Forest Co-op Permanent Growth Plot (PGP) Program
From its modest beginning in 1999, with just a few partners establishing a handful of plots, the Forest Co-op PGP Program has grown into a robust permanent sample plot network covering a large portion of the province. The success of the program is due to the continued support of its partners. The 400 m2 plots in the network represent the majority of forest stand conditions across Ontario and are established and re-measured using a consistent set of protocols. The core program currently consists of more than 2,500 plots but, due to the widespread adoption of standardized PGP methods and protocols, information from related projects such as the Forest Co-op Prescribed Burn Project and Forest Co-op Shallow Soils Project can feed into the larger dataset. As a result, measurements on more than 3,300 individual plots can now contribute to our understanding of the forests of Ontario.
Leveraging opportunities, such as the Living Legacy Trust Fund and the Forestry Futures Trust Enhanced Forest Productivity Science Program allowed for the rapid 
development and expansion of the Forest Co-op PGP network in the past decade. Unfortunately, there are very few leveraging opportunities today, and the challenge now is to maintain the integrity of the program with limited finances. In 2010, thanks to partner and contractor efforts to maximize productivity and find efficiencies, a total of 300 PGPs were re-measured, with 70% of them being a second measurement and 30% being a third measurement on a 5-year re-measurement rotation. However, this did fall short of the more than 500 PGPs scheduled for re-measurement. The challenge will continue into 2011 with close to 550 additional plots available for re-measurement.