At the end of the month, Creemore Nature Preserve will be closed to the public for two to four weeks for plantation thinning.
The Creemore Nature Preserve is a 204-acre property on Concession Road 6 that was donated to NCC in 1996 by the Mingay family. The forest management activities in the tree plantations, established prior to NCC’s ownership, is being undertaken to improve the overall health and biodiversity of the forest.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) says it will be removing a selection of invasive, non-native Scots pine trees, non-native Norway spruce, and unnaturally dense red pine trees.
“These activities are part of NCC’s ongoing stewardship and restoration efforts to transition the site’s unnatural, monoculture conifer plantations to a more biologically diverse and healthy deciduous forest, like those otherwise found on the majority of the Creemore Nature Preserve property. The thinning of a minority of non-native species and monoculture plantations will allow for more native tree seedlings to grow, such as maple and beech trees, thereby ensuring more habitat will be available for rare and at-risk species like the eastern wood peewee and wood thrush,” states a press release. “As plantations age, it is also important to manage the forest to keep everyone safe. Monoculture
Marked trees will be removed from Creemore Nature Preserve toward the end of the month.
tree plantations, especially those that contain invasive Scots pine, are less biologically diverse than natural, mixed forests and are more susceptible to disturbance from wind, fire and pests which can result in safety hazards for visitors and communities.”
A harvesting contractor has been hired to remove certain trees, estimated to be removed in 20-30 truckloads.
“Some of the lumber remains on site to decay naturally in the forest,” said Brianne Curry, Communications Manager for Ontario Region. “Any pieces that have any
commercial value will be processed and sold but the funds from that go back into the care and stewardship of the property over the long term.”
Previous plantation thinning took place within the preserve in the mid-2000s. Curry said three areas will be thinned during this operation, with about 30 per cent of the trees being removed from conifer plantations located near the north, east and west property boundaries.
Curry said thinning will have to be done again in the future.
“When these types of plantations were originally planted they’re not intended to be a healthy diverse forest, they are a crop,” she said. “In some cases they are planted to stabilize the soil and in other places they are planted as a future revenue source. In the case of this property… it was with the understanding with the family that these particular areas would be thinned over time as part of healthy forest management practices.”
Curry said NCC staff is monitoring the forest to see if other tree species take root when the forest is opened up. “Over time we hope to see that increase in
biodiversity,” she said.
In preparation for these plantation thinning activities,
NCC says signs were posted last December at the sign kiosk about the tree marking. A new sign will be created and installed when the work begins.