Should Ontario Update Its Forest Management Guides for Boreal and Great Lakes Landscapes?
Official title: Revisions to the Forest Management Guide for Boreal Landscapes (2014) and Forest Management Guide for Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Landscapes (2010)
Ontario wants to update two guides that tell forest managers how to protect wildlife habitat and biodiversity while logging Crown forests. The changes are mostly housekeeping—aligning with new planning rules and clarifying confusing sections. One notable shift: the Spanish Forest would move from the Great Lakes guide to the Boreal guide to better match its ecology.
Why This Matters
Love hiking, hunting, or camping in Ontario's Crown forests? These guides shape how logging companies balance timber harvesting with keeping forests healthy for wildlife. If you care about old-growth forests, moose habitat, or how logging affects the landscape you enjoy, this is your chance to weigh in.
What Could Change
Forest managers would follow updated rules for maintaining old-growth patches and wildlife corridors. The Spanish Forest region would be managed under boreal guidelines instead of Great Lakes rules. Fewer compliance requirements could speed up forest management planning.
Key Issues
- Should the Spanish Forest be moved from the Great Lakes guide to the Boreal guide?
- Do the proposed revisions adequately protect biodiversity and old-growth forests?
- Are the clarifications to guide direction helpful for forest management planning?
How to Participate
- Review the Draft Boreal Landscape Guide and Draft Great Lakes St Lawrence Landscape Guide to understand the proposed changes.
- Read the Summary of Proposed Revisions for a quick overview of what's changing and why.
- Submit your comments through the ERO consultation page or email jennifer.nielsen@ontario.ca with ERO number 025-0847 in your subject line.