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STAC Final Report
DCR Response to Forest Heritage Planning Process and the Science and Technical Advisory Committee Final Report
Science and Technical Advisory Committee
Meeting Info
Office of Watershed Management
Watershed Forestry
Division of
Water Supply Protection
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Science and Technical Advisory Committee
The Division of Water Supply Protection’s DWSP Science and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) has completed a review of the scientific principles that guide existing Land Management Plan objectives for the Office of Watershed Management.
Science and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) FINAL REPORT
The STAC report was presented to a joint meeting of the Quabbin Watershed and Ware River Watershed Advisory Committees on December 10, 2012. DCR accepted comments on the report until
January 18, 2013. Comments Received
DCR presented its Response to Forest Heritage Planning Process and the Science and Technical Advisory Committee Final Report to a joint meeting of the Quabbin Watershed and Ware River Watershed Advisory Committees on February 12, 2013. Comments Received
STAC Background
The first meeting of the Quabbin Science and Technical Advisory Committee was assembled in the fall of 1996. This committee included professional forest, wildlife, and natural resource researchers and managers from several University of Massachusetts departments, Harvard Forest, the USDA Forest Service, Mount Holyoke College, Amherst College, the Institute of Ecosystem Studies, US Geological Survey, Massachusetts Audubon Society, the New England Small Farms Institute, the MA Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, Hampshire College, and several state agencies. Other scientists were added over time.
The committee was formed to convene, as needed, to address major natural resources and watershed management issues, changes in the Quabbin Reservoir Land Management Plan, and to advise the agency in the development and implementation of scientific research at Quabbin Reservoir. The committee was intended to function as the “bridge” between professional research and management. The committee met annually from 1996 through 2000, and sub-groups have been called upon occasionally to address current issues. In addition to general advice, the committee assisted in:
- Setting research priorities
- Developing standards for research quality assurance and control
- Subwatershed modeling
- Determining appropriate sizes for regeneration openings
- Designing lands reserved from management
- Developing management considerations for the Pottapaug Natural Area
- Developing a policy for the treatment of watershed areas affected by the hemlock woolly adelgid.
STAC was re-convened in 2010 and is chaired by Dr. Paul Barten, Professor of Forest Resources at UMass Amherst. Dr. Barten’s background is in hydrology and forest management; he has chaired the STAC meetings in the past and is intimately familiar with DCR and other watersheds and their management. In addition to STAC, he has served on National Research Council (NRC) committees assessing the New York City water supply and Atlantic salmon in Maine, and recently chaired the NRC committee assessing hydrologic effects of a changing forest landscape.
2010 DCR Division of Water Supply Protection Science and Technical Advisory Committee
| Name |
Expertise |
Association |
Mark Ashton |
Silviculture, forest ecology, forest regeneration, adaptability of forests to changes in climate |
Yale University
Professor and Director of Forests |
Paul Barten (Chair) |
Forestry, hydrology, watershed management |
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Dept of Natural Resources Conservation |
Jim Boyce |
Environmental economics |
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Dept of Economics |
Robert Brooks |
Wildlife research biology, ecology, hydrology, and effects of harvesting on ephemeral and riparian habitats |
USDA Forest Service
Northern Research Station
Amherst, MA |
Jill Bubier |
Wetland ecology, biogeochemistry, plant ecology, feedbacks to climate change |
Mount Holyoke College
Program in Environmental Studies |
John Buonaccorsi |
Biometrics; previous work with DWSP on deer population and tree regeneration sampling |
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Dept of Math and Statistics |
John Campbell |
Biogeochemical cycling in northeastern forested watersheds |
USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Hubbard Brook LTER |
Stephen DeStefano |
Population ecology and habitat relationships of terrestrial and semi-aquatic water life (moose, beaver, gulls, loons) |
United States Geological Survey
MA Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit |
Martha Hoopes |
Invasion ecology (invasive plants and animals), conservation biology, plant/herbivore interactions, role of spatial configuration |
Mount Holyoke College
Biological Sciences
Program in the Environment |
Scott Jackson |
Conservation biology, vernal pools, amphibians, biological conservation, impacts of roads |
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Dept of Natural Resources Conservation |
Matt Kelty |
Silviculture, forest ecology, stand dynamics, managed vs. unmanaged forests, regeneration |
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Dept of Natural Resources Conservation |
David King |
Forest wildlife habitat management, neotropical migrant birds, effects of silviculture and roads |
USDA Forest Service
Northern Research Station
Amherst, MA |
Tom Lautzenheiser |
Community ecology, field naturalist, plants, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, landscape interpretation |
Mass Audubon
Regional Scientist
Sanctuary Management Planning |
Chi Ho Sham |
Source water protection, hydrology, geomorphology, water quality |
American Water Works Association Chair
Source Water Protection Committee |
John Tobiason |
Civil and environmental engineering, transport and transformation of pollutants in natural and engineered drinking water systems |
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Environmental and Water Resources Engineering |
Mary Tyrrell |
Sustainable forestry policy |
Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry Executive Director |
Support staff from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and MWRA
- Robert O’Connor, Director, Forest and Land Policy, EOEEA
- Jonathan Yeo, Director, DCR Division of Water Supply Protection
- Dan Clark, Director, DWSP Natural Resources Section
- Thom Snowman, Environmental Analyst, DWSP-Natural Resources Section
- John Gregoire, Program Manager - Reservoir Operations, MWRA
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