Shaping Canada's History

The last ice age, known as the Wisconsin glaciation, began to recede about 20,000 years ago and forest cover gradually regenerated over Canada.
It was not until about 5,000 years ago that the boreal forest took on its present character.
Native populations and cultures became established across the boreal forest; controlled fires were often set to encourage animals and plants needed for survival, and to facilitate hunting and travelling.

The fur trade brought European influence to the boreal forest and affected animal populations and traditional Native ways of life (1670-1870).
The demand for lumber and depletion of forests in settled land to the south and east pushed forestry activities into the southern fringes of the boreal forest (mid-1880s).
The growth of literacy and consumer spending spurred the demand for paper, and the first pulp and paper mills were established in the boreal forest (late 1880s to early 1900s).

Existing pulp and paper mills expanded and new ones were built.
Power saws replaced hand axing and cutting (1950s).
Mechanical skidders replaced horses for hauling, and trucking began to replace seasonal water transportation (1970s).
Improved harvesting equipment increased cutting efficiency (1980s).
New technologies and the development of new products improve the utilization of tree and wood waste, and enable the use of previously unused species (1990s).
Utilization of recyclable material (e.g. newspaper) increases (1990s).