest. This will encourage use of the developing First Nations led SFLs and the far wood sources. It will make the access to all wood more affordable and put wood to use. This is consistent with the stumpage adjustments in other jurisdictions - such as BC that sets stumpage based on the cost to acquire.