Welcome to the Halton-Peel Woodlands and Wildlife Stewardship / Intendance des boisés et de la faune de Halton-Peel council Home Webpage

Promoting stewardship of land, forest, water and wildlife within Halton and Peel

Contact Information:

Greg Bales, Stewardship Coordinator

Halton-Peel Woodlands and Wildlife Stewardship (HPWWS)

c/o Ministry of Natural Resources

50 Bloomington Road West

Aurora, ON, L4G 0L8

Tel: 905 713-7410,

Fax: 905 713-7361,

Email: greg.bales@ontario.ca

Our HPWWS council website has a lot of good information for you to look over and visit. Have a look below on this home page at our Stewardship Newsletter we publish biannually on various stewardship issues, and find out more about invasive species that are threatening our forests through our lack of awareness of these threats including the emerald ash borer and the butternut canker.

Please also be sure to go to the Resources, Networking, and Who We Are drop down tabs near the top of our council's Home Page.

In the Resources tab you will find the Tools section that list stewardship links to a variety of topics that may interest private landowners. These topics include; wind generation, butternut tree recovery, plant pollinators, source water protection and how to manage wild ginseng in your forest, plus where to find assistance in locating a forester to manage your woodlot or help you plant trees on your property.

Click Here to visit the main Ontario Stewardship Program Home Page where you can access links to other Ontario Stewardship Councils and learn more about the Ontario Stewardship Program

Click Here to see a list of Stewardship Councils and Coordinators in the province

Butternut Monitoring and Conservation Program

The butternut tree (Juglans cinerea) is a nut-bearing tree that grows in eastern North America. The butternut is in danger of disappearing due to a fungal disease commonly called butternut canker (Sirococcus clavigignenti-juglandacearum). The fungus can infect and kill healthy trees of all ages and sizes as well as stressed or injured trees. The disease has been found in ninety percent of the examined butternuts in Ontario. Landowners have been critical in the butternut monitoring and recovery program. If you think you have a butternut tree on your property, and would like to get involved in the recovery efforts, please contact the appropriate representative that can be found in Simcoe, Dufferin County, York, Halton, Peel Region or contact the Forest Gene Conservation Association for other parts of southern Ontario. Click Here to learn more about the recovery efforts for butternut.

The 'Caring for the Moraine' Project (CMP) a major project launched on the Oak Ridges Moraine to encourage landowner participation in conservation efforts. Click Here

Click Here Stewardship Newsletter: Volume 1, Issue 1, information on stewardship programs, projects, and resource management issues Welcome to the first issue of the Stewardship Newsletter that will provide practical information to landowners both on and off the Oak Ridges Moraine (ORM). This newsletter has received funding support, in part, from the Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation (ORMF) and the Ontario Stewardship Councils found across the ORM who along with other stewardship partners, are collaborating in the 'Caring for the Moraine' Project.

Click Here Stewardship Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 2

CLICK HERE: Stewardship Newsletter Volume 2, Issue 1

CLICK HERE: Stewardship Newsletter Volume 2, Issue 2

Threats to our Forests: Ontario's forests are vulnerable to a range of native and non-native insects or pests such as the emerald ash borer, Asian long-horned beetle and other pests. Find out more by reading the following Forest Health Alerts.

Invasive Species - Forest Health Alerts:

Asian long-horned beetle (adult beetle shown in the picture to the left)

Emerald ash borer

Pine shoot beetle

Sirex woodwasp

Dog-strangling vine

Native Insects and Diseases:

Hickory bark beetle

Jack pine budworm

Landowner Guides to Invasive Species in your Forests

• When invasive species threaten your woodlot, More information?

• A landowner's guide for woodlots threatened by emerald ash borer, More Information?

• New tool to fight Emerald ash borer, More Information?

Invasive species are a threat to Ontario's forests - See how you can help us keep them out! Don"t Move Firewood: to see why Click Here

Red Pine Pocket (Stand) Decline

Over the past several years there has been increasing amounts of decline and death of trees in red pine plantations found in Community Forests across southern Ontario. Many red pine trees planted in the 1920s to stabilize the eroding, sandy soils have this forest health problem, known as red pine decline. Stands of red pine found in York, Durham, and Peel Region and Simcoe, Dufferin, Northumberland Counties are affected by this tree decline. Red pine decline occurs when the root systems of red pine are infected with root rotting fungi. Several environmental factors including drought conditions and the poor soil quality (sand) have weakened the red pine allowing the root rotting fungi to become established. For more information go to The Forestry Research Partnership website at

http://www.forestresearch.ca/Projects/Sustain/140-403.html

Ontario's Cosmetic Pesticides Ban

What All Landowners Need to Know to Protect Natural Resources

This an excerpt from this Fact Sheet, Click Here for the complete text

Exception to Manage Natural Resources

Landowners may apply to the appropriate Director at the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) to receive a written opinion that states a Class 9 pesticide use is necessary to protect a natural resource. This written opinion must state that the purpose for which of the pesticide will be used is one of the following:

• To control an invasive species that may be detrimental to the health of a person, the environment or the economy of Ontario

• To benefit a species of plant or animal native to Ontario, through the protection of the species habitat, or the establishment, restoration or management of the species habitat

• To protect or restore a rare ecosystem or its components.

For More information about the cosmetic pesticides ban for cosmetic use go to go to http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/en/land/pesticides/index.php