(from Objectives - 4.5 Resource Management Objective - pg. 9)

.. practise sustainable resource management in Algonquin Park for the long-term health of the Park's ecosystems and to provide recreational, cultural, and economic benefits.

.. protection of the Park's significant natural, cultural, and recreational values is paramount. Within this parameter the renewable resources of Algonquin Park are and will be continued to be managed on a sustainable basis. Management plans have have been or will be prepared for all resource uses in the Park to ensure that the Park's resources are managed in this manner.

.. forest management activities are permitted in the Recreation/Utilization Zone. Algonquin Park is an anomaly in the parks system as this is the only provincial park where these activities occur.

.. Algonquin Park Forest Management Plan describes silviculture practices (including harvesting and renewal activities) that are designed to protect Park values such as wildlife, fisheries, tourism, and outdoor recreation. All forest management activities must be in accordance with the Park Management Plan.

.. for the purposes of forest management operations and minor Park maintenance projects, aggregate resource extraction is permitted in the Recreation/Utilization Zone of the Park in accordance with provincial guidelines and policies.

(from Zoning - 6.7 Recreation/Utilization Zone - pg. 23)

.. Recreation/Utilization Zone includes aesthetic landscapes in which there is minimum development required to support low-density recreational activities and which also provide for commercial forest management. To the greatest extent possible, they will be planned, developed and managed in accordance with the policies set out for Natural Environment Zones.

.. Recreation/Utilization Zone in Algonquin Park encompasses 594,860 hectares, which is split into a northern and southern section, divided by the Parkway Corridor. Recreational and forest management activities occur in this zone.

.. Recreation/Utilization Zone provides back-country low-intensity recreational activities, such as backpacking, canoeing, camping, hiking, horseback riding, dogsledding, and mountain biking through the development and maintenance of recreational facilities. Resource utilization takes place in this zone in a discreet manner so that there is minimal impact on the natural and cultural values of the Algonquin landscape shared with recreational users.

.. resource activities such as forest management, hunting and trapping are managed on a sustainable basis. They are also intergrated with low-intensity recreational uses by separating these activities in both time and place. Hunting and trapping are permitted within designated areas in the Recreation/Utilization Zone and only during specified time periods (see Sections 8.4 and 9.1).

.. Forest Management occurs in 73% of the Recreation/Utilization Zone (or 57% of the whole Park area). Areas excluded from operations include reserves reserves for shorelines, earth/life science and cultural values, water, "non-productive" forest land, non-forested areas and islands. Within the forest management areas, activities are also modified to protect any additional identified resource values. Special management practices are followed in designated "modified cut" areas (7.5% of the total harvest area in the 1990-95 Forest Management Plan) and in Class 1 Special Management Areas (2% of the Recreation/Utilization Zone). Overall, forest management is strictly controlled and confined each year to a number of small areas located throughout the Recreation?utilization Zone. During the period 1990 to 1996, an average of 7,500 hectares were harvested annually, equal to 1% of the Park area.

(from Stewardship Policies - 8.1.3 Aggregates - pg. 25)

.. the Park contains a variety of aggregate deposits. Aggregates include gravel, sand, earth, stone and rock other than metallic ore. Aggregate extraction in Algonquin Park conforms to the draft policy Aggregate Resource Management in Provincial Parks.
  A long-range Aggregate Resource Management Plan will ensure the protection of significant Park values from extraction. It will address existing pits, location of aggregate materials, ecological impacts of pits, and controls and guidelines for pit operations and rehabilitation.
  Extraction of aggregates is permitted in the Recreation/Utilization Zone for the construction and maintenance of logging roads.
  Aggregates from inside the Park may not be used outside the park.
  Aggregates for the construction and maintenance of provincial highways and Park maintenance and development projects will be supplied from outside the park.

(from Stewardship Policies - 8.3.2 Commercial Vegetation (Forest) Management - pg. 28)

.. Algonquin Forestry Authority (AFA) was established in 1975 as a Crown Agency responsible for harvesting timber in the Park and supplying it to manufacturing facilities outside the Park. The AFA is directed by a general manager who reports to a Board of Directors, which approves all work plans and provides advice on a variety of issues.

.. a 20-year Algonquin Park Forestry Agreement between the MNR and the AFA (which is reviewed every five years) defines the AFA's obligations for such activities as plan preparation, silviculture operations, harvesting and road maintenance. The AFA prepares a Forest Management Plan (FMP) describing in detail how it will undertake these forest management activities. The FMP is subsidiary to and must comply with the policies of the Algonquin Park Management Plan. The Ministry audits the AFA's operations to ensure that they are carried out in accordance with the management direction in both the approved FMP and the Park Management Plan. A Summary version of the FMP is available to the public from the AFA.

.. vegetation management for commercial purposes is permitted only within the Recreational/Utilization Zone and is subject to specific controls and standards outlined in forest management planning documents. The FMP , which is publicly reviewed, and its Annual Work Schedule(s) describe how the AFA will manage the forests (in the Recreational/Utilization Zone) in terms of access, harvest, renewal and maintenance. The FMP also stipulates how a variety of succesional stages , a diversity of vegetation communities and the natural character of the area will be perpetuated while contributing forest products to local economies.

.. sustainable resource management is the objective for Algonquin Park; therefore, harvest levels prescribed in the FMP will reflect good forest management practices and not a specific volume. Approximately 1% of the Park is actively cut each year, primarily through silviculture systems that maintain a continuous forest cover. The Ministry has also prescribed certain procedures for forest management operations that are designed to maintain aesthetic qualities for recreational users and to protect the significant features of the Park. This may include the use of no-cut reserves and/or modified operations and controls on location, standard and degree of development of roads and associated structures.

.. forest management practices in the Park are carried out according to specific silviculture and operating guidelines designed to encourage productive stand growth and regeneration while minimizing the impact on forest management operations. For example, the number of skid trails is minimized and they are aligned to minimize damage to remaining trees. Forest management guidelines also encourage the retention of naturally unhealthy trees, which are beneficial to the forest ecosystem, such as cavity-nesting birds.

(from Operations Policies - 9.2 Forest Management - pg. 42)

.. forest management operations are restricted in Algonquin Park to places, times and areas approved by the Ministry within the Recreation/Utilization Zone. All operations must conform to the Environmental Assessment Act and be carried out in accordance with Ministry implimentation manuals. They must also subscribe to specific restrictions that protect Park values.

.. the Ministry is interested in protecting site quality, carrying out vegetation management, protecting wildlife and fisheries habitat, maintaining appropriate aesthetic and noise standards, and reducing conflicts with recreational use. The Ministry monitors all operations to ensure that restrictions are being adhered to on such things as timing and location.

(from Operations Policies - 9.2.1 Areas of Concern - pg. 42)

.. the 'area of concern' process within the Park Forest Management Plan is used to modify forest management operations and to protect Park values. This process of identifying natural, cultural or recreational values for protection results in the establishment of no-cut reserves and modified cutting areas. The width of the area of concern and the no-cut or modified cut areas varies depending on the particular value (e.g. water body, wildlife) and characteristics of the land base.
  In no-cut reserves, no marking or cutting is done within a minimum (slope dependent) of 30 meters of any body of water, 30 meters of a public road and railway rights-of-way, 60 meters of portages, winter portages, and ski trails, or 15 meters of the Algonquin Park boundary, except for recreation or aesthetic purposes.
  Modified cutting areas, which occur beyond the no-cut reservations, specify the type of silviculture system used and the degree of cutting.
  All slash within 120 meters of publicly used waters, public roads, railway rights-of-way, portages and trails must have tops removed from the reserve or lopped to within 1 meter of the ground where safety permits.

(from Operations Policies - 9.2.2 Special Management Areas - pg. 42)

.. vegetation management is modified in Special Management Areas (SMAs). Classes I and II SMAs are designated to protect significant earth science features. Class I SMAs include sites that require special management strategies to maintain their eath science values (see Appendix G for details). Class II SMAs include sites that will require no additional protection measures because the earth science values are resistant to forest management activities. Within both classes of SMAs, the most significant (provincially significant) or sensitive features are designated Nature Reserve Zones (Spek, 1993).

(from Operations Policies - 9.2.3 Noise Standards - pg. 42)

NB: Further sections of relevance include ...

(from Operations Policies - 9.2.4 Locations and Standards for Work Camps and Other Structures - pg. 42)

(Operations Policies - 9.2.5 Roads and Landings - pg. 43)

(Operations Policies - 9.2.6 Recreational Use of Logging Roads - pg. 43)

(Operations Policies - 9.2.7 Road Crossings of Waterways and Portages - pg. 43)

(Operations Policies - 9.2.8 Transportation of Timber and Other Activities - pg. 44)

Again ... the above represent only part of relevant information. Readers are encouraged to acquire and read the original source Management Plan  to pursue more details.