Massachusetts Forest Reserves Presentation   Gary A. Beluzo
  Jun 22, 2005 20:56 PDT 
ENTS,

I just returned from a public hearing in Pittsfield, MA at one of the DCR
Regional Headquarters where the Massachusetts DCR and the DFG jointly
presented a synopsis of the Draft "Landscape Assessment and Forest
Management Framework for the Berkshire Ecoregions", focused on the concept
of a Massachusetts Forest Reserve system, and fielded questions from a very
diverse audience. Eight "Large Scale Reserves" (each to eventually include
a mosaic of state, federal, and private lands of perhaps up to 15,000 acres)
have been proposed which tentatively include

Westhampton    2,672 acres
Otis                   2,620 acres
Middlefield/Peru 4,771 acres
Chalet                8,782 acres
Mt. Washington 7,500 acres
Mt. Greylock     11,000 acres

These landscape scale reserves would serve as "controls" for each of the
eight major forest ecotypes in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. In the
Berkshires, over 20% of the DCR acreage could be in forest reserves; much of
the remainder would be a "working forest", where sustainable forestry would
be the norm. In addition, "Small scale" forest reserves consisting of
vernal pools, old growth areas, unique forest interiors, riparian corridors,
and steep slopes not already included in the large scale reserves would also
be created. Presumably, the Massachusetts old growth sites not included in
the large scale reserves (e.g. Mohawk State Forest, Savoy State Forest, and
Monroe State Forest) would become part of the small scale forest reserve
system.

The presentation was well done and from the point of view of this ENTS
member--very encouraging. Chief Forester James DiMaio coordinated the
evening, and was highly effective at fielding questions from the audience.
The first real test of the proposal will be next Wednesday evening in North
Adams, MA when the interagency team will focus on the largest of the
proposal Forest Reserves- Mt. Greylock.

I'll ask Bob Leverett to his comments and also announce the location and
time of the meeting in North Adams next week.

Go to the DCR Forestry site for more information (and a link to the Draft
Report) HYPERLINK
http://www.mass.gov/envir/forest/ 

Gary

Professor of Environmental Science
Holyoke Community College
303 Homestead Avenue
Holyoke, MA 01040

"Get the GIST of Autopoietic Forests...."
Re: Massachusetts Forest Reserves Presentation   Lee E. Frelich
  Jun 23, 2005 05:47 PDT 
Gary:

Sounds great! The idea of controls for the harvested part of the landscape
is important. It is the one idea that most people agree with when I give
presentations on old growth and reserved forests to public audiences. They
don't necessarily want to tie up forest in reserves just because its
pretty, or because its fun to go there or even because rare species may
live there. But they do agree that we can't tell what the real impact of
harvesting is without controls that experience only natural disturbance.
Myself, Meredith Cornett and Mark White from Nature Conservancy have a
paper in press in the Journal of Forestry that discusses this issue.

It is kind of funny though, to call areas of 2,000 to 11,000 acres large
scale reserves, although I guess they are in the same proportion to the
total forest in MA as the 750,000 acres of reserved forest in the Boundary
Waters Canoe Area are to the total forest acreage in MN.

Lee
RE: Massachusetts Forest Reserves Presentation   Robert Leverett
  Jun 23, 2005 06:48 PDT 

Lee:

   Based on analysis of eastern forests from Maine to Georgia, TNC came
up with a figure of 16,000 acres as the minimum required to insure the
propagation of key species, forest structures, etc. given the scale of
natural disturbances across most of the eastern landscape. I'm sure that
16,000 wouldn't work in Minnesota - nor northern Maine. The 15,000
acres, dubbed a large scale reserve, comes from the 16,000 figure.
Nobody seemed to know what 15,000 acres instead of 16,000 was chosen.

   I am fortunate to be part of the review and nomination team along
with Jim DiMaio of DCR, Leslie Luchonnok of EOEA, and Pat Swain of
Natural Heritage. Consequently, I remained largely silent last night.
But, I couldn't agree more with Gary, this truly is exciting stuff and
this new initiative will put Massachusetts at the forefront of forest
management within New England. BTW, I saw the madman (Joe Zorzin) last
night. He seemed in good spirits and generally supportive of this
initiative.

   Based on what I am now confident of, large parts of Mohawk Trail
State Forest, Monroe State Forest will be included as forest reserves.
There is little argument among the knowledgeable that Mount Greylock
State Reservation, Mohawk Trail State Forest, Monroe State Forest, Mount
Everett State Reservation, and Mount Washington State Forest are the
forest jewels of the state. I'm not concerned that the best of these
gems will be adequately protected. The old growth treasures in these
properties are not disputed by anyone. Mount Wachusett, in central
Massachusetts, has important old growth, but with large ski concession
on its slopes and a clogged, hiddeous road to its summit, Wachusett can
be so congested that when I'm there I just want to get the heck off the
mountain as fast as I can and get back to the Berkshires and Taconics.   
    

Bob