A Brief History of Old-Growth Forests

Some of the timber Georgian Bay Wetwood recovers can be traced back to humble beginnings almost a thousand years ago.

These timbers began life as tiny seedlings long before humans conquered the natural world with machinery, high-speed travel and massive population growth.

Their origins are in the old-growth forests of yesteryear, when only animals and small groups of Native Americans inhabited the area now known as Ontario, Canada.

These trees took shape as William of Normandy was conquering England and while Genghis Khan invaded China and went on to build the largest empire in history. They grew larger still as the bubonic plague decimated Europe and Columbus reached the New World.

Their later years saw the first English colony of Jamestown established in North America, the Declaration of Independence and the battle of Waterloo during which Napoleon was defeated.

To say their centuries-long lifespans coincided with many of recorded history's most significant events would be a vast understatement. So important is the period in which this special hardwood was naturally cultivated, that 90% of the major developments that shaped our current geo-political situation and societal structure originated between the time the first tiny roots of these incredible specimens took hold and when they were finally harvested by hand in the mid to late 19th century, paving the way for the foundation of the country of Canada and Europe's eventual expansion across one of the last remaining untouched areas of the world.

Though these trees and the subsequent submerged logs recovered by Georgian Bay Wetwood are extremely rich in history, they are equally as rich in quality and character.

Trees simply don't grow the way they used to before humans began developing managed forests, creating air and water pollution and exploring even the remotest of wilderness tracts en masse.

Left undisturbed, as they once were, trees take much longer to reach their full potential, both in height and in girth. Because these old-growth trees were forced to truly compete with neighbouring trees for both sunlight and rain, instead of being placed in optimal locations and conditions to optimize rapid growth, they would take much longer to increase size.

This longer growing period and natural habitat affected the width of a tree's growth rings which resulted in much tighter, finer rings and therefore finer grain. It also means that in a given diameter, old-growth timber contains more 'wood' and less 'glue' holding it together. This increased density is synchronous with increased strength and durability.

Early Logging - The Engine Behind Canada's Growth

Long before cars, computers and air travel were available to the masses, logging played a huge role in the economic growth of Canada (and the United States) and fuelled the unprecedented expansion westward as thousands of Canadians rode the 19th century logging boom from the shores of Nova Scotia up the Saint Lawrence river, through the Great Lakes and across the plains to the west coast of North America.

Few people realize the importance the lumber industry played to the development of Canada's economy and the country as a whole. People also seldom recognize and appreciate the massive scale of the Canadian lumber industry and the great lengths to which logging companies went to develop the communities and transporation systems that lead to the exponential growth of Canada's population and the places they inhabited.

Community Development

Have you ever wondered why the town you live in exists and why it's located where it's located?

If you live in Ontario, and specifically anywhere near Georgian Bay or Lake Huron, chances are that your community was initially developed either directly to support the lumber industry, or to service the many offshoot industries the lumber industry fostered.

The main thing a community requires to first become a community is gainful employment. It's the reason people live in a certain area as opposed to another. If gainful employment exists, soon so will workers eager to fill the duties required by the business employing them in exchange for a wage. Which in turn requires other businesses that will trade the workers' wages for the supplies they need to live. And so the cycle begins and next thing you know, a new community has sprung up.

The first thing any community requires is a doctor, or somewhere to obtain the medical services people invariably end up requiring. They also need schools to educate their children, clothing stores, grocery stores and building centres.

These basic businesses form the foundation of any community. Without them, it's too difficult to develop a place where many people can live and not be forced strictly to 'live off the land'.

The initial spark that lead to the development of communities such as Midland, Parry Sound, Sarnia, Little Current, Gravenhurst, Penetanguishene, Collingwood, Huntsville, Bracebridge and Bobcaygeon to name but a few was the local lumber company and their steam-driven sawmill. These mills employed thousands in various positions and their workers became the basis for the aforementioned communities and many others.

Hard Manual Labour

The lumber workers and community memembers fulfilled various positions with the companies they served. Many toiled away with axes and bow saws felling enormous pine, spruce, elm, hemlock and oak trees out in the bushes, where they would live for weeks or months at a time in small camps, spending their days chopping timber until their hands were raw and their nights laughing, telling stories, eating and resting.

Others spent their days operating the huge boilers needed to power the mills while others used horse-pulled sleds to move lumber to and fro. Others still would hand square lumber to specification, or feed it through the sawmill to achieve the desired results. Workers would then load the lumber into the ships waiting in the harbour to take the fruits of their labour to market while the more educated and prominent would manage the operation and the accounting and government relations duties.

That these sawmills were able to achieve the operational efficiencies required to make the production of hundreds of millions, in some areas, billions of board-feet of lumber economically feasible is quite impressive. It was a definite challenge running a sawmill and lumber company before transport trucks and cargo planes could simply and conveniently transport large quantities of mass-produced goods from point A to point B.

Transportation

Before modern-day transportation systems were developed, logging companies used the most efficient and largest volume avenue available to them at the time - the area's waterways. Rivers, bays, lakes and even rapids were used as a means to move millions of fallen trees from the massive old-growth forests surrounding the waters to their destinations in the United States and in Europe, where many of the native forests were exhausted in the rush to construct ships to fight the numerous wars of the time and to build the burgeoning communities required to house their growing populace.

The feat of transporting timber first from the forests to the sawmills and then from the mills to the end consumer was absolutely remarkable and a testament to human ingenuity and perserverence.

To move the timber down the crowded rivers and along the rocky shoreline, logging companies employed log rollers who literally rolled the logs down the river and fixed any log-jams that occurred when logs would bunch up at narrow points or when they caught on something along the water's edge. They used simple hook-poles to leverage their strength against that of the coursing water and thousands of pounds of wet wood to keep things flowing smoothly.

Sometimes, longer trips taking upwards of three weeks were undertaken by the brave - or foolish depending on your perspective - log surfers who would band large quantities of lumber into giant rafts complete with outbuildings, cooking and bathroom facilities, and then ride the contraptions downstream, making sure to keep themselves from getting hung up along the shoreline. They even used these rafts to shoot the rapids in the Saint Lawrence river (remember, this is before the lock system in the river today) - and without the safety gear or assistance available to those who do the same thing today in small, purpose-built kayaks and rubber rafts!

Lumber companies also employed large schooner sailing ships that would be filled to the brim with squared logs and sent overseas to long-distance markets where their products commanded a premium. They also began using steam-powered ships toward the end of the logging boom as they became more reliable and efficient.

The end of the peak shipping era was heralded in by the long-awaited and much anticipated railroad system that was quicker, more reliable and efficient to utilize. With the advent of this revolutionary transportation system came an exodus of settlers making their way westward. It also brought with it ever-increasing prosperity for Canadians as well as the logging industry. However, it slowly reduced the number of vessels transporting lumber and also hastened the eventual decline of the logging industry due to overproduction and increasingly landlocked supplies of timber.

This led to a limited number of logs lost and submerged in their watery graves. As the logging industry in the Great Lakes region of Canada has slowed production to a trickle from it's once seemingly limitless peak, it has also increased the rarity and value of Ontario-based old-growth hardwood, making it economical for Georgian Bay Wetwood to undertake the log salvage and recovery operations we've pursued for the past few years.

The Current Supply of Submerged Lumber

As per our estimates based on historical records, photographs and surveys, we believe there are thousands of submerged logs waiting to be discovered in the Great Lakes region. We are currently undertaking a broad exploration program to identify potential sources of these sunken treasures and anticipate locating sufficient supplies to enable us to continue our operations for many years to come.

Benefits of Georgian Bay Wetwood Submerged Lumber

• Historically significant - high cultural and historical value.
• High-quality - unmatched or surpassed quality and unique character
• Environmentally-friendly - saves living trees from being cut down, uses environmentally-friendly recovery techniques and equipment.
• Alternative sizing & composition - available in sizes not possible or not usually available, also features unique composition and appearance.