The Managed Forest Tax…

The Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program (MFTIP) is the most important program to encourage sustainable forest management of Ontario private forest lands. As a woodlot owner and a member of the Ontario Woodlot Association (OWA) the program has me focused on the importance and relevance of my woodlot to the ecological and economic sustainability of my property. Personally I have increased my woodlot from 10 acres to nearly 20 acres through reforestation and the creation of a variety of habitats for wildlife and to improve conditions for endangered species. Removal of invasive species and managing a woodlot habitat that has been ravaged by foreign diseases and pests has been a challenge. Keeping educated on woodlot issues and how to deal with them is an important process that all woodlot owners should keep up on. Too many small woodlots are neglected and left to decay and lose their ecological and economic roles due to invasive species and destructive pests and diseases. The lack of forest management by large land owners with little interest in their multiple woodlots allows the woodlot to loss its integrity and increase the spread of invasive species and pests and decrease biodiversity. Neglected woodlots then become targets of land clearing resulting in reduced forest cover in the county and defeats efforts to resist Climate Change. As a member of the Elgin Middlesex Woodlot Owners' Chapter of the OWA, we make every effort to encourage landowners to take care of their woodlots and promote using the MFTIP as a positive way to direct their forest management for profit and/or wildlife. The OWA would like to be consulted on ways to improve the program with a few suggestions to be considered: encourage more landowners to participate; encourage active management; lower the minimum qualifying area in parts of Ontario where forest cover is low; establishing a Stakeholder Advisory group, which would include the OWA at the table; requiring MFTIP participants to be a member of a forest education association such as OWA. Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.