Photos by Barry Wallace
Logging underway between 6th & 7th
For anyone who hasn't walked the Oak Ridges Trail between King's 6th and 7th Concessions for quite some time, these scenes may be very disturbing. About halfway between the two concession roads, on the south side of the popular walking trail, a logging operation is underway which stretches for several hundred metres and reaches into the forest there for about a hundred metres or more. It would appear to be a harvesting operation that has felled many trees which will be likely dragged out of the forest and trucked away. The remaining forest would seem to be intact and when in leaf, later in the spring, will probably still look like a normal, natural forest. But at the moment, the obvious aftermath of the cutting is unsettling. After taking the photos shown above and writing these comments, I have learned from David Love, who along with his wife, Ann, was the donor of the forest on the north side of the Oak Ridges Trail, and which is now known as Love Mountain, that it was the Toronto Region Conservation Authority that authorized the forest cutting. The reason? Emerald Ash Borer. The TRCA has taken a 'take no prisoners' approach to the problem and is cutting down all the Ash trees. On the north side of the trail, on Love Mountain, which is now controlled by the Nature Conservancy of Canada, the intent is to let nature take its course. David also noted to me that further north in the the Happy Valley Forest, The Region of York has been doing some limited cutting of Ash trees on property it owns and controls. It seems different solutions have become awkward solutions.
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There are lots of trees marked for removal along roadways throughout the region. Look for bright green paint often with a "R" letter. Very sad indeed.
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