At a recent meeting of the Board of Directors, for Forest History Ontario one of its long-standing members, Dolf Wynia, known to a great many people in the forestry community, advised the group he had recently donated a copy of the historical book Sylva, A Discussion of Forest Trees, to the Lakehead University Library.

The passing of Ben Lecours of Lecours Lumber, one of the very last independent family-owned sawmills in Ontario

While our paths never crossed, his legacy around Lake Superior Park lived on past his move back down south in 1974 after 10 years as a forester for Weyerhaeuser Canada.

The smoke cleared; the weather cooperated; and, the bugs stayed scarce ..it was a perfect day for a tour of the St Williams/Turkey Point area of Norfolk County.

My Early Years

I grew up in the boreal forest of Newfoundland where I spent much of my childhood and teen years wandering in the bush behind our house and accompanied my maternal grandfather on his trapline and on moose hunts.

1-Ken, in your book Into the Woods-My Life in Forestry you offer excellent insights into your very early interest in forests and the natural environment and that your Dad worked in the Timmins area in the mining sector.  As a result, do you think you have a special attachment to northeastern Ontario?

FHO interviewed Ken over several days in 2013/14 and collected over six hours of audio material on his forestry career. The segment posted here is Ken telling about his life post-high school in England to his first year of forestry university in Canada.

FHO interviewed John Macfie in October, 2015. The excerpt posted here describes the winter John worked with his father after the Second World War logging yellow birch behind the family farm in Dunchurch, Ontario, Parry Sound District. The Fall, 2015, issue of Forestry contains an article on John's career and contributions to chronicling Ontario's forest history.

Are you or someone you know interested in being part of the oral history project? Are you interested in conducting the oral history interview.

Contact: Sherry Hambly 
Phone: 705-876-7271
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