How would you like to buy 200 acres in the 8th Concession of Mulmur for $550? Or 100 acres elsewhere in the township for $25,000?

That would be impossible in the 21st century; indeed, would have been impossible in the latter part of the 20th, but that's what the County of Dufferin paid for two of the properties among the 2,596 of the county forest that it owns today.

The only problem is that the 200 acres was an early purchase, at some time around 1930. The second cited was in 1971.

Forest Manager Caroline Mach said it gets better when the purchases are fully analyzed. The Dufferin County Forest was founded in 1930, and the properties it bought were subsidized under a provincial forestry program of 1922, so county taxpayers didn't have to foot the entire bill. Not only that, but some of the lands fell into municipal ownership through tax arrears.

Why was the land so cheap, and why were there such tax arrears? Ms. Mach said the site of the forest, especially in Mulmur, is "extremely sandy." People who settled there to farm apparently had "a couple of good years," but then the fragile topsoil of the area became depleted of nutrients. Having been cultivated, the sand was exposed and began to blow away.

"They used to have to plow the sand off the roads when it drifted," she said. The only reasonable option was to reforest the affected properties.

Probably because the Ministry of Natural Resources had funded a portion of the purchases, it was responsible for management under the Forestry Act from the inception in 1930 until 1991, when it came fully under the wing of county council. Four years later, in 1995, the county hired a full-time forest manager. It was the first county in Ontario to do so.

The main tract of the county forest, on Airport Road in Mulmur, was once the site of Camp Dufferin, a facility for young offenders. Camp Dufferin has been closed for several years, and the main tract is now the scene of such as horseback riding events and other such things, along with cross-country skiing in co-operation with the Mansfield Outdoor Centre.

The forest is also a venue for various kinds of outdoor eduction, as well as a source of income from the harvesting of trees, including red and white pine and red oak, among other species.

The county owns and manages over 2,500 acres of forest in the area, centred on the 1,500-acre "Main Tract" on Airport Road.

The County Forest's recently-released annual report on activities conducted during 2005 includes a work plan for 2006. Activities planned for 2006 follow an outline given in a new operating plan for 2005-2010. In it, Ms. Mach commenting on the need for an annual report, said the nature of forestry "means that long-term planning is needed. However, a lot of things may change in the course of a 20-year plan.

"The annual report and work schedule are a way of fine tuning what has been outlined broadly in the 20-year management plan and the five-year operating plan. The annual report also serves as a tool for letting the public know what is going on in the Forest, and giving them an opportunity to comment on the County's management of the Forest."

"The annual report is an excellent way of letting Dufferin taxpayers know what the County is doing to manage the Forest on their behalf," said Darrell Keenie, Assistant Director/ General Manager of the Dufferin County Museum & Archives and Heritage Lands Department. "I hope that people will take this opportunity to learn about what is happening in the Forest."

The report will be available at all local municipal offices; the Orangeville, Shelburne, and Grand Valley public libraries; the Dufferin County Museum and Archives; and the County Court House in Orangeville. It will also be posted on the department's website at www.dufferinmuseum.co m/forest.

Residents with questions regarding either the annual report or the County Forest in general should contact Ms. Mach at 705-435-1881 or 877941-7787 or by e-mail at forestmanager@dufferinmuseum. com.