Have you considered mapping your property or wished you had a species list?
To help landowners get the stewardship information they need, the Ontario Woodlot Association is pleased to offer a new four-week course starting this fall.
Participants will learn how to:
Additional information:
The fee for the first offering of this course will be a donation. There will be a charge for all future offerings.
Each offering of the course will include four workshops in September and October 2025. Each workshop includes:
Exercises are not graded, but participants are expected to commit the required time and effort to complete this course.
Capacity is limited to 20 participants so register early before space runs out.
The online course is now full but we encourage you to join the waitlist or enroll for an in-person offering.
To join the waitlist, click "Join waitlist" and provide your information.
If space becomes available, individuals will be admitted to the course in the order of joining the waitlist. You would then be automatically enrolled in the course and notified via email.
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Workshop dates and locations:
Wed. Sept. 17, 2025 - Spearing Barn, Bethany, ON
Wed. Sept. 24, 2025 - Greenside Up Environmental Services and Contracting, Omemee, ON
Mon. Sept. 29, 2025 - Greenup Ecology Park, Peterborough, ON
Wed. Oct. 8, 2025 - Spearing Barn, Bethany, ON
Timber to Lumber – Free Hands-On Demo Day
Date: Saturday, September 20, 2025 Time: 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Location: 108–5th Concession (Somerville Concession 5), Coboconk, Ontario
Join the Kawartha Chapter of the Ontario Woodlot Association for a free, full-day event focused on small-scale woodlot equipment. Get an up-close look at chainsaws, sawmilling, and tractor skidding equipment. Instruction provided by faculty from Fleming College.
No cost to attend. Lunch included. Space is limited and registration is required.
Click here to download a larger version of the poster.
Quinte Woodland Conference
The Quinte Woodland Conference will be held on October 2, 2025, in Belleville. We’re excited to resume what was formerly known as the Trenton Woodlot Conference, continuing its 30-year legacy under a new name.
This one-day event typically welcomes around 200 participants, including rural landowners, foresters, conservationists, and naturalists—many of whom are woodlot owners from Hastings, Northumberland, Prince Edward, and Lennox & Addington Counties. Our goal is to present a balanced program that blends practical advice with science-based insights, all centered around this year’s theme: Tending Our Woodlands: The Rewards of Action.
Registration includes a hut lunch
$40.00 OWA Members
$45.00 Non-Members
Click here for a larger image of the Poster
This year’s Fall Field Day is shaping up to be an exciting “double header”! Two properties will be visited: Curtis Grey’s farm and Grant Casbourne’s woodlot. Both of these gentlemen are Directors with the Huronia Chapter and graciously offered their properties as a place to learn about forest plantings and management.
These properties are located near to each other in Oro-Medonte Township, clustered near the Bass Lake Sideroad and Line 5 North. (see attached map; road signs will be installed for the event).
Please plan to arrive around 9:00 at Curtis Grey’s farm, park your vehicle, grab a provided coffee and snack, and mingle with the others. We will officially start the day at 9:30 where we will view and discuss Curtis’s recent tree planting venture, have a demo of his Buzz-saw, and take a look at the damage caused by the ice storm.
Hot lunch will be provided(thanks to Director John Caldwell locating a caterer) by local entrepreneur Sully’s Truck Catering. As usual, Vermeer Canada Inc. will cover the costs of coffee, water and cookies. Bring your own chair! (A portable toilet will be on site.)
After lunch, we move as a group over to Grant Casbourne’s hardwood forest. It is close enough to the Grey farm that a brisk walk will get you translocated, or take a provided shuttle ride. (Note that there are no vehicle parking spaces at the Casbourne property.)
Grant had been conducting a thinning operation of his hardwoods, and had contracted a local sawyer (Cam Stevens) to mill the logs. Then the ice storm hit! Grant will share with us the good, the bad, and the rethinking of his forest management plans. (Bit of a reality check for many of us with similar dreams of a well managed woodlot.)
The Bass Lake Sideroad (BLS) is parallel to the Horseshoe Valley Road and the Old Barrie Road and about midpoint between them (see map). Aim for the intersection of BLS and Line 5 North and you will see the signs inviting you to park in Curtis’ field. A general GPS location is 2815 Line 4 North.
This is a rain-or-shine event! Dress appropriately.
For further info contact either Cutis Grey or Doug Frost (emails listed at end of this newsletter under Directors.)
Climate change is happening now with some of us already experiencing the impacts. We are all facing uncertainties as forests and ecosystems are changing due to climate change. In the face of these challenges, we have developed an instructional course focused on assessing and adapting the management of woodlots to projected climate change impacts.
We hope that through participation, landowners and forest practitioners will further develop their knowledge of potential impacts and adaptations to the unique challenges of climate change. By doing so we can work towards creating resiliency on the landscape and in society to face future uncertainties and disturbances.
The Ontario Woodlot Association and our partners at the Climate Risk Institute are proud to deliver this educational opportunity to OWA members and the public.
Course Information
Course Fees
Proof of attendance will be provided for professional development accreditation
An OWA membership is packed with value, please considering joining to have access to our many member benefits.
Student Membership - Free year with course registration Electronic Membership - $45.20 Single Membership - $56.50 Family Membership - $66.50
Student Membership - Free year with course registration
Electronic Membership - $45.20
Single Membership - $56.50
Family Membership - $66.50
All memberships are pro-rated and will be due for renewal on September 15, 2026.
For more information about Forest Climate Resilience: A Practical Course for Landowners and Practitioners please email us at: climate@ontariowoodlot.com.
Basic Chainsaw Usage Workshop
Date: Saturday, October 18, 2025 Rain Date: Saturday, October 25 Time: 9:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Location: Winkelaar Farm, 4752 Regional Rd 57, Janetville, ON
Learn the fundamentals of chainsaw safety and use in a practical, hands-on workshop led by an experienced instructor. This full-day session is ideal for beginners and anyone looking to sharpen their skills.
Cost: $50 for OWA members $75 for non-members
Bring your lunch and CSA-approved safety gear (steel toed boots, chainsaw pants, hard hat, eye protection, leather gloves, high-vis).
Register through the OWA Events Calendar: www.ontariowoodlot.com/get-involved/events
Hosted by the Kawartha Chapter in support of safe and sustainable woodlot management.
The Ontario Forest Health Review (FHR) returns this year as an in-person gathering through partnership with Natural Resources Canada, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, the Invasive Species Centre and Forests Canada.
This is annual event provides an update on the current state of Ontario's forests with experts presenting the latest information on forest health conditions, forest invasive pests, current and upcoming forest pest management programs, and the current year’s research results. The event brings together forest resource managers, foresters, ecologists, conservation authorities, pest management companies, academics, municipalities, and others interested in forest resource management.
Please visit the FHR webpage for event and agenda details, all updates will be posted here: https://forestscanada.ca/en/event/ontario-forest-health-review
Date: Thursday October 23, 2025
Location: Barrie, ON
Time: Doors opens: 9:00 am, Presentations: 10:00am- 3:00pm
Registration cost: Free. There is a capacity of 150. A waitlist will be in effect once capacity is reached
Lunch will be provided
*This is an in-person event, a static video recording will be made available after the event
Registration opens Thursday August 7th.
If you have any questions about this event, please don’t hesitate to reach out at restoration@forestscanada.ca
More details to be provided closer to the date.
Ontario Woodlot Association
10 Campus Dr., Unit 4
Kemptville, Ontario
K0G 1J0
Phone: 613-713-1525 Email: info@ontariowoodlot.com
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