Branchton Forest

The Regional Municipality of Waterloo Community Fund Environmental Grant provided in 2020 for two phases of work in the Branchton Village Land Trust forest in Branchton, North Dumfries Township. The Grant was for $2500.00

The first phase involved remedial forestry work, largely to lay down dangerous trees. This first phase was conducted by Martin Forestry on May 19, 2020. This work consisted of cutting down two large trees that had damaged trunks and were dangerous to adjacent properties. Both of these were downed and blocked into smaller pieces.

The second pahse consisted of the laying down of 25 broken and leaning trees throughout the forest. This was also done. In all cases the cut trees were left to rot in the forest. The work noticed about 25 large dead ashes that have been killed by the Emerald Ash beetle. Many will fall down on their own; but some may become hung up. These will be watched carefully, and we expect we may need financial help to deal with those dead trees in future years.

The third phase involved the physical removal of Garlic Mustard plants.

The Board of the Branchton Village Land Trust is very appreciative to the Region of Waterloo for the grant that enabled this management work to be undertaken.

Introduction

This short note is designed to inform the citizens of Branchton of the ongoing affairs of the Branchton Village Land Trust. Our major message is to remind folks that dumping in the forest and construction of any structure in the forest are not allowed. Trespassing is not permitted as the land trust does not carry liability insurance.

Short History

Starting in the early 1990s, a group of Branchton citizens raised the issue of the long-term conservation of the lovely upland forest that abuts many houses in the Village of Branchton. When the Township of North Dumfries turned down Jack Hessler’s offer of donating the woods to the Township as parkland, during the planning of the Branchton Meadows subdivision, a group was formed to buy the land for conservation purposes. The Branchton Village Land Trust was created as a non-profit corporation expressly for the conservation of this forest. Money was raised from a variety of sources and the land purchase by the Trust took place on June 30, 1996.

Current Members of the Board

The Branchton Village Land Trust currently has five members on the Board of Directors. This includes Jim Voll (519-624-0066), Paul Eagles (519-740-1590), Mark Mitchell (519-622-4354), Robert Eagles (519-880-1413), and Gerald Austin (519-623-8123). Four live in Branchton, and one in Waterloo. We have one opening on the board and would welcome your involvement. If you are interested let the board know.

Forest Composition

The property contains an excellent oak-hickory forest. The woods are on a rounded hill. The forest canopy is dominated by Red, Black, Bur, and White Oak, Sassafras, Shagbark and Bitternut Hickory, Black Cherry, Red Maple, White Pine, Black Walnut, White Elm, White Birch and Hornbeam. The forest is an ancient forest, meaning it has never been cleared and regrown. It has been forest for at least 10,000 years. On the north side, the trees are the largest; due to having only been cut once. Those giant Black Oaks there are well over 100 years old.

The warmer southern slope contains the largest Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) grove and the largest individual Sassafras tree in the Region of Waterloo. It is also the most northerly stand of this species in Canada. The largest Shadbush (Amelanchier canadensis) in the Waterloo Region grows along the north edge of the woods. The species composition is variable with the southern slopes of the hill having Carolinian species, and the north-facing slopes having cooler-adapted, northern maples and elms. The tree DBH varies from 25 to 80 cm. Logging last occurred approximately in the southern portion over 50 years ago. There has been sufficient time since logging for the forest to grow back to a mature structure. The ground cover in the spring is dominated by a spectacular stand of thousands of White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum). A species-rich assemblage of spring ephemeral wildflowers attests to the fact that the woods has never been cleared and has not been badly affected by cattle grazing. The shrub layer is compete and dominated by Round-leaved Dogwood, Poison Ivy and Maple-leaved Viburnum. The herb layer has extensive stands of spring ephemeral wildflowers of many species.

The forest also has an excellent community of birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles. There are five species of woodpeckers annually, including: Red-bellied, Hairy, Downy, Pileated and Flicker.

The forest is designated in the Official Plans of the Region of Waterloo and Township of North Dumfries as part of an Environmentally Sensitive Policy Area.

A full inventory of the forest can be found on the Trust’s website.

The land trust ownership is about 3.5 hectares, 8 acres, in size.

Management Goals for the Forest

This is a highly valuable Carolinian Forest. The overall goal of management is to keep the forest as natural as possible, with nature allowed to take its’ course. Natural forest recycling of dead plant material is allowed to occur.

The forest will not be logged. Wherever possible introduced, invasive plants will be removed.

No construction of any type is planned or allowed. No poisons, herbicides or insecticides, are applied. No damaging human activities, such as encroachment, are allowed.

Management Issues

The board has several ongoing management issues that are being addressed.

Municipal land tax occurs on the property. At present, the Province of Ontario is paying the land tax directly to the Township of North Dumfries through the Conservation Land Tax Incentive Program administered by the Ministry of Natural Resources. A board member applies for this grant each year. We hope this program continues into the indefinite future.

Elms, American and White, and ashes, White and Green, are dying in the forest due to introduced, foreign diseases. This is very unfortunate and the only viable management response is to cut down dead and dangerous trees. We are very fortunate that the Oak wilt fungus disease that occurs in the USA has not reached into Canada.

There are some problems with encroachment by some adjacent land owners. This involves the placement of garbage, garden clippings, construction waste, and garden plantings onto Land Trust property. Whenever this is discovered, those responsible are asked to remove the waste. The Board annually does a forest clean up to remove garbage. Some people ask if play structures can be constructed in the woods. The answer is no. If one was allowed they would soon proliferate.

The Board cannot afford liability insurance, so the policy is one of no trespassing.

Current Activities

Upon application by the Board in 2019, the Region of Waterloo has recently approved a small grant through the Community Environment Fund. These funds are dedicated for two purposes. One is to cut down dangerous trees. We have several trees that are damaged and may fall on neighboring properties. These trees will be cut down and left on the forest floor to rot over time. The other is to remove invasive plant species, most specifically Garlic Mustard. This invasive herb produces a poison that kills soil fungi that assist with soil nutrient uptake of many forest plants. Thus over time, it kills those plants. The timing of implementing these activities will be determined by government shutdown policies. These policies may allow the cutting of dangerous trees.

The Branchton Village Land Trust has a website: https://branchtonlandtrust.webs.com/

Future

The board is encouraged by the strong support received from the Branchton Community over the years. Our long term goal is to make sure that this significant Carolinian Forest continues to retain its important environmental values long into the future. If you have any questions just ask a board member.

St. George Lance, Thursday June 26, 1997

BRANCHTON — A special ceremony was recently held to dedicate a remnant of Carolinian forest to conservation.

Thanks to the foresight of the local community, a nine-acre (three-hectare) site in Branchton now known as Branchton Village Woods, has been preserved. The property was purchased in January by the Branchton Village Land Trust, composed of members of the local community.

The Branchton Village Land Trust is a private charity dedicated to preserving the landscape, ecology and native wildlife in the Branchton area. "Our group realized the importance of protecting and preserving this small remnant of Carolinian forest because of the many varieties and rarity of some species of vegetation and wildlife found within," says James Voll, President of the Trust. "This none-acre forested woodlot is situated in the centre of the village and greatly enhances the beauty of the village. It is our hope that the forest continues to flourish over time and that all residents, young and old, continue to enjoy and learn from it."

The Branchton Village Woods is adjacent to a provincially significant Class 1 wetland and is part of the Branchton Swamp Forest complex, a regionally significant environmentally sensitive area. The woods is an excellent example of an oak-hickory forest with the largest documented stand of Sassafras and the largest individual Sassafras tree in the region of Waterloo. The forest provides habitat for a wide variety of breeding birds including the Scarlet Tanager, Wood Thrust, Red¬headed Woodpecker and the Yellow-throated Vireo.

The property was purchased by the land trust thanks to the generous financial contributions made by Jack and Mary-Lou Hessler, the Ontario Heritage Foundation (OHF), Canada Trust's Friends of the Environment Foundation, the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the residents of the village of Branchton.

Joanna Bedard, Chair of the OHF says, 'This community successfully took on a very ambitious project. We applaud all of the individuals and groups who stepped forward to protect this significant woodland.

Future generations will continue to benefit from the beauty of the property and foresight of these local stewards."

"Protecting the environment begins in our own backyards and the Friends of the Environment Foundation is delighted to assist in the preservation of this significant piece of Carolinian forest history," says Paul Morris, Cambridge Chapter Secretary for the Friends of the Environment Foundation.

Through the Nature Conservancy of Canada's Community Forest Conservancy Program, funded by the Richard Ivey Foundation, the Conservancy assisted the land trust in the negotiations to purchase the property and provided legal and other advice. An interest-free loan was provided to the Branchton Land Trust by the Conservancy which enabled the land trust to close the deal.

'The Branchton Village Land Trust and the other contributors should be praised for securing this remnant Carolinian forest for the people of Branchton and Ontario," says Elva Kyle, Chair of the Nature Conservancy of Canada. "The protection of this property is significant since one-third of all of Canada's rare, threatened or endangered species are found in the Carolinian zone. The dedication celebrates the protection of this area which present and future generations will be able to enjoy as a place to learn, to teach and to wonder."

Since its formation in 1962, the Nature Conservancy of Canada has worked with individuals, corporations, foundations and governments to protect more than 1.2 million acres (490,000 hectares) of prime wildlife habitat across the country.

The Branchton Village Land Trust received a grant from The Region of Waterloo Environmental Stewardship Fund in 2015. The money was used to bring down dangerous, dead trees. After the ice storm of late 2014, there were many brokend and leaning trees in the forest. These created a danger to anyone in the forest. The grant enabled the Land Trust to hire a forestry company to cut down the trees. The wood was left on the ground to decompose naturally.

Message from the President

October 31, 2011

The objectives of the land trust are to ensure thepreservation of the land, forest, animal and plant life found within the nineacres of the forest lands. We also wanted to ensure the lands were nevercommercially logged. With the newly produced “Branchton Village Land TrustBotanical Report”, we now know just how significant this parcel of land is andare proud to have protected it during this time.

It should also be noted that wildlife has flourished withinthe woods. Deer, wild turkeys and a large variety of birds amongst others, maketheir home in the forest.

For us, as residents and homeowners, it is nice to know thatstudies dealing with real estate values, properties, not just those abuttingsuch forested lands, are significantly more valuable when they are near this type of land feature.

However, with the responsibility of managing the Trust comesthe function of protecting the forest from encroachments, dumping, hunting andtrespassing. Twice each year we walk the forest to pick up garbage andneighbour’s garden clippings. We do not appreciate the dumping but, more over,the clippings interfere with the natural vegetation as they re-seed and grow.The no trespassing notices on the land is a necessity for the Trust and its Directors to enforce, as we do not want to see anyone be injured or place any undue liability on the Trust and Directors. While we have always had this policy, we will be posting NO TRESSPASSING signs in the fall of 2011.

The good news is that anyone wishing a tour of the woods cancontact Dr. Paul Eagles. He would be more than happy to accommodate where andwhen possible. Another good way to see the woods is to help us clean up the woods when we do our spring and fall cleanup. We would welcome your help.

Thank You

James Voll

President

Branchton Village Land Trust

The Branchton Village Land Trust Website was launched September 5, 2011.

A. Background to Application

 

The village of Branchton is in the Township of North Dumfries in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. The village is located in the southern portion of the county, very close the northern boundary of Brant County (Figure 1). West of the village is the large Branchton Swamp Forest, an area of upland and lowland forest extending from the village westward to the Grand River, a distance of 5 kilometres (Figure 2). This large, natural area is highly valued by the majority of people who live in Branchton.

 

In 1994 the Township of North Dumfries approved an 18-lot subdivision (Figure 3 and 4) proposed by Mr. Hans Hessler of Branchton Meadows Ltd. The 9.149 hectare developable area is immediately south of the village and south of an upland portion of the Branchton Swamp Forest. The area for development is shown by a black dot, and labelled Subject Lands, on Figure 2. Existing housing is now found to the east and to the north of the portion of the Branchton Swamp Forest that is the subject of this proposal. During the approval process, the developer offered to give a 3.64 hectare portion of forest, an upland woods, to the Township to fulfill the parkland dedication of the Planning Act. His donation was considerably larger than required by Section 41(1) of the Planning Act, which requires a 5% dedication (5% of 9.149 hectares is .457 hectare). As is their right under Section 41(6), the Township opted to take money instead of taking the land.

 

Many members of the village were concerned about the action by the Township to take money instead of land. However, a political resolution of the problem could not be obtained. The villagers therefore decided that best option would be to create a land trust and to buy the land. They approached Mr. Hessler who agreed to sell the Trust the same lands he had offered to the Township. This resulted in the formation of the Branchton Village Land Trust (Appendix 1). The Branchton Village Land Trust By Laws are attached to this application (Appendix 2). A formal offer to purchase the land was presented to the present owner. A copy of this Option to Purchase is attached to this application (Appendix 3).The Trust does not currently hold any land or have any options on other land.

 

B. Overview of the Property

 

The Branchton Swamp Forest is a large, forested complex. It contains upland Carolinian forest, pine plantation and wetland. It is the headwaters of a small creek that flows westward from the swamp to the Grand River. This area was first recognized to be significant by Fred H. Montgomery, who collected Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) in an area he called a woods “near Branchton” on July 12, 1942. Interestingly, the exact location of these Sassafras trees were not known by naturalists in the area until August 1985, when a stand of about 40 trees were found along the sunny southern edge of the Branchton Forest by Paul Eagles. The 1942 finding was the second record for this species in Waterloo County, after Thomas Herriott’s previous finding in the Grand River Valley south of Galt on May 20, 1893. Subsequent to1942 two more stations were found in the Region of Waterloo, and all four stations are all still extant.

 

Appendix 4 contains background information on Sassafras from Fox and Soper’s famous 1952 paper on Carolinian trees and shrubs. Appendix 5 contains a photocopy of page 62 of Montgomery’s Master’s thesis, presenting the current information on Sassafras in Waterloo County in 1945. Fox and Soper’s paper shows that the Waterloo stations are at the very northern edge of the distribution of this species in Canada. The Branchton grove of Sassafras trees, known locally as the Herriott grove, is one of only 4 stands of this species in the Waterloo Region and is probably the best quality northern stand in Canada.

 

In 1974 and 1975 an extensive inventory of Environmentally Sensitive Areas was undertaken across all of the recently established Region of Waterloo. These inventories identified the boundaries of a large wetland and upland forest complex in the Branchton area and called it the Branchton Swamp and Woods. In 1975 the first Official Plan of the Region of Waterloo designated the swamp forest as Regional Environmentally Sensitive Policy Area number 67. The Township of North Dumfries subsequently followed suit with a similar designation in its Official Plan. A copy of the technical report from two Regional ESA Studies is in Appendix 6.

 

In 1986 the Ministry of Natural Resources declared the wetland part of the ESA to be a Class 1 wetland (Appendix 7), giving a portion of the ESA protection under the Ontario wetlands policy.

 

Therefore, the local environment has been studied by earlier botanists, for official plan inventories, for wetland inventories, and in environmental impact statements associated with proposed developments. In addition Paul Eagles, a Biologist, lives in Branchton and has kept personal records of the site for 8 years. Therefore a relatively complete environmental inventory of the Branchton Swamp and Woods ESA is available. A partial inventory of plants found in the entire ESA as reported in the environmental impact statement for the subdivision is found in Appendix 8. All of the data are in the files of the Branchton Village Land Trust and are available to the Ontario Heritage Foundation, if needed.

 

The 1985 Regional ESA Study describes the Branchton Swamp and Woods ESA as follows:

 

This area is a large expanse of mixed wetland forest communities in various combinations of cedar, tamarack, aspen and white pine. There are open marshy sections as well as drier upland habitat (prairies and excellent oak-hickory forest). Pine plantation also occurs. Most significant are cleared embankments along the railroad right-of-way and clearings within the upland forest sections. Prairie plant species have colonized these areas.

 

The area proposed for purchase is one of the excellent oak-hickory forest elements referred to in the ESA report. The woods are on a rounded hill. The forest canopy is dominated by Red, Black, Bur and White Oak, Sassafras, Shagbark and Bitternut Hickory, Black Cherry, Red Maple, White Pine, Butternut, Black Walnut, White Elm, White Birch and Hornbeam. On the warm southern slopes it contains the largest Sassafras grove and the largest individual Sassafras tree in the Region of Waterloo. The largest Shadbush (Amelanchier canadensis) in the Waterloo Region grows along the north edge of the woods. The species composition is variable with the southern slopes of the hill having Carolinian species, and the north-facing slopes having cooler-adapted maples and elms. The tree DBH varies from 25 to 60 cm. Logging last occurred approximately 40 years ago. There has been sufficient time since logging for the forest to grow back to a semi-mature structure. The ground cover in the spring is dominated by a spectacular stand of thousands of White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum). A species-rich assemblage of spring ephemeral wildflowers attests to the fact that the woods has never been cleared and has not been affected by grazing. The shrub layer is compete and dominated by Round-leaved Dogwood, Poison Ivy and Maple-leaved Viburnum. The forest has a complete vertical stratification, again indicative of the lack of grazing.

 

The forest to be purchased has a rich assortment of breeding birds. The most significant include: Scarlet Tanager, Wood Thrush, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Red-headed Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker and Yellow-throated Vireo. Scarlet Tanager bred in 1994. This record is particularly significant because this species is forest size sensitive, and is found only in the largest woods. Therefore the upland woods, which is too small alone to fulfill the ecological needs of the tanager, must be ecologically connected to the much larger forest complex to the west. In 1994 an extensive survey of woodland breeding birds was undertaken as part of a Ph.D. thesis project by Lyle Friesen of the University of Waterloo. This survey found this Tanager species in only three locales in the Region of Waterloo. Wood Thrush is a forest interior bird, showing that the forest interior habitat is sufficiently mature. The Red-bellied and Red-headed Woodpecker habitat is one of only two or three long-standing breeding sites in the Region of Waterloo.

 

The site is rich in amphibians, due to the extensive wetlands. Many species of reptiles occur, including ribbon snake, an indicator of good water and forest quality.

 

Therefore in summary, the forest to be purchased is part of a Regional ESA, is adjacent to a Class 1 wetland and is a good-quality upland forest.

 

The property is part of lot 8 of concession 7 in the Township of North Dumfries. To the west of the property is upland and swamp forest land owned by Mr. Jack Hessler. To the north are rear lot lines of four houses. To the east are the rear lot lines of three houses. To the south is a Township-owned park with a baseball diamond and parts of two lots of the new subdivision.

 

The site is now used for nature study, for cross-country skiing, for wildflower photography and for children’s play. The heaviest users, by far, are the neigbourhood children. The recreational use has some minor environmental impact, however the positive attitudes created by the appreciative use far out way the negative environmental impact.

 

C. Maps and Photographs of the Site

 

Two aerial photographs of the site at the scale of 1:5000 are attached to this report. These show the village of Branchton, the eastern half of the ESA and the woods to be purchased. Photographs from the ground level are included through the report.

 

D. Rationale for Purchase

 

The rationale for the purchase is to protect and manage this woodland in its natural character in perpetuity. The property presently has an environmentally appreciative land owner. However, the woods has an unopened road allowance abutting the eastern edge. The fear is that any future owner could cut all the trees, reduce the environmental quality and then propose estate houses on the top of the hill in the woods. The Township refuses to consider this forest for parkland so that option of long-term protection is not open

 

The existing owner has agreed to the sell to the trust at a very attractive price of $27,000, the agricultural value of the land. However, given that the property will soon be surrounded on three sides by houses, its future housing value could be as much as ten times this amount. Therefore, the prudent long-term protective strategy is to quickly lock up the land in a sympathetic, locally-operated land trust.

 

E. Description of Future Property Use

 

The woods would be managed in its natural state. The largest infringement anticipated could be the removal of individual dangerous trees, and possibly the development of a nature trail. The land-owners adjacent to this woods place high value on the forest’s natural character and do not want to see any other land use. This is their reason for putting up their own money, accepting the responsibility and undertaking the effort necessary to purchase the woods.

 

F. Contribution to Ontario’s Natural Heritage

 

This acquisition will ensure that one sample of northern Carolinian woods is preserved indefinitely. The conservation of regional biodiversity, the provision of opportunities for local environmental education, and the enhancement of local people’s environmental quality will also occur. The presence of a land trust ownership adjacent to the remainder of the important ESA and wetland may help to monitor and preserve these lands as well. The much larger natural area might be the subject for further land trust activities if the need arises.