Ecological Restoration - 1920's style

Our previous slide showed the completed Fire Tower atop a barren, windswept hill.  This slide is a photo of Charlie MacDonald, the First Towerman (who also became the first Gardener) standing among the evergreens in the newly planted "Plantation".

Peter McEwen, the District Forester was a bit of a visionary who set about to replant the trees on Tower Hill once the Tower was completed.  In the first year, he and his men planted 22,000 trees (red/white/jack & scots pines and mixed hardwoods) on 15 acres.  By 1930, they had planted many more on a total of thirty acres mostly owned by the Town and the Beatty family. This view from the other side of the River shows the trees starting to cover the Hill.

The idea of reforestation was a new one in those days and the plantation was an effort to educate people about the importance of replanting the areas that had been lumbered or lost to forest fires.  The plantation was tended to by the rangers and as it was monitored closely, what would now be considered an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program was put in place.  Pest infestations and diseases that were noticed in the plantation could be watched for in the larger forest.

Our next slide shows two more photos of Charlie with the young plantings which were donated by his grandson, Morley MacDonald.