Tree bylaw sent back to committee

Largely on the view that private forest tracts should be considered in the same light as any other agricultural crop, county council has rejected the proposed Dufferin Tree Conservation bylaw, and has sent it back to committee for further review and more councillor input.

The proposed bylaw would have allowed landowners to harvest enough trees to satisfy their personal needs without a permit, but would have required a $50 permit to harvest for sale.

East Garafraxa Mayor Allen Taylor said he couldn't "be involved in supporting (the terms of the bylaw as) silvaculture should be considered a normal farm practice."

Amaranth Mayor Don MacIver said a succession of delegations to the council last month had made valid points. "The people's points were exactly valid," he said. "There are good forest managers in the county that own their own land. Tree planting is something they do regularly. People plant because they want to do it."

Mr. MacIver said he would support education but "of more concern, it's a land use issue. It should be a municipal responsibility. The county should revert back to the local municipality."

That later point might have arisen obliquely when Shelburne Mayor Ed Crewson asked committee chairman John Oosterhof, the ELGV mayor, about permit fees.

Mr. Oosterhof reiterated that the county (by provincial regulations) controls only forest tracts that are one hectare or better. In such a case, the permit fee would be "$50 per occasion if trees are for sale. If it's for their own use, go ahead," he said. In all events, the landowner would have to apply for clear cutting.

In previous meetings, it has been pointed out that local municipalities are entitled to have their own bylaws to control forest tracts of less than one hectare. In such cases, they could have the county enforce the local bylaw as well as the county's own.

The controversy over trees erupted when North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce (NDACT) accused The Highland Companies of violating the existing county bylaw by its tree cutting, among other things.

Although NDACT had sought legal action against Highland based on its findings, the county ruled that there were no grounds for prosecution.

NDACT consultant Garry Hunter had a different view in a recent interview. There would have been no need for a new tree bylaw "if the county had enforced the existing one," he said.

Now, with the proposed new bylaw destined for a new committee study, the old bylaw remains in force until it comes back to the county council table.

Nonetheless, Mono Mayor Lorie Haddock was among those who seemed to feel the proposed bylaw was too onerous. "Staff spent a lot of time but for the wrong reasons. A bylaw with all these conditions is totally wrong," she said.