Workshop for financial aid for tree planting

A free work­shop on tree planting will be held in Fergus at 7pm on Jan. 31 in the Aboyne Hall, at the Wellington County Muse­um.
While there is no cost, space is limited and advance regis­tration is strongly recom­mend­ed. Call Trees Ontario at 1-877-646-1193 for information and to register.
The workshop will be of most interest to landowners who would like to plant large numbers of trees. It will focus on incentive programs for planting trees, tree planting tech­niques and the Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program (MFTIP) that can reduce a land owner’s property taxes by up to 75 per cent.
Trees Ontario, the Grand River Conservation Authority, The Wellington County Green Legacy Tree Nursery, and the Wellington County Steward­ship Council are co-hosting the workshop. It is one of a series being offered in southern On­tario where there is an urgent need for more trees.
“When people learn that tree planting within the waters­hed has decreased ten-fold from a million trees a year in the 1980s to 100,000 trees a year today, they are shocked,” said Nathan Munn, a forestry specialist with the GRCA.  How­­ever, the trend is begin­ning to turn around now that landowners can use new and ex­panded sources of financial sup­port and technical informa­tion.
The GRCA has worked with landowners since 1954 and help­ed them plant 26 million trees during that time. The bene­fits of planting trees as wind­breaks, shelterbelts and buf­fers can help a farmer’s bot­tom line by raising crop yields, reducing costs for heating and cooling and cutting snow re­moval costs. 
Of course there are many environmental benefits too. Trees enhance property, reduce the environmental footprint, fight climate change and im­prove air quality, Munn said.
More information is at www.treesontario.on.ca and www.grandriver.ca in the for­es­try section.

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