During the first week of January, 1998, a severe ice storm crippled much of eastern Ontario, western Quebec, northern New York and portions of the New England states. Although ice storms in this area are not unusual, this one was unique. It covered a huge geographic area and the freezing rain deposited (70-1 10 mm in parts of eastern Ontario and western Quebec), was roughly twice the previously recorded maximum (Savage 1998). The area affected in eastern Ontario roughly corresponded to the boundaries of the Eastern Ontario Model Forest (EOMF) (Fig. 1). The land base of eastem Ontario is approximately 15 000 square kilometres and is inhabited by over one million people. Approximately 88 percent of the productive forest cover is privately owned, with many parcels less than 40 hectares. The "woods" industry contributes over $100 million annually to the economy of eastern Ontario, supplying wood to over 240 wood using facilities and employing over 3700 people. Over 6500 landowners manage their woodlots as business ventures to supply the local wood-using facilities. In addition, over 500 maple syrup producers, with a total of 300 000 taps, producing approximately 25% of the commercial maple syrup in Ontario were affected by the ice storm.

Impact, Model Forest