Action taken by the Province of Ontario back in 2019 could return to cripple Renfrew County’s forestry-related revenues.
In that year (2019), Queen’s Park canceled funding for tree planting on privately owned lands.
Rob Keen, Registered Professional Forester, and CEO of Forests Ontario notes that Valley’s 20 sawmills provide work to about 22 hundred people and generate over $85 million in taxes ($42 million federally, $32 million provincially and nearly $12 million municipally as of 2019).
One reason for the area’s current prosperity is the past support for tree-planting efforts by the Province of Ontario.
The province supported tree planting on privately owned lands for well over 75 years.
Without a continuation of such a program, the local wood supply may dry up.
(Written by: Rick Stow)