The Regional Forest - Introduction

We naturalists only really discovered the Regional Forest last summer, and what an exciting place it is turning out to b! I guess it is because the mixture of habitats is new to us - wetlands and woodlands over limestone. The wetlands include not only cattail marshes, but also meadows, wooded swamps of several kinds, and both open and wooded bogs. Isabel Bayly describes the area in the first of five articles we have put together to give you our impressions of this varied and extensive conservation area. Tony Erskine writes of the birds he noticed during a club excursion there in early June. You will read about the plants: discovery of ginseng by Anne Hanes; an orchid new to the Ottawa area, reported by Joyce Reddoch; plants new and rare n the Ottawa area, by David White.

The Ottawa-Carleton Regional Forest is designated as a Forest Management and Recreational Area in the Official Plan of the Regional Municipality of Ottawa Carleton (see T&L 9(1):17 - 1975). The forest covers 46,300 acrtes in areas, of which 8,300 acres are owned by the region. At present about half of the region's land is managed by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. An additional 480 acres of the forest belong to the ministry. The rest is still privately owned.

The Regional Forest is not terribly scenic. In fact, it is not really a forest. It is a very flat land, drained by three wandering, shallow creeks, and the Jock River. And it is, for the most part, either very wet or very dry. In addition to its plants and birds, the forest is home to many different mammals: deer, beaver, coyote, snowshoes hare, muskrat, mink, raccoon, skunk, and weasel. There is even evidence of lynx.

Why not see what you can find there yourself this summer? Or try it out for skiing and snowshoeing. The Rideau Trail runs right down the middle.

- J.R.