Norfolk County has been named Forest Capital of Canada by the Canadian Forestry Association for the second consecutive year.
Located in Southwestern Ontario, Norfolk County is southern Ontario’s largest forested area with nearly 30% forest cover.
In 2008 Norfolk County held numerous events commemorating the region’s biodiversity and forest history. The 2008 designation coincided with the 100th anniversary of Canada’s first provincial forestry station, a tree nursery in the county at St. Williams near the north shore of Lake Erie.
"This year we are not going to do as many events as 2008. Last year there were many organizations involved that had never really worked together before, which was really enjoyable" Sommerville said. "After realizing how important that was we decided to put together a group of the major landholders in the area and form a coalition. That’s what we are working on for this year."
The coalition consists of numerous groups including the woodlot owners association which at 350 members is one of the largest in the province.
"In 2008 we opened our heritage center which features pictures from a hundred years ago that show what Norfolk looked like when all these trees were taken down and we were left with sand plains that just blew away" said Mark Sommerville, president of the Norfolk County Woodlot Owner’s Association.
"Since then St. Williams has been designated as a conservation reserve, that’s a thousand hectares of land that was basically reclaimed by the forestry station with red and white pine planted in the area."
Other events included tree plantings, forestry skills competitions, woodworking exhibits and forest field trips.
The county is also the birthplace of an amphibious steam powered tug boat called the Alligator which was returned to the water for a trip down the Lynn River in Simcoe.
"The Alligator was a tug that was used up north to pull the log booms through the lakes. It could actually pull itself over land with its thousand foot steam driven winch and would haul itself over the land and into the next lake" Sommerville said. "It was produced down here in Simcoe and we have one that was reclaimed from the French River, brought to Simcoe and rebuilt. It’s actually the only working one that we know of."◊