History

Limerick Forest is a 6092-hectare community forest located in eastern Ontario, owned and managed by the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville.  Limerick consists of four large consolidated and numerous smaller, unconsolidated tracts of property located across the Counties. Conifer plantations (red pine, jack pine, white pine and white spruce), account for approximately one third of the total area of Limerick Forest.  This is a result of the reforestation of abandoned farmland by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) via the Agreement Forest Program started in the early 1940's.  The remainder of Limerick is comprised of wetlands and second growth mixed forest, in roughly equal proportions of one third each.

The original part of Limerick Forest, commonly referred to today as "Limerick South", was settled in the late 1840's by Irish immigrants.  One of these settlers, Andrew Forsythe, reportedly settled on a 200-acre tract of land on the northern edge of a forest just south of Bishops Mills. He named the area "Limerick", after his former home in Ireland.  However, much of the shallow, wet, and/or deep, sandy soils in this part of eastern Ontario proved unsuitable for agriculture.  From 1910 until after the great depression of the 1930's, many families abandoned the land which they had cleared of trees for agriculture and with taxes due, ownership of the properties reverted back to the banks and eventually the UCLG. 

Limerick Forest was formally established in 1940 when the province and the UCLG became partners in the Agreement Forest Program for the management of the abandoned land owned by the County.  The land was leased to the province for "forestry purposes", including reforestation and other aspects of forest management as defined in the Forestry Act of 1927.  Similar agreements were also being signed at that time between the province and various municipalities and Conservation Authorities across southern Ontario.  At its height, there were over 120,000 ha of forest cover in southern Ontario under management via this program.  The lease of UCLG land to the province was renewed in 1960 and again in 1976.  The program eventually ended in 1995.