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...."
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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
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