Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that can help answer the question.
Query: Is Ontario forested?
Named forests are found within eight distinct regions. These forests may also be part of ecosystems, a number of which extend south into the United States. For example, the Northern hardwood forest is an ecosystem located in large areas of southeastern and south central Canada as well as in Ontario and Quebec. This system extends south into the United States.
The island has become the home of a breeding colony of double-crested cormorants. Their droppings have threatened the forest, a relict of Carolinian forest in southern Ontario.
Because the major population centres of Ontario are located nearby, there has been significant loss of wetlands and forested areas to urban areas and farms. It is estimated that 90 per cent of Canada's Carolinian forest has already been destroyed. The remaining portions, mostly scattered and disconnected, continue to be threatened by human development. Some of the best preserved areas of Canada's Carolinian forest are located in Windsor's Ojibway Park and Rondeau Provincial Park near Morpeth, Ontario; another is the Niagara Glen Nature Reserve near Niagara Falls, Ontario.
One of Lindsay's popular landmarks is the old burnt down mill.
Ontario's former "Department of Lands and Forests" (now the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources) ran one of its 17 forest fire districts from Lindsay. Formed in 1946 "The Lindsay Forest Fire District" served as the headquarters for the protection and study of forests in Haliburton, Victoria, Durham, Peterborough and Northumberland Counties. The Lindsay office was also responsible for the maintenance and manning of the 13 fire tower lookouts within its boundaries. The towerman's purpose was as an early detection to protect the local forests from fire. The district's towers included: Harburn, Bruton, Eyre, Glamorgan (Green's Mountain), Harvey, Cardiff, Digby, Lutterworth, Sherbourne (St. Nora), Dorset, Clarke (Ganaraska Forest), Haldimand (Northumberland Forest) and Methuen (Blue Mountain). When a fire was spotted in the forest a towerman would get the degree bearings from his respective tower and radio back the information to headquarters. When one or more towermen from other towers in the area would also call in their bearings, the forest rangers at headquarters could get a 'triangulation' read and plot the exact location of the fire on their map. This way a team of forest firefighters could be dispatched as soon as possible to get the fire under control. Most of these towers were put out of use in the late 1960s when aerial detection systems were put in place.
Ontario Peak, at 8,696 ft, is a high peak in the San Gabriel Mountains of California. Like its neighbor Cucamonga Peak, it is in the San Bernardino National Forest, and in the Cucamonga Wilderness. The peak is named for the nearby city of Ontario about due south, and first appeared in the General Land Office Forest Atlas in 1908.
The former Dysart fire tower was erected in 1956 on a hill by the east side of the village just off of Ontario Highway 118. Its frame still stands, but the cupola has since been removed. It was erected by Ontario's former "Department of Lands and Forests" (now the Ministry of Natural Resources) as an early detection to protect the local forests from fire. This tower was put out of use in the late 1960s when aerial detection systems were put in place. It was one of the County of Haliburton's many towers that were part of the former "Lindsay Forest Fire District". Other towers included: Harburn, Eyre, Glamorgan (Green's Mountain), Harvey, Cardiff, Digby, Lutterworth, Sherboure (St. Nora), Dorset and Bruton. There were "Department of Lands and Forests" offices stationed in Minden, Ontario, Dorset and at St. Nora Lake (now the Leslie Frost Centre).
The northern hardwood forest is a general type of North American forest ecosystem found over much of southeastern and south central Canada, Ontario and Quebec, extending south into the United States in northern New England, New York, and Pennsylvania, and west along the Great Lakes to Minnesota and western Ontario. Some ecologists consider it a transitional forest because it contains species common to both the oak-hickory forest community to the south and the Boreal forest community to the north. The trees and shrub species of the Northern Hardwood Forest are known for their brilliant fall colors, making the regions that contain this forest type popular fall foliage tourist destinations. 
The Carolinian forest is a life zone in eastern North America characterized primarily by a predominance of deciduous (broad-leaf) trees. The term "Carolinian forest" is used primarily in Canada, and therefore often refers only to the northernmost portion of the overall region, in Southern Ontario. Various terms, including "eastern deciduous forest" or "eastern woodlands", are used in the United States. These types of forest typically reside on southern Ontario near lake Erie.
The Mixedwood Plains Ecozone is the Canadian ecozone with the most southern extent, covering all of southwestern Ontario, and parts of central and northeastern Ontario and southern Quebec along the Saint Lawrence River. It was originally dominated by temperate deciduous forest growing mostly on limestone covered by glacial till. It is the smallest ecozone in Canada, but it includes the country's most productive industrial and commercial region, and is home to nearly half of Canada's population, including its two largest cities, Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec. Hence, little of the original forest cover remains, making protection of the remaining forests a high conservation priority. This ecozone includes two regions described by J.S. Rowe in his classic "Forest Regions of Canada": the entire Deciduous Forest Region, and the southern portions of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Forest Region. In the province of Ontario, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources maps this area as Site Regions 6E and 7E.
Since the 1940s the decline of "Rangifer tarandus caribou" range occupancy in Ontario has been recognized. There are two populations of woodland caribou, the forest-tundra ecotype and the sedentary forest-dwelling ecotype. The boreal woodland caribou population (forest-dwelling), estimated at approximately 3,000, make up approximately one-quarter of Ontario’s woodland caribou, was designated as threatened in 2000 (and likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed) by the Federal Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada and by the Province of Ontario. The migratory forest-tundra woodland caribou, numbering about 20,000 in 2007 is found in northern Ontario, on the coastal plains south of Hudson Bay was not considered to be endangered.
Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disputed, however the core region is situated south of Algonquin Park, the latter being in an area of transition between coniferous forest north of the French and Mattawa Rivers and southern deciduous forest. It covers between 14 and 15% of the province, depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts which also lie in the transitional area between northern and southern forest regions. With more than 12.7 million people, the region is home to approximately one-third of Canada's population of 35.1 million.
Most of southern Ontario was covered by Carolinian forest, characterized by large, slow-growing hardwood trees, like Oak and Beech. Very few stands of old growth Carolinian forest remain.
Between Delhi, Ontario and Lynedoch, Ontario, the creek passes through a long incisized valley that has stands of old growth that add up to in area.
From the vast northern Boreal forest to the temperate forests stretching across Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes, Canada is home to some of the largest unbroken tracts of forest on the planet. CPAWS' goal is to conserve at least half of Canada's Boreal forests, and to create a network of large conservation areas within the temperate eastern woodlands of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario.
The province’s forest industry is supported mainly by the Northern Ontario boreal forest. These are the expansive and renewable resources that are drawn upon for the creation of value-added products. The geographical area covers 690,000 square kilometers which is roughly 17% of all Canadian forests as well as 2% of the world’s forests. It is estimated that the Ontario landscape is covered by roughly 85 billion trees. The forest industry in Ontario brings in about $10.8 billion in revenue per year. Sixty percent of Ontario’s forest industry is recognized as value-added wood products. In 2005, Ontario’s manufacturing of cabinets and furniture represented $2.2 billion.
Ontario Forest Research Institute (OFRI) is a division of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) located in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. This institute is composed of research scientists, specialists, statisticians, technicians, management, and administrative staff. OFRI research helps provide sustainable management of Ontario Forests and Natural Resources.
Halton Hills is located in the transition zone between the Huron-Ontario Forest Section of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence forest zone to the north and the Niagara Section of the Carolinian forest zone to the south. Both forest zones are part of the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone. The natural vegetation in the Huron-Ontario Section is dominated by mixed wood forests. It is a transitional type between the southern deciduous forests and the northern coniferous forests. The forest communities of the Niagara Section are dominated by broad-leaved trees. Overall, Halton Hills consists predominantly of agricultural lands with scattered woodlands and wetlands. The woodlands are mainly deciduous forest and the wetlands are either cedar swamp or cattail marsh.
This is fairly well-preserved ecoregion with 40% of original forest intact (less so in Manitoba) while most has been heavily changed by logging and in some areas by mining and hydroelectric power generation. Large blocks of undisturbed forest do remain, for example north of Lake Nipigon in Ontario and around Lake Mistassini in Quebec, and in the following protected areas: Wabakimi Provincial Park northwest of Lake Nipigon, Pukaskwa National Park near Marathon, Ontario on the Lake Superior shore, a number of rivers and lakes in Northern Ontario (Winisk River, Missinaibi River, Albany River north of Wabakimi Park, Severn River (northern Ontario), Attawapiskat Lake/Attawapiskat River and Brightsand River), Kesagami Provincial Park, Michipicoten Island in Lake Superior, all in Ontario; and Aiguebelle National Park in Quebec.
Southwestern Ontario and a narrow strip along the coast of the Saint Lawrence River are in the Mixedwood Plains, a fertile and productive ecozone that is typically flat with rolling hills, and was once covered by forest before its use for agriculture, and later urbanization, resulted in deforestation of vast swaths of the area. To its north is the Boreal Shield, the largest provincial ecozone, extending from south-central Ontario to cover most of northern Ontario, where it abuts the Hudson Plains. The Northwestern Ontario portion of this area is part of the Midwestern Canadian Shield forests ecoregion of boreal forest that spreads west through Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The plains that cover the heartland of Ontario are a transitional ecozone characterized by boreal features in the south and tundra landscapes in the north. This extends the entire range of the northern coast of Ontario with Hudson Bay and James Bay, at which numerous wetlands act as staging and nesting grounds for migratory birds. The waters of the two bays are in the Arctic Archipelago Marine ecozone, forming its southern, subarctic extent.
Cutovers from forest harvesting have been identified as the strongest predictor of caribou extirpation. This was not surprising; the northern front of forest harvesting in Ontario closely matches the southern boundary of continuous caribou occupancy and timber harvesting may lead to reduced occurrence of woodland caribou. However, there appears to be a time lag between forest harvest and disappearance of caribou. Research suggests that there is a two-decade time lag between disturbance by forest harvest and disappearance of caribou. Forest harvest converts forest stands to early seral stages, which are favoured by moose, which in turn can support a higher wolf population than caribou alone. A higher wolf population may increase predation mortality of caribou. Thus, two decades is likely the time necessary for these faunal changes to take place. This time lag is cause for concern, as there is overlap of forest harvest with the southern boundary of caribou range in Ontario. Caribou in these areas are very likely to vanish in the next 20 years. While patterns of forest harvest show the strongest relationship with caribou extirpation in Ontario, strong correlations among landscape disturbances suggest that no single variable can be unequivocally implicated as key to caribou range recession.
The Ganaraska Forest is southern Ontario's largest continuous block of forest, consisting of . It is located between the counties of Northumberland, Peterborough, Victoria, Ontario and Durham.
The Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern region of the province. The temperate and fertile Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence Valley in the south is part of the Eastern Great Lakes lowland forests ecoregion where the forest has now been largely replaced by agriculture, industrial and urban development. A well-known geographic feature is Niagara Falls, part of the Niagara Escarpment. The Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from the Atlantic Ocean as far inland as Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario occupies roughly 87 percent of the surface area of the province; conversely Southern Ontario contains 94 percent of the population.
Since the Ontario forests are so plentiful the wood resource would be sustainable for some time. Most companies are doing their own part to help ensure that there is enough lumber within Ontario to support numerous generations to come. Tembec Industries has invested a large amount of time and money into planting trees. Tembec recently celebrated their 250 millionth tree planted in Ontario. The Ontario Government’s land use strategy helps protect and sustain all of Ontario’s natural resources, including wood products. The Ontario Forest Accord provides security by forcing the forest industry and the environmental community to establish protected areas, while at the same time meeting the needs of the forestry industry. 
Southern Ontario has a very different climate from the rest of the country. It is the only area of Canada that has Carolinian forest. Many trees, plants, and wildlife in Southern Ontario are not found anywhere else in Canada. Some rare trees to Canada in this region include the tulip tree, pawpaw fruit tree and the cucumber tree. The Carolinian forests of Southern Ontario have in large part been destroyed by development sprawl. Very few original growth areas remain.
This area includes much of northern New York state (save for the Adirondacks), western Vermont, the Saint Lawrence Lowlands in southern Quebec and most of southern Ontario between Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay on Lake Huron. The region includes the Frontenac Axis, the Niagara Escarpment up to Manitoulin Island on Lake Huron, and Lake Simcoe. Meanwhile, the forests south of Lake Ontario are classified as the Southern Great Lakes forests ecoregion and in Canada the higher elevations of the Canadian Appalachian Mountains and the Laurentian Mountains constitute the Eastern Canadian forests.
The Limberlost Forest and Wildlife Reserve is a publicly accessible private property near Huntsville, Ontario, Canada. The private forest contains many lakes and forest stands with hiking, biking, skiing and snowshoeing trails throughout that has been made available to the public at no charge. Limberlost practices a form of land management referred to as Conscientious Forest Management which focuses on ensuring the sustainability of their management objectives and actions for generations to come. Some of the management actions undertaken by the private forest include sustainably harvesting timber using the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Single Tree Selection System; encouraging the use of the forest by all visitors and eco-tourists at no charge; supporting environmental research programs and institutes; and offering both modern and traditional forest land use options to the local community. 