Managing natural resources wisely in Muskoka watersheds
By Moreen Miller | April 11th, 2026
Recent articles from Muskoka Watershed Council (MWC) have generated a sustained and important discussion about how we manage natural resources in our watershed.
Natural resources include those that we value for their intrinsic natural beauty and those supplying ecosystem services on which we depend. In addition, there are natural resources that we, as residents of the watershed, harvest, extract and consume — timber, fish and wildlife, but also rock, sand and gravel, as well as the water we drink and the oxygen we breathe.
While our watersheds need protection and preservation, they also require active management of the resources used by the people and businesses that thrive here. The development of watersheds in the Muskoka region over the past two centuries has relied on these resources to create communities and a working economy while supporting the lifestyles that our watersheds offer.
Natural resources are traditionally categorized on their ability to “renew” or grow again. Forests, fish and wildlife fall generally into the “renewable” category. Other resources such as stone and sand, are traditionally considered “non-renewable.” Land itself is not usually categorized as a resource, yet it provides the platform on which every ecological and cultural function in the watershed operates. Maybe we should think carefully about how we manage all of the resources together rather than trying to categorize them. The success of our watershed management will be measured by how effectively we continue to live on the land and extract what we need while maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem. Success also requires that our built communities remain safe, provide employment and continue to grow within the natural environment that we value.
Renewable resources cannot always renew themselves effectively. Harvested forests seldom rejuvenate fully without help from the humans who use them, because we tend to consume forests faster than nature can “renew” them while leaving the land unsuitable for quick regrowth. Fisheries cannot remain viable if we overharvest fish or degrade habitat, and wildlife will not remain if we take more habitat from them than we create.
Non-renewable resources are harder to manage and the change their consumption brings is permanent. These resources include rock and sand, two non-renewable resources used by every single resident of Muskoka every day. It is impossible to construct a building or a road without using sand, gravel or stone. These non-renewable watershed resources are not necessarily removed from our watershed; they are turned into concrete foundations, asphalt roads, septic beds, parking lots, etc. The rock, sand and gravel are not renewable but become changed into the built fabric of the watershed.
Gravel pits and quarries exist in every region to ensure resources can be obtained locally thereby minimizing transportation impacts. The industry is comprehensively regulated by the province of Ontario, and each watershed community has the ability to work with industry to extract the resources and then rehabilitate the land to an appropriate “renewed” use. Progressive and final rehabilitation are required under provincial legislation, and there are many examples of successful ‘renewal’ to new land uses once extraction is complete. Managing the “renewal” of non-renewable resource use is part of the solution to the future function and productivity of our watershed.
Land itself is seldom included when considering the management of renewable or non-renewable resources. Yet, is land that has become incorporated into housing, commercial buildings and roads renewable? Can such land be renewed or a land use changed to form it into a more ecologically productive part of our watershed? And can land that is not ecologically significant be renewed into a use that supports the communities in the watershed?
The careful and wise use of all of the resources, regardless of their “renewability” in Muskoka watersheds, is key to ensuring long-term ecological and cultural health. We all have a role to play in considering our resources collectively to ensure our watershed can thrive into the future.
This article was first published by MuskokaRegion.com.
Moreen Miller
This is article No. 15 in the current series, Nurturing Our Watersheds, from Muskoka Watershed Council. Its author is Moreen Miller, a semi-retired Muskoka resident with a long career in construction and mining, currently the chair of the Board of Defence Construction Canada. The series is edited by Peter Sale.