- The commitment to putting…

- The commitment to putting private land forests to work is encouraging, however this will need to be backed up with action. Organizations such as Forests Ontario play a key role in this area and should be supported.
- The current discussions on Contracting out delivery of the MFTIP should be pursued carefully. While the program is currently understaffed and ill-equipped, the potential provided through external delivery provides some excellent opportunities to meet a broad suite of objectives for private land forests. Most jurisdictions in North America have extension forestry programs which serve private landowners with resources to put forests to work. Ontario as a whole would greatly benefit from such a program and the external delivery of the MFTIP program provides just that opportunity. While the Ontario Woodlot Association has been actively engaged with the government in talks on this possibility, they are a small organization that is ill-equipped to handle the delivery of the program. Organizations such as the Eastern Ontario Model Forest and Forests Ontario provide a ready, turn-key potential for this possibility.
- Operations on Crown land require a permanent solution to the duplication between the Crown Forest Sustainability Act (CFSA) and the ESA. We are pleased to see that MNRF is actively addressing this item. We hope to see this solution put in place in a timely matter to provide confidence to the local forest sector.
- Clear, simple guidance to landowners on how to continue to sustainably manage private woodlots in Species at Risk habitat within the bounds of the ESA would be beneficial.
- Increased MNRF support on stewardship and outreach, as well as information to the public on Species at Risk, forest health and forest management information would go a long way in the management of private land. Many public inquiries and requests for assistance have no avenue to turn to currently.
- General support for the forest industry on private lands, such as funding for stand improvement harvests as occurs on crown lands, or subsidies for early non-merchantable thinning of plantations, would greatly increase fiber supply to local mills and provide future timber revenues that otherwise would not occur.
- Consider a subsidy for trucking of forest products so that stands that lie outside the range of financially viable mill ranges can find markets. Other jurisdictions have done this and have seen tremendous growth in markets as a result of this small investment on behalf of government.
- Provide funding to the Ontario Professional Forests Association to be the organization with the teeth and reach that it needs to be. Most professional foresters associations in Canada and elsewhere do receive some operational funds from government and the OPFA would be able to provide the basic level of enforcement and outreach that is required if they were better equipped to do so.