The Rural Voice, 2006-10, Page 24LEARNING FROM
FRIENDS
One of the easiest, most inexpensive places to turn
to for advice in managing your woodlot is the
woodlot association in your area
Story by Keith Roulston
Woodlot associations are an easy way to join with others to learn more about
how to make the most from your woodlot
Most young farmers these
days have been to one or
the other of Ontario's
Agriculture colleges to learn farm
management techniques. When they
need ongoing advice they can can
often turn to experts with their
suppliers. But where do you turn for
advice about managing your woodlot
for maximum efficiency?
One of the easiest and least
expensive ways to upgrade your
knowledge is the local woodlot
association. Most counties and
20 THE RURAL VOICE
regions in Midwestern Ontario have
an association to bring woodlot
owners together to share their own
experiences and hear management
experts.
Jim McLachlan of Durham, chair
of the Grey County Woodlot
Association, was one of the founders
of the group. When the group was
organized, he remembers, there were
representatives of the Ministry of
Natural Resources and the Grey
Sauble and Saugeen Conservation
Authorities on the board so there
were people with lots of technical
advice to lead woodlot tours and
other events.
The Grey Woodlot Association
holds about six events a year to bring
the woodlot industry of the county
together. In July, for instance,
Association members toured Durham
Furniture in Chesley, and in
September a barbecue was held at a
Wiarton woodlot.
One of the popular events, says
McLachlan, is a tree identification
tour such as that held at the Old
Baldy Conservation Area at
Kimberley in August. There are a
surprising number of landowners in
the county who have no background
in woodlots and need help to even
identify the tree varieties, he says.
These tours give people
information on how to manage their
woodlots. McLachlan says. Tour
leaders impart information to help
participants understand the principles
required for good management. Not
everyone wants to cut trees, of
course, and quite a few people in
Grey want to leave their, woodlots
natural and that's their choice, he
says.
On September 30, the Association
sponsored a chainsaw workshop at
McLachlan's woodlot near Durham
with a representative of a chainsaw
company demonstrating safe chain
saw use and maintenance.
The association is often the first
place woodlot owners turn for
information on woodlot management,
McLachlan says. Over the year there
have been a number of people join
for a year or so, then let their
membership lapse because they got
the information they felt they needed.
They know that the Association is
there if they need it.
Woodlot associations have already
played a part in bringing greater
awareness of the value of woodlots,
McLachlan thinks. There aren't as
many stories as there were a few
years ago about woodlot owners
being taken advantage of by
unscrupulous buyers because of their
lack of knowledge about the worth of
their trees, he says and education
programs like the Association's have
played a pan.
McLachlan is a firm believer in
the value of being a member of a
woodlot association. "It's one of