Simcoe County Forest ...
Not Being Protected
"For The Greater Good!"
Exact Quote From Simcoe County's Official Website
"About Simcoe Forest" 2016
"It is everyone's responsibility to protect the forests of Simcoe County so that in years to come there will still be places to experience the natural beauty and the wondrous sounds and silence of a forest.
As Premier Drury stated after having a County Forest Tract dedicated to him, "I would rather have this for a monument than a statue in Queen's Park."
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Premier Drury’s government (Ontario Premier from 1919-1923) began the first major reforestation program in North America of which Simcoe County Forest was a recipient. He was a passionate advocate for protecting our forests and wildlife.
The majority of the current County Council has voted in favour of selecting this site for this initiative, and recognize that it will need to be rezoned in order to turn this forest into an INDUSTRIAL SITE ... complete with a factory (processing waste including diapers and pet waste), a garbage transfer facility ("materials management"), and a garbage truck service area. Plus, they will need to build a massive road through the forest to handle all the trucks. The County has estimated that there will be a minimum of 32,000 times that garbage trucks and tractor trailers enter this forest every year... to start!
We take their stated responsibility to protect Simcoe County Forest very seriously and intend to fight this travesty. We believe this is as repulsive to us as it is to every other citizen
in the County, the Province of Ontario, our Nation, and the world!
A Local, Provincial, and National Treasure.
The Simcoe County Forest is one of largest municipally-owned forests in Canada - totaling over 32,000 acres. They have a justifiably proud legacy of responsible forest stewardship and forestry management practices that are the envy of forest management professionals from around the nation... and around the world.
However, what is being advocated now is going to give this kind of recognition a black eye and be a national disgrace. Imagine what the reaction would be if elected officials suggested locating a pulp and paper mill inside another forest that Ontario considers a Provincial and national treasure... Algonquin Park. Telling people that it would only use 5% of the local forest tract (as Simcoe County is saying), and that it would make all kinds of economic sense etc. would not quell the outrage and the public would fight to stop it. Telling people that they would only use a "small footprint" for a factory is not the point ... the only small footprints people want to see in the forest are those of their children and their grandchildren.
We feel compelled to fight this. It is the right thing to do. It is what we owe to our children, and our children's children.
This is our equivalent of Algonquin Park.
