Join us for the Ontario Woodlot Association's (OWA) 32nd Annual Woodlot Tour and Conference! The 2025 annual event, co-hosted by the Lower Ottawa Valley Chapter of the OWA, will take place in Kemptville, Ontario from May 28-29, 2025, at the Kemptville Campus Education and Community Centre. Unique to this year, the conference will be held alongside the International Model Forest Network (IMFN) 2025 Global Forum. The Global Forum will attract up to 200 delegates representing over 60 Model Forests from over 30 countries around the world. 

With the OWA hosting the provincial conference and the Eastern Ontario Model Forest (EOMF) welcoming delegates from around the world for the IMFN 2025 Global Forum, this event presents an exceptional opportunity to “Act Locally... Think Globally.” With this theme, we aim to inspire local action with a global perspective. The conference will include a range of educational tour options across eastern Ontario, a banquet dinner with delegates attending the IMFN Global Forum, and an action-packed conference day featuring speakers, a trade show, and ample networking opportunities for woodlot stewards to share their knowledge, accomplishments and challenges with those from near and far.

We are pleased to announce that this year's event will once again include a trade show to showcase and celebrate local and provincial work in forestry and conservation on May 28 (evening) and May 29 (all day).

Registration opens on December 9, 2024, with the early bird rate available until February 28, 2025, 12:00 p.m. EST. Pre-registration is required to attend the event.

REGISTRATION

SPONSORSHIP

TRADE SHOW

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

AGENDA

Concurrent Tours - Wednesday, May 28th, 2025

Conference attendees have the exciting opportunity to join one of five tours, each designed to provide an up-close look at the active management of various sites across eastern Ontario by those who steward them. The tours are tailored to offer unique experiences based on learning goals, physical abilities, interests, and arrival times, allowing you to choose the tour that best suits you. Attendees will also meet and mingle with delegates from around the world attending the International Model Forest Network (IMFN) 2025 Global Forum, providing the opportunity to think globally. 

Each tour has limited capacity, so we encourage early registration to secure a spot on your preferred tour. A complimentary lunch is included with each tour as part of the registration cost.

Check-in for all tours will be at Parish Hall, Kemptville Campus. Round-trip bussing is being arranged to and from Kemptville Campus for all tours. Unless otherwise stated, bus departure times are to be determined. All tours are scheduled to return to Kemptville Campus by 4:00 p.m. for the trade show and banquet dinner. 

Please note content and times may be subject to change. To download a copy of the preliminary agenda, click here. 

Creating Resilient Forests Through Seed Collection: A Practical Hands-On Workshop

Take in a hands-on presentation about the ongoing need for genetic diversity in seed sourcing and collecting led by staff from Forest Gene Conservation Association. This workshop is planned for registrants with mobility challenges in mind.

More information coming soon!

Kemptville Campus Tour

The Kemptville Campus Tour will include a visit to the maple syrup operation, and to actively managed forest stands. Participants will also partake in a leisurely guided walk on the trail system, visiting points of interest and different forest conditions. The tour is planned to last four hours.

[ez-toggle title="Read more"]Kemptville Campus is the main venue for the 2025 International Model Forest Network Global Forum. The site itself includes 630 acres and 17 main buildings, as well as woodlands, cropland, wetland, greenspace, green houses, an agroforestry centre and maple bush, trails, and other buildings - sports facilities, residence, and catering facilities. Its natural areas are well interpreted and easily accessible for people who wish to explore and learn at their own pace. Owned by the municipality of North Grenville, the operation and maintenance of Kemptville Campus is through a not-for-profit corporation. The forests of Kemptville Campus have achieved Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) Certification through the Eastern Ontario Model Forest’s Forest Certification Program. With over half the Campus lands covered by forest, this ensures the viability and sustainability of that forest now and for the future. This certification includes both wood and maple syrup harvested from the forest. The Kemptville Campus woodlot is comprised of several forest stands, including mixed hardwood, conifer, and maple plantations.[/ez-toggle]

Limerick Forest Tour

The Limerick Forest Tour will include presentations at the Interpretive Centre, a guided walk on the 3 km Chalet Loop nature trail, which includes a 100-metre boardwalk that extends into a large wetland complex. A separate and more extensive trail network will also provide interesting forest ecosystem site visits by bus. The tour is planned to last five hours with time for a relaxed lunch, plus a one-hour round-trip bus ride to and from Kemptville.

[ez-toggle title="Read more"]The Limerick Forest is a 6092-hectare community forest, owned and managed by the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. Limerick consists of four large consolidated and numerous smaller, unconsolidated tracts of property located across the Counties. In 2010, a new Interpretive Centre was built to replace the original one-room chalet built in 1876. The new Centre was constructed with Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certified red pine logs from some of the first trees planted in Limerick Forest in 1945. The Limerick Forest itself is Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certified (FSC® C018800) through the Eastern Ontario Model Forest’s Forest (EOMF) Certification Program and is managed as an active forest as per certification guidelines. However, as the goal of Limerick Forest is not to generate a steady stream of revenue but to provide a “a wide variety of goods and services" to the residents of Leeds Grenville, a multi-use management philosophy has been adopted. This provides for a wide array of recreational opportunities, which in turn are reliant upon forest management operations aimed at ensuring the forest remains healthy and grows and develops over time.[/ez-toggle]

Ottawa Experimental Farm and Boat Tour

Visit the Central Experimental Farm, one of the capital’s most visited tourist attractions. Our tour will be led by Friends of the Central Experimental Farm. Note this tour title is subject to change.

More information coming soon!

Quinte Conservation Tour

The Quinte Conservation Tour will include visits to several actively managed forest stands where silviculture restoration, including thinning and improvement harvesting, are underway or have recently occurred, as well as sites highlighting structural diversity enhancement in conifer plantations, storm damage, examples of hardwood stand improvement, and recreational areas. The tour is planned to last four hours, with a four-hour round-trip bus ride to and from Kemptville through one of the most scenic areas of rural Ontario.

Check-in is tentatively planned for 7:00-7:15 a.m. at Parish Hall, Kemptville Campus. The tour is scheduled to depart by bus at 7:30 a.m. and will return by 4:00 p.m. for the trade show and reception. There may be an option to meet the group directly at Quinte Conservation. 

[ez-toggle title="Read more"]Quinte Conservation is a watershed based nonprofit environmental protection agency. Its services are focused on protecting people and property from the dangers of natural hazards, with focus in providing flood forecasting and low water information to municipalities and residents within its jurisdiction. Quinte Conservation’s natural boundaries include the drainage basins of the Moira, Napanee, and Salmon Rivers and all of Prince Edward County. Quinte Conservation owns over 30,000 acres of protected land, ensuring conservation and protection of overall watershed health. The forests owned and managed by the Quinte Conservation have achieved both Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certification and Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®) certification through the Eastern Ontario Model Forest. Quinte Conservation's objectives for its forest holdings include environmental protection, recreation, education, wildlife habitat and forest products.[/ez-toggle]

Day 2 - Conference and Annual Meeting - Thursday, May 29th, 2025

We are excited to welcome several forestry practitioners, experts, and landowners - many of whom are all three - to educate and inspire during the 32nd Annual Woodlot Tour and Conference. To download a copy of the preliminary agenda, click here. 

[ez-toggle title="Keynote: Barb and Eric Boysen"]Join Barb and Eric Boysen as they take you through more than a century in the life of their 200 acre woodlot near Maberly, Ontario. Follow their lands from a pristine forest just over 200 years ago that was shaped mostly by natural forces, through to the settlement, agriculture and reforestation phases shaped by humans today. With over 80 combined years of professional experience as foresters, hunters, syrup-makers, seed collectors and tree planters, benefit from their hands-on experiences managing their mixed-wood forest to achieve their primary goals to restore nature's balance, while also providing endless opportunities for physical and spiritual well-being. Adapting to climate change, invasive species and changing economic realities will be key considerations for the future.[/ez-toggle]

[ez-toggle title="Dinner Speakers: Elizabeth Holmes and Martin Streit"]During the banquet dinner, we’ll hear from Elizabeth Holmes and Martin Streit as they discuss the history and legacy of the Eastern Ontario Model Forest. Elizabeth served in various roles with the Eastern Ontario Model Forest over two decades – from summer student to General Manager – before returning to the University of Guelph to complete her PhD, where she focussed on policy mechanisms to enhance the provisioning of ecosystem services by private landowners. She now works for the Ministry of Natural Resources as a Program and Partnership Specialist, overseeing a number of partnership portfolios the Provincial Tree Marking Course. Martin is a Registered Professional Forester with thirty-nine years of experience in eastern Ontario and upstate New York. He retired from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry in 2019, and also worked with Domtar in Cornwall for 10 years. Martin has been a long-standing supporter of the Eastern Ontario Model Forest, the Ontario Woodlot Association, and Forests Ontario.[/ez-toggle]

[ez-toggle title="Woodlot Owners Panel: Jean Saint-Pierre"]Jean Saint-Pierre shares what he learned over the years since the first visit of a forestry technician to his small woodlot in Eastern Ontario, about 40 years ago. Since then, he has acquired a much larger adjacent woodlot which he uses primarily for nature observation along with maintenance work providing ample firewood to heat his home. Since retirement a decade ago, Jean has enjoyed and appreciated the fragile complexity and beauty of what makes up a forest, from the diversity of tree species along with mammals, birds, amphibians, insects, mushrooms and other life forms needed to maintain a healthy forest. Jean has learned about good forest management practices through the Franco Ontarian woodlot owners association called Boisés Est, which offers workshops and info sessions on many subjects related to good forestry practices, from the selection and transplantation of trees, the safe use of forestry equipment, the Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program (MFTIP) and other subjects of interest to woodlot owners.[/ez-toggle]

[ez-toggle title="Woodlot Owners Panel: Glenda Jones"]Thirty years ago, Glenda and Alan Jones moved to the country and bought their woodlot, with little knowledge of rural living. A sharp learning curve ensued as they studied the Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI) designation on their property, identified trees, and observed the changing seasons. They have kept a detailed diary recording climate change, bird populations, and their activities. During the panel, Glenda will describe how their woodlot and management activities have changed over time, as well as the ANSI designation on their property.[/ez-toggle]

[ez-toggle title="Professor Lenore Fahrig"]Professor Lenore Fahrig is the Chancellor's Professor of Biology and Gray Merriam Chair in Landscape Ecology at Carleton University, Ottawa. She researches the effects of roads and traffic, habitat loss, agriculture, and cities on biodiversity. A study in 2019 ranked her impact in the top 0.01% of all 7 million scientists worldwide. In 2022 she was awarded the Herzberg Gold Medal, Canada's top science prize.[/ez-toggle]

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Thank you to all of our past participants, conference sponsors, students sponsors and planning committee members over the years. We hope you will join us once again for the 32nd Annual Woodlot Tour and Conference in Kemptville, Ontario from May 28-29, 2025.

Interested in sponsoring the conference in 2025? The conference sponsorship package is available here for download.