The Founder of Maple Leaves Forever, Ken Jewett, has been honoured with the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Museum of Nature.  The award recognizes Ken for his life-long and outstanding dedication to promoting environmental education on the importance of the native Canadian Maple through his foundation, Maple Leaves Forever.

“Through our Nature Inspiration Awards, we recognize each year an outstanding leader of the Canadian nature community with the Lifetime Achievement Award. This year’s deserving recipient is Ken Jewett for his dedication to preserving the native Canadian Maple. For 20 years, the nature advocate and philanthropist has dedicated his time and financial resources to planting initiatives and environmental education about native maple trees. Through his foundation, Maple Leaves Forever, nearly 130,000 maple trees have been planted in Ontario, reinforcing the importance of native species to healthy ecosystems. Congratulations, Ken!”
– Museum of Nature on Facebook

The Nature Inspiration Awards recognize individuals and organizations that, through their work on specific projects, encourage Canadians to

• take an interest in natural history
• create links with nature
• contribute to the preservation of nature.

Nominees are assessed based on:

Leadership
Must have demonstrated initiative in the fields of natural sciences, environment or nature protection at a local, national or international scale.

Innovation
Must have used novel approaches in the implementation of actions or programs for the benefit of nature.

Inspiration
Must have encouraged other people or organizations to get involved for the benefit of nature.

Read more about Ken and the Award on the Museum of Nature website >

The Ontario Woodlot Association featured Maple Leaves Forever in their quarterly publication, the Woodlander, last month.

Excerpt:

“Ken Jewett, Ontario’s champion of the Canadian maple, celebrated his 90th birthday last month. His Birthday fell on National Tree Day in Canada, a happy coincidence considering Ken’s longstanding commitment to Canadian trees.

Over 20 years ago, Ken realized that the distinctive native maples that once lined the rural roadsides and laneways of Ontario were in decline. Many of these iconic maples had been planted as a result of a government program in the 1870s that gave farmers an incentive to transplant trees from their woodlots alongside rural roads and property lines. This gave rise to a legacy of quintessentially Canadian native maple-lined roads in rural Ontario.

With these trees beginning to die off, Ken felt a strong desire to save and promote Canada’s arboreal emblem, the maple tree, as a symbol of national pride and identity, and restore a part of Canada’s natural heritage.

Ken founded Maple Leaves Forever in 1997 and formalized its establishment in 2000. For the last 20 years, Maple Leaves Forever has advocated for and supported the planting of Native Canadian Maples in
increasing numbers across the rural landscape of southern Ontario…”

Warm thanks to Niagara Escarpment Views magazine, who published a beautiful four-page feature on Maple Leaves Forever and our founder Ken Jewett in their Fall 2020 issue. Free copies of the magazine are available from local businesses and back issues can be viewed at NEViews.ca

Excerpt: “Have you noticed how country roads are lined with big old hardwood trees about 40 feet apart? It’s as if long-ago farmers and landowners were following a landscaping style guide. Yet these trees are not just the result of fashion. There was a financial benefit to planting them. In 1883 the Ontario Tree Planting Act gave 25 cents per tree that was still alive three years after planting.

“But the subsidy applied to roadways, where wind and snow interrupted traffic,” writes Patricia Bowley in her academic paper on farm forestry, published in 2015 in Scientia Canadensis, 38.

It was an influential piece of legislation. According to the 2018 Environmental Protection Report by the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, that Act resulted in the planting of 75,000 new trees. Often, these
trees were transplanted from interior forests and given space to grow large
on the edges of properties…”

View article as slideshow:

The Globe and Mail posted this article on October 31, 2020: “How the foreign Norway maple tree is changing Canada’s fall palette”.

Link to full article

Excerpt:

“The forest floor of Mount Royal Park in autumn is a many-coloured carpet of maple leaves: orange, yellow, and every kind of red. The scene looks ready for a patriotic postcard.

But woven into this Canadian tapestry is a foreign interloper.

To an untrained eye, it could be mistaken for the sugar maple that adorns our flag and litters Montreal’s famous park with dazzling mulch. But that resemblance is just one of the Norway maple’s cunning tricks…

It has been a slow but steady invasion. A 2003 inventory of saplings on Mount Royal found three times as many Norways as sugars. Within 100 years, 25 per cent of the park’s trees could belong to the species, estimates Christian Messier, a professor of forest ecology and urban forestry at the Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) and à Montréal (UQAM).”

MLF Founder Ken Jewett responded to the article:

An interesting discussion on the Norway Maple. The choice of planting a Norway or one of the 12 Native Canadian Maples should be a easy one. The NATIVE Canadian Maple is Canada’s ARBORAL Emblem it’s on our flag-a artists concept of a Maple Leaf. The Native Maple truly represents the best of Canada’s environment.

To learn more about this subject go to theoldmanandthetree.com or mapleleavesforever.ca.

Maple Leaves Forever campaigned for seven years to get the NCC to plant Native Maples. In desperation MLF took a half-page ad in the Ottawa Citizen pleading our case.  Dr. Christmanson NCC’s Chair saw our ad and agreed to when called for to only plant Native Maples in Ottawa.

Ken Jewett, Founder
Maple Leaves Forever

MLF Executive Director Deb Pella Keen sent a letter to the editor in response to the article:

Dear Globe and Mail,

Thank you for your informative article about the Norway Maple and its invasion of Mont Royal: “How the foreign Norway maple tree is changing Canada’s fall palette”.

Maple Leaves Forever (MLF) is one organization working to promote the planting of  native Canadian maple species through advocacy, education and a Thank You Rebate program which provides landowners with an incentive to plan native maples across southern Ontario.

In 2014, after years of lobbying by MLF founder, Ken Jewett, MLF printed  a half page letter in the Ottawa Citizen in a final attempt to persuade the National Capital Commission (NCC) to make a formal commitment to planting native maples. As a result,  later that year, NCC issued an official commitment to “planting Canadian native maples on its urban lands, whenever the planting calls for a maple tree.”  

We encourage other jurisdictions to take similar action, and commit to planting native trees, and specifically native maple trees, across Canada wherever they are appropriate.

Sincerely,

Deb Pella Keen, Executive Director
Maple Leaves Forever

Excerpted from article published October 12, 2017 in Glebe Report.
Link to original article by Jennifer Humphries

For Canada’s 150th birthday, the Glebe Community Association (GCA), in partnership with Ecology Ottawa, has urged residents to get planting. Our target was 150 Glebe trees planted this year.

We are thrilled to announce that we have surpassed our goal, tallying 181 new trees in our community in 2017. We’ve compiled data from Ecology Ottawa’s tree giveaway at the Great Glebe Garage Sale, a GCA survey and three City of Ottawa programs: Trees in Trust, Streets and Parks.

Ecology Ottawa gave out 11,000 seedlings across the city this summer and is aiming to go beyond 20,000 in the coming year.

“We’re delighted,” says Angela Keller-Herzog, co-chair of the GCA environment committee. “After the decimation of our ash trees, retreeing our community seemed the ideal way to celebrate Canada’s special year.”

Autumn is the best season to plant trees, so don’t hesitate.

The city’s Trees in Trust has an estimated 12 plantings scheduled for the fall in our area. There are also 14 more trees slated for area parks and nine for our streets. The Trees in Trust fall plantings are now closed but interested community members should apply as soon as possible for the spring 2018 plantings.

We want to express our deepest thanks to all of you who made this arboreal commitment to quality of life in our community during Canada’s 150th year.

Quick Facts about 
Canada’s Maples

Of the 150 species of maple (genus Acer), only 13 are native to North America. Ten of these grow in Canada: sugar, black, silver, big leaf, red, mountain, striped, Douglas, vine and Manitoba maples. At least one of the 10 species grows naturally in every province. Canada’s arboreal emblem is the generic maple species.  www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/official-symbols-canada.html#a4

Ontario’s Maples

The Ontario’s Tree Atlas indicates that seven of Canada’s maples are native to our province: sugar, red, black, silver, Manitoba, mountain and striped. In the Southeast region, of which Ottawa is part, the tree atlas lists four maples – red, sugar, silver and striped – as native.

www.ontario.ca/environment-and-energy/tree-atlas/ontario-southeast/

Jennifer Humphries is co-chair of the Glebe Community Association’s Environment Committee. You can contact her at environment@glebeca.ca.

Published October 12, 2017 in Glebe Report. Link to original article
by Jennifer Humphries

Only 10 of the 150 species of maple trees worldwide are native to Canada. So what is it about the maple that makes it quintessentially Canadian?

I spoke with Ken Jewett, founder of Maple Leaves Forever (MLF), a charitable foundation that advocates and supports the planting of native Canadian maples in rural and urban Ontario, and Carl Mansfield, an arboreal adviser to the organization.

Jewett was inspired early in his life to plant maples for their beauty and hardiness. When he retired from business he decided to promote their planting by others. MLF has given over $2 million since 2000 to individuals and groups for planting initiatives and promoting education. The Maple Leaves Forever program provides a Rebate to eligible rural landowners who plant a minimum of ten native maples on their properties. The Rebate covers 25 per cent of the purchase cost of the saplings.

MLF also supports the Ontario Envirothon, an educational experience that engages Ontario high school students in learning about trees and forests.

Maple Leaves Forever is a founding member of the Highway of Heroes project, “A Tree for Every Hero”.

Sugar maples turn orange, yellow and red, and sometimes all three at once.

But why native maples? “We want to reintroduce and restore Canada’s maple tree as a symbol of national pride,” says Jewett. “It’s our arboreal emblem and there’s a native maple in every province. But in our cities and parks, we’ve been planting non-native maples as often as native maples.”

A case in point is the National Capital Commission (NCC), which had been sourcing maples from Oregon. A seven-year campaign by MLF culminated in 2015 with the decision by the NCC to switch to Canadian trees. The NCC proclaimed, “When a planting on NCC lands calls for a maple tree, it will be a native Canadian maple tree.” A sugar maple was planted by NCC CEO Mark Kristmanson, then chairperson Russell Mills and Ken Jewett to commemorate the decision – you can see the tree and plaque in Major’s Hill Park.

When the red maple leaf was ensconced on our flag in 1965, it became more than ever our signature tree. It was stylized but still evocative of  the sugar maple. Surprisingly, the maple was officially adopted as our arboreal emblem only in 1996 but maples have always figured in the lives of Canadians as a source of beauty, brilliant colour, protective shade and, of course, delicious syrup.

Mansfield says that native maples are a natural choice for Ontario residents. Over time, they have adapted to the changing complexities of the environment and its biodiversity. They  are resistant to many pests and tolerant of others, unlike most non-native species that have a low pest resistance.

Ken Jewett, founder of Maple Leaves Forever, an organization that promotes the planting of native Canadian maple trees. Photos: Carl Mansfield

Jewett doesn’t dismiss the importance of other native tree species and encourages a diverse mix. But we’ve been taking our native maples for granted and by our neglect threatening their continued prominence.

The maple tree and its distinctive leaf represent Canada both inside and outside our borders. Jewett wants to make sure their presence is strong, substantial and sustainable.

Take a look at MLF’s website and be inspired by its Canada 150 YouTube video (link on the homepage):
www.mapleleavesforever.ca

Jennifer Humphries is co-chair of the Glebe Community Association’s Environment Committee. You can contact her at environment@glebeca.ca

Published in Toronto Star, Green Spaces, January 14, 2017 – by Mark Cullen

Sugar maples turn brilliant yellows and reds in the autumn. The trees’ leaf inspired the one featured on Canada’s flag. (Photo: Dreamstime)

It was just a tree. Straightening his back and inspecting the hole he had just dug, he was pleased. This would make a fine home for a maple. Not just any maple, but a sugar maple. And not just any sugar maple, but a sugar maple whose mother lived in the neighbourhood.

So it was not “just a tree,” after all. It was a native arboreal tree that shared an image of its leaf on our national flag.

Ken Jewett had been working on his farm in Brooklin, Ont., while in his early 20s when the thought occurred to him: “I want to plant more native Canadian sugar maples. This will be my life.”

He had a lot of living to do before he would commit himself to the task. After working in the forestry business, he started his own company, Marsan Foods (which makes chili for Tim Hortons), at age 40. At 65, he handed the reigns of the family business over to his sons Graeme and James, and committed himself to the promotion, education and planting of Canada’s tree, the sugar maple (Acer saccharum).

Ken Jewett, founder of Maple Leaves Forever, came up with the germ of the idea that would grow into his charitable foundation in his 20s.

Maple Leaves Forever: Almost 20 years later, Jewett is busy every day with his charity, Maple Leaves Forever. “I started MLF in 2000 with the mandate and determination to encourage the planting of native Canadian maple trees. Like any new venture, it took time and patience to settle into where we are today,” he explains.

“We started by creating awareness of the MLF program by providing thousands of native sugar-maple seedlings at local municipal public tree-planting days. Later, we offered saplings, larger trees that had a much better chance of survival.”

Jewett has not been the first to think this was a good idea. In the 1880s, the Ontario government encouraged farmers to transplant sugar-maple seedlings along their laneways and road allowance that were harvested from their own woodlot. They received 25 cents for each seedling planted, roughly a day’s wages back in the day. Today, many of those same trees can be seen as you travel the rural areas of Ontario.

How does the program work? Land owners who commit to plant at least 10 trees on their property (maximum: 50) can obtain stock from a list of 17 recognized nurseries and receive a 25-per-cent subsidy on the purchase of each tree with a minimum height of 175 cm. Says Jewett: “Once approved online (mapleleavesforever.ca), you place your order. When you have paid your invoice, send us a copy of it and we will send you a cheque for 25 per cent of the cost of the trees.”

The system is simple and straightforward. Since its inception, Maple Leaves Forever has spent $2 million on its certified woodlot, and for promoting/subsidizing the planting of native maple trees.

Why native? While visiting a tree farm in Ontario several years ago, Jewett learned that all of the growers’ stock was imported from Oregon. “This led us to meetings with the City of Ottawa and the National Capital Commission (NCC). Most of their maples were coming from Oregon. This turned into a seven-year, frustrating challenge. To bring this to a head, we placed a half-page ad in the Ottawa Citizen addressed to the Governor General, the CEO of the NCC and the mayor of Ottawa.” The NCC acquiesced on its position when “tree people” objected.

Ken Jewett (right), founder of Maple Leaves Forever, Mark Kristmanson, CEO of the National Capital Commission, and Russell Mills, chairman of the NCC, plant a Canadian maple at an Ottawa event in 2015.

Envirothon: Maple Leaves Forever is the lead sponsor of Ontario Envirothon, which involves more than 10,000 elementary school students, and their ideas and proposals to help make the province more green. Each summer, Ontario Envirothon, hosted and organized by Forests Ontario (forestsontario.ca), holds a competition in a different city.

Highway of Heroes Living Tribute: When the idea of reforesting the Highway of Heroes (hohtribute.ca) was first hatched, Jewett called Tony DiGiovanni at Landscape Ontario, and asked if the 117,000 trees being planted were native. When told yes, they were, and many were maples, Jewett stepped up with a $25,000 commitment. That was more than a year ago, in the early days of the campaign. The Maple Leaves Forever donation was a game changer for the new organization.

Correction – January 16, 2016: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said there is no restriction on the size of the tree.

By the numbers

17: years that Maple Leaves Forever Foundation has been around

$2 million: funds the group has invested in Canada’s native tree canopy

160,000: number of native maples Maple Leaves Forever has helped see planted

25: percentage of native tree-planting costs covered by Maple Leaves Forever

Mark Cullen is an expert gardener, Order of Canada recipient, author and broadcaster. Get his free monthly newsletter at markcullen.com. Look for his new bestseller, The New Canadian Garden, published by Dundurn Press. Follow him on Twitter @MarkCullen4 and on Facebook.

Published Thursday, April 21, 2016 by Gisele Winton Sarvis
Read the full article at theenterprisebulletin.com

[excerpt]

In the late 19th Century, farmers were given an incentive to plant maples trees along roadsides.

“It’s taken them a long time to grow and they are starting to die off. We’ve got a 100 years out of most of these trees,” said Ken Jewett, 85, of Toronto and Mulmer Township.

Jewett noticed this years ago and founded Maples Leaves Forever, a charitable organization that offers a thank-you rebate to people who plant native maple trees on their properties.

Over the past 15 years, thousands of trees have been planted and Jewett has invested more than $2 million in the program.

“Our organization has taken it on to be the godfather of the maple tree. We think it deserves an organization to promote it and see that it gets in the ground,” he said.

While it would seem a no-brainer to plant maple trees, Jewett said native maple trees have not been planted in the City of Ottawa parks for more than 20 years, so he petitioned the National Capital Commission.

“After six years we finally convinced them to make a declaration to make sure that maple trees are going to be planted,” he said.

A treed fence line, laneway or roadway helps stop soil erosion, said Grillmayer, adding that he has seen several farmers remove the trees to accommodate larger machinery.

Published Thursday, April 21, 2016 by Gisele Winton Sarvis
Read the full article at theenterprisebulletin.com

By Joanne Chianello
Published in the Ottawa Citizen on: June 30, 2014
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/0701-col-chianello

It’s this country’s most recognizable symbol, emblazoned on our flag and on one of our nation’s hockey jerseys. It’s commemorated in song — it’s even mentioned in one of the unsung stanzas of our national anthem — and, perhaps less loftily, it lends its name to a massive Canadian food company.

The point is, the maple leaf is practically synonymous with Canada, as evidenced by the fact that maple trees can be found in abundance from sea to sea.

But are they actually Canadian maples? One charity on a mission to preserve our national arboreal emblem warns that fewer maple trees planted over the past few decades are actually Canadian.

“Get a nursery catalogue and you’ll see that not one of the maples is a truly Canadian native maple,” said Ken Jewett, the founder of Maple Leaves Forever.

Neither are many of the ones being planted throughout Ontario, according to Maple Leaves Forever. In the late 19th century, the provincial government paid landowners to plant maples from their woodlots along roadsides and hedgerows, especially in southern Ontario. As these trees begin to die out, they are being replaced with foreign cultivars mostly from the United States. Many nurseries have red and sugar maple saplings for sale, for example, but they aren’t necessarily certified as coming from Canadian species. The description will often say that the tree is “native to parts of North America.”

While the Canadian maple is not in danger of disappearing, the grammatically correct Maple Leaves Forever is committed to raising the issue, as Canadians have no idea that many of the maples they see — and possibly plant — aren’t from our true and native land.

Last week, the group scored a major if relatively symbolic win when the National Capital Commission’s board of directors committed to planting exclusively one of the 10 Canadian native maple species on its land whenever a maple is called for.

A thrilled Jewett gave full credit for the NCC’s proclamation to the relatively new CEO, Mark Kristmanson, who “was a breath of fresh air. He made it happen.” (Kristmanson is establishing a reputation for getting the NCC to move quickly on practical and smaller-scale issues, instead of pondering every question for years and years.)

“What (the NCC decision) means for us is a leadership role for the rest of Canada,” said Jewett. “The rest of Canada looks to Ottawa, the capital, to set an example.”

Maple Leaves Forever wants the City of Ottawa to make a commitment similar to that of the NCC. The city has told the group — and the Citizen — that its “practice is to prefer a diverse mix of native species,” including native maples. And the city has worked with the charitable group, which puts its money where its mouth is. Through Jewett — who worked first for Abitibi Paper then made his real money founding a frozen food company — the group picks up a third of the cost for any group planting a minimum of 25 certified maple saplings.

Mayor Jim Watson has thanked Maple Leaves Forever for donating more than $30,000 to help the city plant almost 1,300 native maples in recent years.

But the very persistent group — “For a small group, we make a lot of noise,” boasted Jewett — wants a more formal policy statement, and isn’t sure why the city won’t commit to the cause.

“They’ve said it’s because they prefer ‘biodiversity’ — well we’re all in favour of biodiversity!” exclaimed the 84-year-old Jewett. “If you want to plant a birch or an oak, go right ahead. All we’re saying is that if you’re going to plant a maple, make sure it’s a Canadian maple.”

It’s hard to argue with this point of view, especially this week. And Jim Watson’s office confirmed that “This is something the mayor is looking closely at.”

Let’s hope so. Most horticulturists — including those working for the city — agree with the principle of planting native species. As Maple Leaves Forever points out, native trees are relatively resistant to most native pests and many severe weather events. Even the NCC is officially on side!

As we cast about for ways to celebrate the 150th anniversary of confederation, committing ourselves to planting this country’s emblematic tree on our native land seems the least we can do.

jchianello@ottawacitizen.com