Landowners Can Purchase Trees Through New Online Portal for Spring Planting Projects
- Kate Smith
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
To encourage residents in the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) area to become part of a long legacy of local tree planting, landowners may purchase trees through an online portal.
This new online tree ordering option will make it easier to purchase trees this spring, adding to the efforts to contribute to clean air and water, reduce soil erosion, protect flood plains, enhance farmlands and create habitat and travel corridors for birds and wildlife.
“Despite the increase in tree costs, people continued to plant trees,” said Ian Jean, ABCA Forestry Specialist.
“The importance of biodiversity is widely recognised, and people today are more likely to plant a variety of trees than just one type.”
There is a long legacy of tree planting in local watersheds. Large-scale tree planting began locally during the 1950s and 1960s.
Tree cover was lower than today and there was a great public concern for topsoil erosion by wind and water. The provincial government at the time operated tree nurseries and related infrastructure, in addition to providing funds to purchase land for reforestation.
“Tree seedlings grown at the government nurseries were provided at very low cost, a few cents per tree, to landowners willing to reforest large blocks of land,” added Jean.
During the 1950s and 1960s, properties were purchased by ABCA and planted primarily with conifers, mainly White Pine, at six feet apart, or about 1,200 trees per acre.
According to Jean, during the 1970s and 1980s changes to farming saw the proportion of land in pasture decrease, row cropping increase and crop fields grow larger.
A shift to windbreak planting occurred to protect the larger fields from wind erosion.
“The ABCA tree program started around that time to fill the need for windbreak planting,” explained Jean.
According to ABCA, the provincial tree nurseries and related government tree planting ended during the 1990s, while conservation authority tree planting programs continued.
Today, ABCA region offers a wide range of trees through its spring tree planting program. Jean encourages interested landowners to visit abca.ca for the spring tree order form, or to call Jean at 519-235-2610 to discuss projects.
“We can help with project design and help you apply for funding for eligible projects,” added Jean.
According to Jean, funding programs are available in many areas for windbreaks or naturalization dependent on the type of project, location and specific program details.
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