Parts of the Elora Cataract Trailway will be closed over two weeks for tree thinning in the area.
Contractor crews are working in a 10-hectare plantation forest near the trail until Sept. 23. The forest is located north of Wellington Road 18 and west of the 4th Line, south of Belwood Lake.
Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) officials say the trail will remain open “for the most part,” but they warn that trucks and heavy equipment will occasionally cross the trail.
“As necessary, parts of the trail in the immediate vicinity will be closed for an hour or two, while dead and declining trees next to the trail are removed,” stated a Sept. 8 GRCA press release.
“While the work is underway, signs will be posted notifying the public, and trail users are asked to obey all signage and use extra caution when they are in the area.”
Officials say the tree thinning is part of a long-term management program to convert pine plantations into “more natural forests.”
A contractor will harvest trees marked for removal, which “will improve forest health and create more varied habitats for a greater mixture of plant, animal and bird species.”
Thinning is scheduled during the fall in order to avoid disrupting the spring and summer nesting seasons.
The contractor will remove most felled trees, but some logs and branches will be left “to decompose and replenish the soil,” officials say.
