Provenance

General

·         Property was purchased 1970

·         Access road was constructed in 1974

·         First House was built in 1978

·         The Sawmill was established 1990

·         The workshop was built from wood harvested and sawn on the property.

·         The wood used for the frames and interior of the three cottages was manufactured on the property.

·         Hydro was established underground along the beach coming from the East.

·         The property was the first to be developed and opened up the rest of the Bay.

Property History

·         The property was first logged for its virgin White Pine and eastern White Cedar at the turn of the 19^th Century

·         The property burned as part of the Great Fire on Island at about 1908.  The fire was so hot that the intense heat destroyed most of the organic layer and its tree seed bank.  The property converted from a  Great Lakes St. Lawrence Forest to a Boreal Forest.

·         Charcoaled stumps are still evident on the property.

·         The property was used as a staging area for assembling log booms by logging operations in the area.  The booms would be picked up by tug boats and moved to a sawmill at Providence Bay.  The bay was popular as a staging area because it has a deep water channel along the western shore allowing the boats to get close to shore.  Also, the sandy beach  allowed for easy access to the waterfront.

·         An old log cabin and remains of horse corrals were found on the property during its development, confirming the statements by local residents that actually did the work and still lived in the neighbourhood.  The site is now part of the garden area.

·         A portion of the original access trail still exists as a connecting road between the sand pit and the gravel pit in the northern portion of the property.

·         While placing the hydro line 1.2 meters underground along the beach from the eastern neighbour’s property many well preserved pine logs were found and had to be cut by chainsaw. These logs were remains of historic logging operations.

The Property Description

·         A forest management plan was written by Joerg Hettmann in 1990.  Joerg Hettmann is a Professional Forester, Environmental Biology Technologist and a Certified Arborist.  He participated in the development of five comprehensive 20 Years Forest Management Plans on Crown Lands.

o   The objective was to return the forest back to its original state - prior to its first harvest. One hundred years ago.

o   Targeted harvesting for stand conversion started 1981 and continues today.

o   Harvesting styles include:  Selective, small patch & strip clear cuts, and shelterwood.

o   Over 52,000 trees have been planted in 1991, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2006.

o   Tree species planted were Red Oak, White Pine, Red Pine, Jack Pine, and Eastern White Cedar.

o   Tree species naturally regenerating through the targeted harvesting styles  were Red Maple, White and Black Spruce, White Birch, Trembling Aspen, Large Toothed Aspen, Balsam Poplar, Eastern White Cedar, White Pine, Red Pine, Tamarack, Black Ash and Balsam Fir.

o   Other significant plant species found on the property are:

§  Pink and Yellow Lady Slipper

§   Pitcher plant (meat eating plant)

§  Trillium

§  Red Osier Dogwood

§  Sand Cherries

§  Tiger Lilies

o   Forest or secondary roads were established in the 1990’s and follow all four borders of the property as well as dissect the centre of the land.

·          Some of the animals observed on the property in the past:

o   White tailed deer

o   Snowshoe Hare

o   Ruffed Grouse

o   Blue Jay

o   Several Species of Hummingbirds

o   Great Horned Owl

o   Fox

o   Black Bear

o   Coyote

o   Grey Wolf

o   Canada Geese

o   Mallards and Black Ducks

o   Porcupine

o   Skunk

o   Racoon

Family Description

·         Ursula Hettmann’s grandfather became the chief forester of the King of Sachsa at his Sibilnort, Silesia residence.  He had 14 children, most of them were boys.

·         Ursula father, the youngest son,  bought the old  forester home from the king and his family stayed in the residence until the end of the Second World War.

·         Oskar’s father was also a highly respected and recognized forester in Silesia and later on in Germany.

·         Joerg, the youngest son, became a forester with the Ontario Professional Forester Association in 1992.  He wrote the forest management plan for the property.

·         The family became immigrants to Canada in December 1979.

·         Joerg was the first to move to Manitoulin Island in 1981.