Our Painted Forest property is nestled just east of the shores of Lake Superior, in the heart of the central Algoma District of Ontario, approximately 80km north of Sault Ste. Marie.

Project Summary:

Location:

Ontario, Canada

Registry:

Verified Carbon Standard, Verra

Protocol:

VM00012 (improved forest management in temperate & boreal forests)

Activity:

Improved forest management (logged to protected)

Status:

Under Validation

Volume:

~150,000 tonnes salable offsets annually

Sustainable Development Goals:

Learn more about the United Nations sustainable development goals

  • 148,000 acres (600 km2) at the northern extent of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Forest, bordered by the Montreal River to the north and adjacent to Batchawana River Provincial Park, approx. 80 km north of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
  • Granted to Algoma Central Railway in the 1800’s, the land has been harvested by consecutive owners ever since. The land is in proximity to over a dozen mills and at risk of harvest before Perimeter Forest purchased the property in 2021.
  • The property is in an area of unparalleled beauty, dotted with numerous lakes and dominated by northern tolerant hardwoods like yellow birch, sugar maple and red maple native to the region.
  • The land also hosts spectacular old growth specimens of yellow birch, white pine, and cedar, which are uncommon in the regional forest landscape and were slated for logging.
  • Its biodiversity is rich, hosting a variety of species at risk, including the wood turtle, peregrine falcon and Canada warbler. Moose are also abundant and are both culturally and ecologically important to the local ecosystem.

  • The property’s forests and waterbodies are accessible and available for recreational use by the general public as well as local Indigenous groups and cottagers who lease the land.
  • The land is enjoyed by the public for hiking, fishing, hunting, camping, ATVing, snowmobiling and by art enthusiasts and nature lovers. The only restriction on the land is during hunting season, for safety reasons.
  • The property is also enjoyed by tourists who flock to the area in the fall to witness the majestic colour change on the Agawa Canyon train tour through the Agawa canyon.

  • Sault College – Perimeter Forest and Sault College have a working relationship that encourages the use of Perimeter’s properties and project data to contribute to research, environmental monitoring, and new program initiatives such as biodiversity and carbon management through a collaborative environment that benefits both parties. www.saultcollege.ca

  • Lake Superior Watershed Conservancy – Perimeter Forest has partnered with the Lake Superior Watershed Conservancy to promote the importance of conservation initiatives and traditional ecological knowledge within the Lake Superior watershed and Algoma region. superiorconservancy.org
  • There is ongoing employment on the land for land management activities (eg. road and water crossing maintenance).
  • Perimeter Forest is collaborating with local outfitter camps and working with a local company that will source sustainably harvested mushrooms from the property.

  • Assumes baseline forest management under sustainable forestry practices that would be eligible for Sustainable Forestry Initiative or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification.
  • The project baseline is informed by the SFI approved harvest management plan of the preceding landowner and a property appraisal report obtained prior to purchase of the property.
  • The Painted Forest is currently in the process of FSC certification.

A precise inventory of carbon stocks is critical to measure changes in forest carbon over time. Using a combination of remote-sensing data from LiDAR and 4-band imagery, ground-based measurements, and state-of-the-art mathematical models based on machine learning, a seamless inventory has been generated of the entire project area. Perimeter’s activities speak to our passion for sustainable forest management, going beyond the requirements of the protocol and allowing us to accurately track changes in the forest (and carbon stocks) over time, applying a consistent approach for future inventories and reducing sampling error.

iNaturalist Project

iNaturalist is an online social network of people sharing biodiversity information to help each other learn about nature. It’s also a crowdsourced species identification system and an organism occurrence recording tool. Perimeter Forest and Sault College are working together to set up an iNaturalist Project for the Painted Forest. Local biologists are exploring the property and documenting all flora and fauna (plants, birds invertebrates, herptiles, mammals, lichens, fungi etc.).

The Painted Forest iNaturalist Project can be viewed at the following link: Painted Forest (Perimeter Forest, Algoma District) · iNaturalist

Spruce Lake Rehabilitation Program:

Perimeter Forest has been working with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry regarding fish stocking on lakes around the Painted Forest. A plan was developed with the MNRF to begin a stocking program on Spruce Lake to rehabilitate the Lake Trout population that had become severely degraded following the introduction of Rainbow Smelt into the lake. The rehabilitation plan involves stocking Lake Trout over several years into the lake to rebuild the reproductive capacity in the lake.

In June 2023, the MNRF planted mature and reproductive brood stock Lake Trout into Spruce Lake along with several yearlings. The intention is that the brood stock Lake Trout will feed on the introduced Rainbow Smelt to reduce the population and begin their reproduction cycle in the fall. Efforts will continue over the next few years with yearly fish planting initiatives along with lake surveys to monitor the population and health of the lake.

Camera Trap Program:

In 2023, Perimeter Forest initiated a wildlife monitoring program for the Painted Forest. A series of camera traps were systematically setup across the property to capture wildlife movements on the land. Data will be continuously collected and compiled over several years to help better understand population densities, health, and types of species found on the property.

Pollinator Garden:

In 2023, Perimeter Forest set up a pollinator garden in the Painted Forest. The area was prepared as a seed bed and a variety of native seeds were spread across the area to provide food and shelter to animals (bees, birds, butterflies, moths, wasps, bats, and small mammals).

Group of Seven

The aesthetics and natural beauty of the property attracted Canada’s most famous artists, The Group of Seven.

Since 2008, two art enthusiast and Canadian explorers, Joanie and Gary McGuffin, have explored northern Ontario in search of finding exact painting locations by the Group of Seven. The McGuffins have found over 100 of these painting sites on the Painted Forest property. Perimeter Forest feels that this is a very special and unique opportunity to not only protect and conserve the forests and land for the environment, but also for the art and historical community.

Click on the images to explore further.

Autumn Bush, Algoma, c. 1919-1920
Artist: J.E.H. MacDonald
Image Courtesy of:
National Gallery of Canada

Silent Land, c1920
Artist: Lawren S. Harris
Image Courtesy of: Bequest of Dr. J.M. MacCallum, Toronto, 1944
National Gallery of Canada

Autumn Colour, 1920
Artist: J.E.H. MacDonald
Image Courtesy of:
National Gallery of Canada

Batchewana Rapid, 1920
Artist: J.E.H. MacDonald
Image Courtesy of:
National Gallery of Canada

Falls, Montreal River, 1920
Artist: J.E.H. MacDonald
Image Courtesy of:
Art Gallery of Ontario

Moose Lake, Algoma, 1920
Artist: J.E.H. MacDonald
Image Courtesy of:
Gift of Mr. R.A. Laidlaw
McMichael Canadian Art Collection

The Lake, Grey Day, 1920
Artist: J.E.H. MacDonald
Image Courtesy of:
Gift of Mr. R.A. Laidlaw
McMichael Canadian Art Collection

Autumn, Batchewana Lake, 1918
Artist: Lawren Harris
Image Courtesy of:
Waddington’s Auctioneers and Appraisers, Toronto

The McGuffin’s photography of the Painted Forest can be found throughout our website. If you would like to explore more, please take a look at the gallery below or visit themcguffins.ca

Churning whitewater on blue waters below Batchewana Falls
Large grey boulders are on the left, with a birch tree overhanging the shore. Soft-grey pink hills are reflected in the lake
Shoreline boulders along a lake, with spruce trees along the shoreline and in the middle are golden-coloured hills
Grey boulders, lichen-encrusted and moss covered, form a pyramid shape deep in the heart of the Painted Forest. This is late autumn, the deciduous trees form a bare-branched screen through which you can see the distant hills
Two white spruce trees with roots growing from a beaver dam. Behind, white pines and spruce line the shore of the lake
14 Bare maple and birch trees with a steep hill on the left.
Three lone white pines on a small rocky island with foreground of blue water and the pine trunk with reflections of the pines
A still lake and distant hills.
The Batchewana River flowing through a rock cut descending over Batchewana Falls
Whitewater cascading down Batchewana Falls on the Batchewana River, Painted Forest Ontario
Red and gold leaves on trees in the Painted Forest Ontario, with Mongoose Lake in the background
The springtime-green forested Algoma landscape surrounding Mongoose Lake within the Painted Forest Ontario

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