Opinion For the first time in three decades Ottawa Valley forestry practices are being publicly challenged over glyphosate spraying. The uprising is growing exponentially and rattling the forest industry. The spraying is intended to reduce intra-specific competition until planted seed stock reach a “free to grow” state after about 10 …
The controversial proposal for an annual Rave Festival off Mountain View Road seven km west of Killaloe in Renfrew County has been withdrawn. Above: grounds of the Killaloe Craft and Community Fair. Photo supplied. The company Knwhere Music Festivals applied for a municipal Special Use Permit on May 6, 2025. …
While the lower Ottawa River Basin is reaching its peak recently with a risk of low level flooding in Ottawa and Gatineau, the fire risk in the Madawaska Valley was rated as moderate to high on April 29, 2025. Strong winds were partly to blame for a grass fire that …
OPINION The declining Forestry Sector The Forestry Sector has been the single largest employer in the Ottawa Valley. Several sawmills are located between Whitney and Eganville along Highway 60 in Renfrew County alone. Traditionally market demand has exceeded the regeneration rate of the forests being cut. This has led to smaller …
Background: In 1993 the author was lost near the Old Crow Nature Reserve in Algonquin Park. The story continues after he has managed to survive the first night huddled in a primitive lean-to, despite cold temperatures, rain and inadequate clothing … Above: Only a small fraction of Algonquin Park’s ancient …
Part 1: How burning sticks one at a time kept me alive Before the advent of the technology we now take for granted — like cell phones, GPS, Gortex clothing, thermal infra-red sensing and robotic drones — previous generations relied on ingenuity, instinct and experience to confront the unpredictable and …
Natural Disasters – Part 2 OPINION A great mountain burned with fire, and a third of all trees and grass burnt-up. – Revelation Ch.8 The Madawaska Valley’s winter of 2023-24 has been the driest in recorded history. Renfrew County, situated within the rain shadow of the Algonquin Dome, receives considerably …
Local residents, conservation advocates and the Ottawa River Institute (ORI) have filed a request to Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke MPP John Yakabuski to intervene with the commercial tree harvesting scheduled to commence shortly surrounding Acorn Lake – a popular local fishing and recreational destination. Above: A single pine tree frames snowshoe tracks across Acorn Lake. …
OPINION In an approaching world where there is no longer truth nor love … where the Earth is viewed as dirt, and trees as lumber … a desperate cry for justice, the last trumpet, breaks the silence of the indifferent majority. … Anonymous Society’s current reaction to inevitable disasters is denial, …
OPINION If you go for a walk in the woods today, tomorrow you could be in for a big surprise. Vast forests could be slated for clear-cutting before they even reach maturity. Above: Area clear-cut showing residual regeneration. Photo C. Huggett Going against the age-old forest sustainability principle of “harvesting …
OPINION The fight to save the Pine River in Madawaska Valley encounters a bizarre clash of values — Commercial logging has traditionally been the main threat to Canadian forests. But now other competing interests join the foray leaving conservationists baffled. “Wheresoever the carcass is; there the eagles shall be found …
OPINION Nestled north of the Wilno Hills, the hamlet of German Settlement is cloistered in a pastoral setting and dominated by a stone church. The Wilno uplands comprise of woodlots, hunt camps and the arts community. The surrounding valley is made up of hay fields, cattle raising, and hobby farms. …
