Milton’s urban forest to grow by 12,800 trees

The Town of Milton is pleased to work with a number of partners to plant 12,800 new tree seedlings in two locations in Milton, through Ontario’s 50 Million Trees Program.

Trees Ontario will contribute approximately half of the costs for the trees, and the rest of the costs will be absorbed by Mattamy Homes Ltd, resulting in no cost to the Town. A non-profit group, the Field and Stream Rescue Team, will prepare the areas for tree planting by cleaning up the winter debris as an in-kind donation, and Conservation Halton will plant the tree seedlings.

“On behalf of Milton Council, I would like to thank Trees Ontario for offering this important program to municipalities across Ontario, as well as Mattamy Homes, Conservation Halton, and Field and Stream Rescue Team for their generous contributions,” said Town of Milton Mayor Gord Krantz. “We can never underestimate the positive impact of partnerships. This is a perfect example of various levels of government, the private sector, non-profit and the conservation authority working together for the benefit of the community: and the best part of the story is that there will be no impact on the local taxpayer.”

The trees will be planted in two areas: the meadows along James Snow Parkway between Highway 401 and Main Street East will see 3,600 seedlings planted, and the Sixteen Mile Creek floodplain near the intersection of Commercial Street and Laurier Avenue will welcome 9,200 seedlings later this spring. Some environmental benefits include a healthier watershed, cleaner air and greater resilience to climate change. From an aesthetic viewpoint, the new trees along James Snow Parkway, once mature, will create a naturalized, forested gateway into the community, while those planted along Sixteen Mile Creek will grow into a fuller and more resilient tree canopy along the stream.

This project supports one of the goals in the Town’s strategic plan, Destiny Milton 3, of ensuring financial sustainability by diversifying revenue sources through such arrangements as private-public partnerships, in order to meet the needs of the community.

The goal of Ontario’s 50 Million Trees Program is to establish new forests by planting 50 million trees on approximately 25,000 hectares of public and private land province-wide by the year 2025. For more information, visit www.forestsontario.ca. The Town of Milton staff report regarding this initiative (ENG-010-16) is available at on our website.