Huron County is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Huron County Forests and National Forests Week in Canada.
Huron County residents and visitors are encouraged to make use of the recreational opportunities that Huron’s woodlots provide by hiking any one of the open-to-the-public tracts this fall. Warden, Glen McNeil, says we really are blessed in Huron County with fourteen forest tracts that total 16-hundred acres.
“We owe our ancestors a great amount of gratitude because, starting in 1930 and moving forward, there was an initiative to plant over two billion trees on marginal land across Southern Ontario,” said McNeil.
McNeil says that initiative was led by the province, the local community, the municipality, and the county and he says we should appreciate the foresight of those people.
“Our county forests not only are open to the public for recreational use, they also provide a safe habitat for species and bio diversity...[they provide natural] storm water...drainage and they assist in preventing flooding.”
McNeil says they also help soil protection and management of soil erosion.
This past Friday, the county unveiled a new “It Takes a Forest” billboard at the Stevenson Tract. McNeil says the billboard is visible to anyone driving by on Morrison Road. McNeil says they also unveiled a new trail at the Stevenson Tract and he urges people to take advantage of it.
McNeil adds, the vision of the people who started planting trees in 1930 is captured nicely in the old saying, A person has truly grasped the meaning of life when you plant a tree under who's shade you know you'll never sit.