The paper outlines the history of the Dorset Tower from its conception in 1922 through its 1997 season. Beginning with a look at the causes of forest fires and the means of fighting them in the late 19th century and the organization of Ontario into districts to handle these events, the paper moves to a history of the construction of the Dorset Tower network in particular. Personal memories of the Dorset Tower and some of the towermen are included. With the erection of a new tower in 1967, a new age of tourism was begun but when control of the tower was moved to the MNR office in Bracebridge, problems surfaced. Some of these contemporary issues such as vandalism and financing are discussed as well as the work of the community to address and handle them. With the transfer of land to the township in 1997 and plans for the future, a new era was begun for the Tower.
Instilling the values of bioregionalism can be difficult as it involves changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour. The natural place to start is with the children of our society and the author maintains that camps, if based on positive environmental ethics, can play a very strong role in fostering a child's sense of relationship with the earth and community.
The development of such learning through camp experiences is presented in general terms with reference to the aims of camping associations and environmental philosophers. Specifically, these objectives are looked at in more depth with reference to Camp Allsaw and the work of Sam and Marjorie Hambly as they pursued camping focusing on the principles and practices of ecology and conservation. The camp stresses the bioregional principles of community, the development of a sense of place, and the importance of home as the place to make a difference and its program is presented as an example of how camps can play a crucial role in shaping the desired attributes of bioregionalism.
Through interviews with producers, the authors present a picture of the maple syrup industry in Haliburton County. Travelling the area, they map out 10 sugarbushes and relate the experiences of the producers with regard to their work, their sense of living on the land, and their perspectives on cooperative efforts and membership in a central organization such as the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association.
The authors' reflections on the sense of community among producers and the economics of the industry conclude the paper.
This is a report by the project coordinator summarizing her work on the Bioregional Atlas and the establishment of a framework for the actual creation of the atlas to follow. The atlas is to focus on both the human and non-human communities of the Haliburton Highlands and will include cultural, ecological, political, social, historical, biological, geological, and economic factors. This report sets out the objectives, outlines the products achieved over the summer, provides extensive bibliographic information, details the direction for each of the 30 map plates, presents budget proposals, and lists recommendations for those taking up the production of the atlas.
Value of the arts to the county