The St. Clair Region Conservation Authority (SCRCA) continues to operate its annual tree planting program in 2022 and is currently accepting tree orders for the upcoming planting season. Since 1980, the Authority has assisted rural landowners with ordering trees, tree planting services, and controlling weed competition around newly planted trees.

In the beginning, the SCRCA’s tree planting program focused on restoring forests and habitat on their newly established Conservation Areas with the majority of plantings completed by local volunteers and community groups such as Scouts Canada. There was a provincial tree nursery in St. Williams, Ontario that supplied Conservation Authorities and rural landowners throughout southwestern Ontario with high-quality tree seedlings for a nominal fee. This resulted in landowners and conservation groups planting millions of trees each year, adding much-needed farm windbreaks and green cover to marginal lands in southern Ontario. In 2021, the SCRCA celebrated its 60^th anniversary with a small event on National Tree Day to celebrate a significant milestone – the planting of 4 million trees throughout the St. Clair Region watershed.

Tree planting at the SCRCA continues today with the help of several private tree nurseries that specialize in seedling stock trees.

“The tree seedlings produced today are much hardier seedling stock compared to 20 years ago,” said Steve Shaw, Manager of Conservation Services at the SCRCA, “All of our coniferous (evergreen) trees are produced and sold as transplanted seedlings that will tolerate many of the harsh site conditions and extreme weather we experience today. Landowners are also getting a thicker caliper tree with a more developed root system which provides a higher survival rate than before.” There are also numerous deciduous (broad-leaved) tree species grown from seeds collected from native trees in the St. Clair Region every fall.

The SCRCA has approximately 10% forest cover on average throughout its watershed. According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, that figure is too low to sustain the health of a watershed. The SCRCA plants approximately 60,000 trees each year in addition to the thousands of trees ordered by landowners who purchase and plant trees on their own. Conservation Authorities also have access to several federal and provincial grant programs to assist landowners who are interested in having the Conservation Authority plant windbreaks to prevent soil loss and improve crop yields, establish buffer strips to protect watercourses, and establish tree plantations to create habitat in marginal areas.  “These financial incentives make tree planting projects very affordable for landowners,” said Shaw.

“Over the past two years, many of our watershed residents discovered the forested trails in our local conservation areas,” added Shaw, “The mature trees along these trails are there for people to enjoy because of the thousands of tree seedlings we planted many years ago.”

The SCRCA is currently accepting tree orders until March 25^th for the 2022 spring planting season. Funding for eligible conservation projects is still available to help offset the costs to landowners. Tree orders can be made online at https://shop.scrca.on.ca/order-trees/.

Why Are Trees Important?

• • Trees clean the air by filtering out pollutants and providing us with oxygen.
  • Trees stabilize soil, reducing erosion and improving local water quality.
  • Trees remove carbon from the atmosphere, counteracting the effect of greenhouse gases.
  • Trees act like sponges and help regulate stream flows and protect the land from drought in the summer.
  • Trees beautify the landscape and increase property value.
  • Trees provide habitat for wildlife.
  • Trees help improve environmental health and help fight against the impacts of climate change.