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More about Massachusetts Forest and Park Friends Network
Massachusetts forests in need of friends - Northeast District
Massachusetts forests in need of friends - Central and Western Districts
Historic Resources in Friends Groups Forests and Parks
Campaign to stop illegal off-road vehicles from destroying our forests
Workshop Reports from the Partners in Parks Conference, June 2007
Friends Network Issues of Concern
Illegal off-highway vehicle (OHV) use in Massachusetts' forests
Biomass Harvests in Mass State Forests and Parks?
Lack of Resource Management Plans
Information on DCR/Stewardship Council
Forests and parks in Western and Central Massachusetts in need of friends
Illegal off-highway vehicle (OHV) use in Massachusetts' forests
Friends Network OHV Initiative
Please visit the new OHV page
Biomass Harvests in State Forests and Parks
SILVICULTURAL AND ECOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF FOREST BIOMASS HARVESTING IN MASSACHUSETTS
Prepared for the Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources & Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation With funding provided by the United States Department of Energy, Matthew J. Kelty, Anthony W. D'Amato, Paul K. Barten, Department of Natural Resources Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, January 2008."These biomass harvests can be applied in a manner that sustains ecological processes, if partial harvests rather than clearcut harvests are used, as has been detailed in the report. Good silvicultural planning is needed in order to retain healthy vigorous residual stands that will continue to sequester carbon at high rates after the harvest. The social responses to biomass harvesting are uncertain. If harvests are designed to fit into current forest management practices that protect the flow of ecosystem services from forests (promoting social sustainability), public support may be strong. But this support could quickly wane if the program appears to focus too closely on industrial-scale harvesting."
Resource Management Plans Wanted for Each Forest and Park
Most friends agree that DCR needs to make completing Resource Management Plans its top priority; not Forest Resource Management Plans! We want natural, cultural and historic resource protection given priority over commercial timber harvesting; that means focusing interagency efforts to enforce current laws and regulations. Approved resource inventories and a plan to protect valuable resources needs to be inplace before allowing any new timber-sales, off-highway vehicle trails, or any other type of development.
The law governing forestry states, "The commissioner of conservation and recreation shall submit management plans to the stewardship council for the council’s adoption with respect to all reservations, parks, and forests under the management of the department, regardless of whether such reservations, parks, or forests lie within the urban parks district or outside the urban parks district. "The plans are to "provide for the protection and stewardship of natural and cultural resources." Please join us in insisting that DCR make protecting the lands we love its top priority. Insist on Resource Management Plans for each forest and park, especially state forests and parks subject to commercial timber harvesting! District Management Plans are not what the law requires.
Resource Management Plans vs Forest Resource Management Plans
To date, DCR has completed only six Resource Management Plans, with one currently underway (click to view RMPs): Chestnut Hill Reservation, Adopted November 30, 2006; Mount Everettt State Reservation Summit RMP. Adopted March 2, 2006; Mount Watatic Reservation, Adopted January 4, 2008; National Monument to the Forefathers, Adopted September 29, 2006; Stony Brook Reservation, Adopted August 7, 2008; Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan, Adopted July 27, 2006; Beaver Brook Reservation, underway.
The Stewardship Council approved Distirct Forest Resource Management Plans for the Western Connecticut Valley District, the Northern Berkshire District, and the Southern Berkshire District. The Council had previously approved a fourth plan for the Central Berkshire District. Another four Forest Resource Management Plans are still being developed.
The problem is, we want site-specific Resource Management Plans first, as provided by the law!
Look at this from the Northern Berkshire District FMP page 25:
2. Purpose
This Forest Resource Management Plan (FRMP) partially meets the intent of MGL Chapter 21
Section 2F regarding the preparation of management plans by providing strategic sustainable
forest management direction for 15 DSPR system properties on 40,953 acres in the Northern Berkshire (NBK) District.Page 26 states:
Forest management planning and FRMPs are an important component of the overall
framework of DCR’s Resource Management Planning (RMP) Program. DCR’s RMP
Program is based upon M.G.L. Chapter 21: Section 2F, which requires DCR to develop
resource management plans for all agency reservations, parks and forests. The RMP
Program is located within the Office of Natural Resources and works across agency
divisions, bureaus and programs, and coordinates with the DCR Stewardship Council
regarding program development and adoption. FRMPs prepared by the Bureau of Forest
Fire Control and Forestry will be integrated into RMPs as RMPs are prepared and
completed for each DCR reservation, park or forest. For more information about the
RMP Program, please consult the following web page: http://www.mass.gov/dcr/stewardship/rmp/.And look at this:
The General Laws of Massachusetts
PART I. ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT
TITLE II. EXECUTIVE AND ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS OF THE
COMMONWEALTHCHAPTER 21. DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Chapter 21: Section 2F. Management guidelines for sustainable forestry practices on public and private forest lands
Section 2F. The directors of the divisions of state parks and recreation and urban parks and recreation shall work in cooperation with the director of the division of fisheries and wildlife within the department of fish and game to establish coordinated management guidelines for sustainable forestry practices on public forest lands within the departments of conservation and recreation and on private forest lands. Said guidelines for public forest lands shall include agreements on equipment, personnel transfers, operational costs, and assignment of specific management responsibilities.
The commissioner of conservation and recreation shall submit management plans to the stewardship council for the council’s adoption with respect to all reservations, parks, and forests under the management of the department, regardless of whether such reservations, parks, or forests lie within the urban parks district or outside the urban parks district. Said management plans shall include guidelines for the operation and land stewardship of the aforementioned reservations, parks and forests, shall provide for the protection and stewardship of natural and cultural resources and shall ensure consistency between recreation, resource protection, and sustainable forest management. The commissioner shall seek and consider public input in the development of management plans, and shall make draft plans available for a public review and comment period through notice in the Environmental Monitor. Within thirty days of the adoption of such management plans, as amended from time to time, the commissioner shall file a copy of such plans as adopted by the council with the state secretary and the joint committee on natural resources and agriculture of the general court.
The commissioner of conservation and recreation shall be responsible for implementing said management plans, with due regard for the above requirement.
Don't you agree that Resourse Management Plans come before Forest Resource Management Plans? Please contact the Stewardship Council through Jeff Daley and let them know that Resource Management Plans are important to you!
DCR Stewardship Council - The Oversight Board of the Department of Conservation and Recreation
Minutes of the September 5, 2008 Stewardship Council Meeting
Minutes of the October 3, 2008 Stewardship Council Meeting
Statement Regarding Stewardship Council’s August 7th Timber Harvesting Resolution
Information about DCR’s proposed timber harvesting projects click here.
To view the laws governing the Stewardship Council click here.
To read an article by John Broderick describing the value of the Stewardship Council to Massachusetts forests and parks click here.
Forests and Parks in need of Friends!
Click here to view forests and parks in Western and Central Massachusetts in need of friends
Forests and parks in the Northeast District in need of friends
The Forests and parks in the state’s western and central districts have too few friends. DCR’s web site shows 25 parks in western district but lists only 3 “friends” contacts. In the central district, 31 forests and parks are listed but only six have listings for friends groups. So far Friends Network has been unable to verify that all of the groups listed are currently active.
We are working on the list of forests and parks in need of friends in every region of the state. Contact the Friends Network for information about friends groups not listed in the pdf above.
If you’ve ever thought of joining or starting a friends group we’re here to help! Please contact the Friends Network by clicking here.
DCR will help you start a friends group too. Conrad Crawford is the new Director of Partnerships at DCR. Conrad’s office is in Boston but he travels when needed across the state. You can find out more about DCR partnerships by calling Conrad (617) 626-4964 or email by clicking here.