Episode 11: Logging in Algonquin Park - The 19th C Experience

Controversy over logging in Algonquin Park is almost as old as the Park itself, though truth be known, public attention on the issue didn’t really start until the 1930’s and major antagonism didn’t happen until the late 1960s early 1970s. The funny thing is that when Algonquin Park was created in 1893, the conventional wisdom was that logging would stop when the pine were all gone. In addition, was the view that forest fires destroyed far more of the forest than lumbering ever did.

This first of three episodes on the topic starts with the early days, in the 19th Century, of square timber cutting of red and white pine for Britain’s Royal Navy. This includes how and where it took place, insights into Philomen Wright, John Egan, and J. R. Booth who were major players in the Ottawa Valley, and of course a few stories about the ‘shantymen’ themselves who worked in the bush from November to April each winter.