The Rural Voice, 2005-07, Page 28Wetlands play an important role in acting Tike kidneys to
clean water.
Good fences, such as this one on a farm in the Saugeen
watershed, protect wetlands.
Far from worthless
While the tendency of farmers when they see a wet area of their farm is to
want to drain it, wetlands are very productive
By Anne Judd
(Photos as courtesy of Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority)
Driving by our neighbour Ron
Stewart's low-lying property,
where the water level in
spring almost reaches the shoulders
of Lake Range Road, it's easy to
think "worthless swamp". But wait a
minute...think again.
Although the pastures on this
long -held family property are grazed
now by deer instead of cattle, and the
fowl on the ponds are mallards, wood
ducks and Canada geese, you're
looking at productive land. Wet it
may be. At the right time of year, it
yields its harvest — in 2004, 20,000
board feet of white ash logs. As well
as logs sold, 3100 board feet of
lumber stayed with the owner, not to
mention the firewood from the tops.
Like any good steward, Ron is
careful about his harvest. Work in the
bush happens in late summer or early
fall so machinery travels on dry land.
"Nothing smaller than 22 inches in
diameter gets cut," he insists. In
2003, he planned to cut 30 trees, but
a severe wind storm in November
downed 38. Rather than waste them,
they were logged as well as the
marked ash.
24 THE RURAL VOICE
Even this small harvest attracted a
log buyer happy with the quality of
the wood.
Each year, Ron plants more trees
which he buys at very reasonable
cost from the Saugeen Valley •
Conservation Authority [SVCAJ.
Spreading native species in
abandoned fields, his goal is
complete forest cover within his
lifetime.
Ponds here have been developed
in partnership with Ducks Unlimited
Canada to offer landing, breeding,
and nesting space. Under the ash and
in drier pockets, sweet -budded
balsam poplars, red osier dogwood,
willows and berry thickets attract
Buffer zones along waterways help keep the water clean and run-off nutrients
on the land.