On October 21, United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry (SDG) council approved a plan to purchase almost 24,000 White Pines for a regenerative planting project. The county-owned site is located just northeast of Monkland.
A report to council outlined the need to regenerate the White Pine as undesirable flora and other vegetation tend to smother natural attempts at regeneration.
The report to council included estimated costs for reserving the tree stock from the Ferguson Forest Centre in advance of the 2025 budget. The cost per tree comes to $0.60, totalling $14,220 plus applicable taxes and transportation for the entire tree purchase. Cold storage space would be at Larose Forest in the United Counties of Prescott Russell.
Planting costs are expected to cost $0.55 per tree coming to between $13,000 to $15,000 before taxes. SDG is looking into funding options to help alleviate costs associated with the project.
Councillor Tony Fraser inquired why the White Pine does not self-propagate without human intervention, citing that it was unlikely to have happened between 80 and 100 years ago.
SDG Forest Coordinator Phil Duncan explained, “There is no natural regeneration on site due to competition from invasive and undesirable trees taking up the space, including Ash and invasives like Glossy Buckthorn.”
The regenerative planting initiative will plant the purchased trees in the spring of 2025 in ideal conditions. Mechanical and chemical treatment of the site was completed this year to enable the growth of the White Pines as well as reduce competition from other vegetation.
Site preparation for SDG 20/21 has been ongoing for the past two years and will help the future growth of White Pine seedlings.
