Worth Repeating - Legal Rights of Forests

Bracebridge readers agree with 'legal rights of forests' | The Star

Re-Posting because it's worth repeating - Published, Muskoka Regional News/Toronto Star

Legal Rights of Trees

August 29, 2021

Letter to the Editor,

There has been a lot of interest in the news about Climate Change, how it relates to our Muskoka forests and how to protect them. Some environmental experts like Norm Yan and Peter Sale believe in the 'Legal Rights of Forests' and have said that, "People being responsible to look after the environment hasn't worked well."

My husband and I protested the clear-cutting of old-growth forest for a snowmobile trail behind our home. They went ahead and cut it anyway, saying the economic benefit was more important. After our snowmobile trail protest, the Municipality of Bracebridge enacted a tree-cutting bylaw.

But it did little good. They went ahead a year later and cut down the second largest yellow birch tree in Ontario, almost 13 feet in circumference because snowmobiles kept running into it.

See the picture. Look closely. That is Kathy hugging the tree for the last time. This tree had no rights, not when it comes to snowmobiles.

Sincerely,

Brian and Kathy Ashby

Update Regarding the 'Legal Rights of Forests'

To be considered old growth, these trees/forests are at least 120 years old or have an average tree diameter greater than 10 inches. There are many cases where yellow birches reach an age of 300 years or more, one in Algonquin Park almost 400 years old.

Old growth trees are sometimes compared to celery stalks. The celery analogy is meant to illustrate that old trees have tall thick trunks with relatively few branches, and little foliage, clustered at the top. Look at the photo again and see this.

The person to ask about how old that tree was is the person(s) who cut it down, if they have the courage to tell us how many rings they counted.

Old-growth logs fetch around $350 per cubic metre for lumber-quality logs and $700 per cubic metre for high-end grades. Who benefitted from this wood? It was ruled that it should go to the abutting landowner. (see below Tree-Cutting By-law Rule #6) That didn't happen in this case. Someone? took it for themselves.

The person to ask about how old that tree was is the person(s) who cut it down, if they have the courage to tell us how many rings they counted.

Bracebridge passed 'Tree Cutting Conditions' on Oct. 12, 1994 because we brought this issue to the public.

There were 12 rules for any snowmobile recreational use of Town owned lands on Road Allowances.

 #5 "Any mature trees located within the road allowance must be left uncut. The trail can wind around the trees left within the road allowance."

#6 "Wood that is cut must be left for the use of the abutting property owner." That was not done.

Also, #2 "An Ontario Land Surveyor must be retained to locate the centre line of the road allowance that is to be used." A local Licensed Ontario land surveyor called us with concern as he suspected the snowmobile club only used surveyor technicians. When our neighbours hiked back there we could not find any markers at the east end. When we discovered them at the west end under fallen trees, they were not what the surveyors used. It turns out the tree cutters were off by hundreds of feet at the other end.