South Nation Conservation …

South Nation Conservation (SNC), one of Ontario’s 36 Conservation Authorities, has a strong history in watershed management and leadership in applying sustainability practices, including forest management.

SNC owns and manages over 13,000 acres of lands, the majority in forests and plantations. SNC manages an additional 9,000+ acres of forests for the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (SDG). Forest Management meets or exceeds Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification on both SNC and SDG forests.

As a forest owner and manager, SNC is pleased to provide the following comments on A Blueprint for Success: Ontario’s Forest Sector Strategy DRAFT.

SNC supports the Government’s commitment to develop a forest sector strategy for Ontario that encourages economic growth. SNC urges the Ontario government to expand its strategy to include privately owned forests, in addition to Crown lands.

Eastern Ontario has lost many local forestry businesses [processors, logging contractors, and sawmills]: forcing woodlot owners to travel further distances to sell wood products (often at low prices), or leaving woodlots unharvested and unmanaged altogether.

This situation means fewer people are willing to plant and invest in woodlots.

Future projected shortages in wood and wood products, lower levels of forest cover in the region, and fewer jobs in the local economy are the result if action is not taken.

SNC, in partnership with local counties, municipalities, woodlot associations, the Eastern Ontario Model Forest, local First Nations communities, and logging contractors, would benefit from support to complete a market analysis and distribution platform for wood harvesting.

Forest owners currently market their available harvests individually. A consolidated approach is required to get wood and wood products to markets in an economically feasible way. There is an opportunity for marketing wood in Eastern Ontario by coordinating harvest tenders of Crown Land with private forests. This would allow for a cost-effective harvest by logging contractors and provides market opportunities to smaller woodlot owners who, on their own, lack sufficient supply for commercial markets. SNC is well positioned in Eastern Ontario to assist the Ontario government with coordinating wood harvest tendering.

Expanding the Strategy to include opportunities for private forest owners to explore local, domestic, and international markets for wood harvested in Eastern Ontario, especially markets relying on FSC certified wood products, would support government’s commitment to long-term health of forests while encouraging economic growth and investment in the forest industry.

Specifically, an analysis of the following would benefit Eastern Ontario:
• Hardwood timber market potential;
• Development of new markets;
• New transportation corridors (International Ports, Rail) to markets;
• Investment in existing and new Eastern Ontario mills and logging contractors;
• Opportunities to connect niche markets (e.g. local artisans and firewood);
• Opportunities to provide assistance to provincial forests to support sustainable forest
management and harvest operations; and
• Creating and online marketing platform as a model to generate additional sales and bundle
harvesting opportunities in the Region.

South Nation Conservation looks forward to opportunities to work with the Ontario government on strengthening the forestry sector in Eastern Ontario. If you have any questions regarding our comments, please contact Ronda Boutz, Team Lead, Special Projects at rboutz@nation.on.ca or 613-984-2948.