the most recent ice age. While living here, we have extensively changed the forest structure that will prevail well into the future.
Some believe that the boreal forest has increased in area since we stopped burning the prairie grasslands. Frequent fires are believed to have maintained the grass cover by burning trees that advanced into the prairie. Areas in the vicinity of the voyageurs’ Dog River/Prairie Portage north of Thunder Bay, Ontario, are today forested with tree stands of various ages. However, after repeated fire or timber harvesting activities, tall grass quickly becomes the predominant vegetation at some locations as far north as Graham. As recently as 1856, approximately sixteen square kilometres of grassland survived near what is now the community of Stanley west of Thunder Bay.12
A century ago, because of catastrophic losses of life and property, we began controlling fire in the forest. As we improved our success at fire control, the forest gradually began changing — with light-demandingspecies being replaced by shade-tolerantspecies, and associated wildlife. The change was enhanced by expanding timber harvesting that used horses, particularly in winter, which caused little soil disturbance, enabling the shade-tolerantspecies, such as balsam fir and white spruce, to thrive.
A few decades ago, we got serious about managing our forest and began attempting to sustain former “natural” cycles and species. More sophisticated legislation and regulations passed responsibility to natural resource managers, primarily foresters, to manage the forest according to science-basedguidelines while, where possible, accommodating changing diverse and conflicting public desires.
Our limited individual experiences and knowledge ensure that we tend to see our personal wants as being most important. How often do we ask ourselves, “If I get what I want, who must sacrifice what they want?” Sadly, some of us don’t even care what the other person wants or needs. Natural resource managers can act only after weighing the perceived benefits of those actions against the impact they will have on what others want or need, and, of course, ultimately on the impact that they will have on the forest. Inevitably, some people are never pleased with whatever decision they make.
Today we hike, pick berries and mushrooms, fish, hunt, trap, sight-see, photograph, paint, canoe, camp, cut Christmas trees, mine, log, and carry on many other activities. Disgustingly, some of us carelessly dump our household and even small-businessgarbage in the forest. We live and move about in the forest in numbers never seen before. It behoves us to consider what kind of future forest we want.
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