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Concerns over Dufferin County’s forest management shared at Mono council

April 14, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS

Mono resident Donna Coulter was dismayed to see the number of trees cut in the Dufferin County Forest.

The Dufferin County Forest consists of 14 tracts that comprise 2,636 acres of forested area owned and managed by the county. It serves important roles related to soil erosion, water control, natural heritage protection, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities.

The Dufferin County Outdoor Recreation Plan also makes a point of its role in supporting the local rural economy through timber production and jobs.

Coulter told town council during its April 8 meeting that she isn’t a forester, but she is a lover of Mono’s outdoor activities. In fact, it’s why she chose to live in the area.

“Because of the multitude of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors,” she said.

The outdoor recreation plan includes a section that details 20 prohibited and permitted activities in the county forest. Forest management is one of the items referenced as an activity in the plan.

“Forest management activities will be conducted so as to minimize impacts on designated recreational trails,” the plan reads.

Coulter said she walked her dogs in the forest’s Mono tract recently and was surprised at the amount of “logging” that has taken place there.

“It felt to me when I looked at it, it looked more like logging than management in terms of forest,” she said. “It did feel like there were a lot of trees taken and a lot of damage done to the tract.”

Coulter said she isn’t confident that what she saw was the result of an effort to minimize impact to trails.

She asked if Mono has a municipal representative with the county’s outdoor recreation advisory group.

“That would be a county committee,” Mayor John Creelman said and added that he and Deputy Mayor Fred Nix are members of the upper-tier council. “We can look into that for you, get you an answer.”

Coulter asked if there are opportunities for residents to take part or provide input to the advisory committee.

“They are supposed to be a forum for discussion,” she said. “But I was not made aware in any way that this was going to take place.”

Assuming there is money made by the county from the type of forest management she encountered, Coulter asked where that money goes.

Nix said he sits on the county’s Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee. The group recently received its report from the county forester.

“Nothing is done capriciously,” Nix said.

He said it’s likely that pine trees were harvested. Typically, about 50 per cent of the trees are taken down.

“If they don’t do that at some stage, the remaining trees get unhealthy,” Nix said. “So they have to (harvest).”

And the red pine trees are sold by the county. The proceeds go back to the county and its initiatives.

“I know it looks messy,” Nix said.

He’s lived in Mono for about 50 years and he and his wife spend quite a bit of time hiking the surrounding forests. A tract on the Fourth Line was harvested about 15 years ago.

“When they logged it, it was a mess,” he said. “You go back in there now, and it’s done two things. The remaining trees are much healthier, but it’s also allowed the beech trees and the hardwoods, they’re starting to grow. It’s going to become a mixed forest.”

“I have no problem with forest management,” Coulter said. “There are areas that there’s very few trees left standing whatsoever so it feels quite barren in those spots and it starts to lose the feel of a forest.”

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