Plant trees with NVCA next spring

UTOPIA, Ontario (October 3, 2023) – The Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority (NVCA) is searching for landowners looking to plant trees in the spring of 2024. Each year, NVCA’s forestry program plants around 100,000 trees for property owners in the Nottawasaga Watershed who want to convert their land into forests.

Planting trees helps to provide wildlife habitat, shade rivers and streams, produces oxygen, among many other benefits. Well managed forests also contribute to the economy by providing wood for construction and wood fiber for products such as paper.

“In the early 1900s, as settlers established communities in the Nottawasaga Watershed, they started to clear land for farming, but the topsoil quickly eroded and sand underneath was exposed,” said Rick Grillmayer, Manager of Forestry at NVCA. “Between the 1960s and early 1990s, the Province of Ontario planted millions of trees to restore our forests. Fast forward to today, NVCA is the only organization in the watershed that offers professional tree planting services.”

NVCA has a minimum requirement of 1 hectare or approximately 2 acres of planting space. All properties must be located in the Nottawasaga Watershed, landowners can use NVCA’s Interactive Data Viewer to determine where their property is located.

Thanks to funding support from Forest Ontario’s 50 Million Trees Program, the Simcoe County Tree Planting Program, and the Town of New Tecumseth Tree Planting Program, landowners may be eligible for grants for tree planting. Grant availability depends on property size and location and range between 60-88% of tree planting costs for 2024.

Properties over 4.45 hectares or 11 acres in size may be eligible for the Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program.

If you are interested in planting trees with NVCA, please contact Rick Grillmayer at rgrillmayer@nvca.on.ca or (705) 424-1479 x230. For more information on NVCA’s tree planting program, landowners can visit the NVCA website for additional details.