If a committee recommendation is accepted by the council, Dufferin County's tree conservation bylaw will not limit woodlot owners to six bush cords of firewood annually for their own use.

After considering recent representations to county council by several landowners who said they burn on average 10 bush cords yearly to heat their homes, the museum committee voted to remove the six-cord limit from the draft bylaw.

"They would now be able to use six or 16, as long as it's for their own use," said committee chairman John Oosterhof.

He said "own use" would not restrict the owner to firewood.

"They might want to take a log to the planning mill to replace barn board," he said as an example of other personal uses.

Woodlot owners would not require permits to cut trees for their own use. Permit fees for commercial harvesting and clearing would be $50 and $250 respectively.

The schedule of penalties for violators would remain unchanged from the draft.

For commercial harvesting, trees to be felled would have to be designated and marked by a forestry professional. Locations that have obtained permits would be posted on the county's Website.

The revised bylaw would define its purpose: "the forest conservation by-law is intended to encourage sustainable forest management practices and discourage over-harvesting; and it is recognized that most landowners are excellent stewards of their properties and have the right to make decisions regarding the use and management of their forests."

The county has jurisdiction over woodlots of one hectare (2.5 acres) or more. Smaller woodlots are subject to local municipal bylaws.

Mr. Oosterhof said the county has had a forestry bylaw since 1947, and landowners had generally demonstrated good stewardship over more than 60 years.

The problems might have begun when The Highland Companies began cutting trees, ostensibly to enhance farming operations, and a Melancthon resident complained that the county was exempting agriculture from bylaw control although there was no such exemption in the bylaw.

The complaints were presumably based in part on a belief that Highland was removing trees in preparation for a quarry.

They escalated into allegations of clear-cutting or hewing a swath through woodlots of greater than one hectare, and county council came under fire for not prosecuting on the strength of information provided by North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce.