Niagara Conservationist Produces Book On One Of Ontario’s Great Conservationists

A Note from Doug Draper

Chances are many out there don’t know who Edmund Zavitz is.

I’ve been covering environmental issues for more than 30 years and I’m almost embarrassed to say that I didn’t, until a year or two ago when I read a story about him by John Bacher.

Bacher, a veteran conservationist and member of the Niagara-based Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society (better known as PALS), has now written a book about this great preserver of trees and forests who grew up in Fort Erie Ontario in the late 1800s and went on to become a chief forester of Ontario. An avid planter of trees to restore the province’s forest cover, the one billionth tree was planted under his watch by Ontario Premier John Robert’s, shortly before Zavitz’ death in 1968.

Now John Bacher has produced a book on this conservation giant called ‘Two Billion Trees and Counting – The Legacy of Edmund Zavitz’, and you can find out more about the life of this man when Bacher appears this Tuesday, August 23 at the St. Barnabus Church on 33 Queenston Street in St. Catharines, Ontario from 7 to 9 p.m. to talk about Zavitz and sign copies of the book for those who may wish to buy one.

We hope to see you there.

NAL is including the following short bio on Edmund Zavitz, supplied by the publisher of the book,  for our readers’ information.

Edmund Zavitz (1875–1968) rescued Ontario from the ravages of increasingly more powerful floods, erosion, and deadly fires. Wastelands were talking over many hectares of once-flourishing farmlands and towns. Sites like the Oak Ridges Moraine were well on their way to becoming a dust bowl — and all because of extensive deforestation.

Zavitz held the positions of chief forester of Ontario, deputy minister of forests, and director of reforestation. His first pilot reforestation project was in 1905, and since then Zavitz has educated the public and politicians about the need to protect Ontario forests. By the mid-1940s, conservation authorities, provincial nurseries, forestry stations, and bylaws protecting trees were in place. Land was being restored.

Just a month before his death, the one billionth tree was planted by Premier John Robarts. Some two billion more would follow. As a result of Zavitz’s work, the Niagara Escarpment, once a wasteland, is now a UNESCO World Biosphere. Recognition of the ongoing need to plant trees to protect our future continues as the legacy of Edmund Zavitz.

John Bacher received his Ph.D. in history from McMaster University in 1985 and has taught at McMaster and the University of Toronto. A co-author of Get a Life: An Environmentalist’s Guide to Better Living, Bacher is a passionate supporter of environmental preservation. He lives in St. Catharines, Ontario.

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