Mapleton resident Paul Day received the Robert de Pencier award (formerly Forest Stewardship award) for outstanding activities in private land forest management and strong support for forestry promotion, education and understanding at the annual Forests Ontario conference in Alliston on Feb. 20.
Day is a retired faculty member of the Conestoga College School of Business. He is a dedicated land steward who lives with his wife, Yvonne, on their 250-acre farm near Goldstone in former Peel township. The farm has been in his family for over 150 years, since his ancestors cut it out of the Queen’s Bush starting in 1845. As a founding member of the Peel Historical Society, Day has done much to preserve the history of that former township.
Always drawn to the farm woodlot as a “spiritual place,” Day and his family, including grandchildren, have planted over 35,000 trees since 1974 on their various properties. The organic orchard with many varieties of heritage apples draws many customers every year.
Day was also a founding member and past chair of the Wellington County Stewardship Council, Trees for Peel, and Trees for Mapleton and a current member of MVCA watershed Partnership.
He has been involved on the planning committee of the County of Wellington’s Green Legacy Community Tree Program since it was initiated in 2004. This unique program recognized by the United Nations, has been responsible for the planting of over 1.7 million trees that are grown from local seed in two municipally owned tree nurseries. For his contribution he received the Green Legacy award in 2007.
Day has been a leading volunteer and land steward in his community for many years. He conceived and spearheaded the founding of Trees For Mapleton, a program that envisions boosting tree cover in Mapleton from 10 to 20 per cent by wrapping every 100 acres with windscreens, buffer
