Ken Jewett, Founder, Maple Leaves Forever
September 23, 1930 – November 26, 2025
“Hey, I am out of here. Do not fret, I have had a wonderful life!”
– Ken Jewett
With heavy hearts, the team at Maple Leaves Forever mourns the passing of our Founder, Ken Jewett, who died on November 26, 2025, at the age of 95. Ken leaves an extraordinary legacy of maple-lined roadsides across Ontario. He will be deeply missed by his loving family and by all of us at Maple Leaves Forever.
Ken Jewett and Maple Leaves Forever: A Legacy Rooted in Canada’s Landscape
For the final quarter century of his life, Ken was the driving force behind Maple Leaves Forever (MLF), the charitable foundation he founded and funded. Its mission is both simple and profound: ensuring that native Canadian maple trees – symbols of our natural and cultural heritage – would continue to grace rural roads, farm laneways, and community landscapes for generations to come.
“I saw native maple trees disappearing,” Ken once said. “They were being replaced by cultivars and invasive species. I made a pledge to try to stop that.” It was a personal vow that changed the landscape of Canada in lasting ways.
Ken soon realized the issue ran deeper than he had imagined. Many maples sold in Ontario nurseries were grown from Oregon seed—genetically native, but poorly adapted to local climate conditions. For long-term resilience, Ken knew the trees needed to originate from Ontario seed and be grown in Ontario soil.
So he set out to change the nursery industry. Through years of advocacy and relationship-building, he persuaded growers to collect and cultivate native maple seed sourced in Ontario. Today, 23 nursery partners grow truly native Canadian maples because Ken convinced them it mattered.
Restoring a Canadian Tradition
Many of the century-old maples that once lined rural Ontario roadsides were planted by farmers in the late 1800s, who were paid to transplant young maples from their woodlots. Those iconic trees shaped a landscape familiar to Ken from his youth. When he realized they were dying without replacement, he committed to action.
MLF’s signature Thank You Rebate Program helps rural landowners, municipalities, conservation authorities, and stewardship groups plant hardy, seed-zone-identified native maple trees. Under Ken’s leadership, Maple Leaves Forever has supported the planting of more than 135,000 native maples – the equivalent of over 1,250 km of maple-lined roads and laneways.
National Influence
Ken’s advocacy extended well beyond rural Ontario. When he learned that the National Capital Commission (NCC) was importing maples from Oregon for use in the nation’s capital, he launched a seven-year campaign urging a switch to truly native species. His persistence paid off: in 2015, the NCC committed that every maple planted on its lands must be a native Canadian maple—a major national policy shift directly attributable to Ken’s efforts.
“The maple leaf is our most recognizable symbol,” Ken often said. “Ottawa should set the example for the rest of the country.”
A commemorative sugar maple – grown from Ontario seed – now stands in Major’s Hill Park, planted by NCC officials alongside Ken. The plaque at its base honours not only an ecological victory, but a triumph for Canada’s national identity.
This achievement earned him the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Museum of Nature.
Education and Public Awareness
Ken understood that restoring native maples required more than planting trees—it required education, awareness, and cultural change. Through MLF, he supported outreach programs, partnerships with schools and municipalities, and public campaigns promoting the importance of native seed sources and the ecological risks of relying on cultivars or imported stock.
His contributions earned him the Susan Wiecek Forestry Education Award from Forests Ontario (now Forest Canada) and induction into the National Conservation Foundation’s Envirothon Hall of Fame. These honours recognized his dedication to both environmental stewardship and public education.
Ken’s work has been featured in publications such as The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Escarpment Views, Watershed, In the Hills, and in Mark Cullen’s book Escape into Reality.
Even into his 90s, Ken continued to generate new ideas – such as the Heritage Maple Scavenger Hunt and the Community Honour Roll – designed to celebrate exceptional native maples and the people who plant them.
A Living Legacy
Ken often said that planting native maples was about more than restoring roadside beauty. It was about preserving a piece of Canadian identity—our arboreal emblem, our landscape history, our connection to the land.
Today, as native maple saplings take root across Ontario and Canada each one represents Ken’s dedication, generosity, and vision. His legacy lives in every tree planted through Maple Leaves Forever and in every person inspired by his belief that one individual’s commitment can reshape the land.
Maple Leaves Forever remains the only organization dedicated solely to restoring native Canadian maples. And thanks to Ken Jewett’s vision and determination, the native maples that define our landscape—and our Canadian identity—are taking root once again.
You can read Ken’s full obituary here, and his self-curated legacy website at theoldmanandthetree.com. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.
Donations in Ken’s honour at mapleleavesforever.ca/donate/ will continue a legacy that truly lasts a lifetime.
Please click the images below to view slideshow with photo captions:
