Forest Cutting Plans

Chapter 132 Forest Cutting Plans are prepared for all harvesting operations on DFW lands, are reviewed internally by the DFW Natural Heritage, Wildlife, and Fisheries Sections, and by the appropriate DFW Wildlife District office, then are approved by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and sent to the appropriate town conservation commission. Cutting plans contain detailed maps of the harvest area and information on the type of harvesting employed and the silvicultural objectives for the operation. In addition, pre- and post-harvest inventories are done at all harvest sites as part of DFW's Biological Monitoring effort. However, cutting plans provide little or no information on the surrounding landscape or on how the particular harvesting operation fits into plans for the property as a whole. Detailed property level information is available in DFW Forestry Site Plans, and landscape level information is available in DFW Forest Management Zone (FMZ) Plans that cover multiple properties in one or more ecoregions.

A DCR forest cutting plan document with codes and definitions is available. Summaries of Chapter 132 Forest Cutting Plans are presently available for the following sites on DFW lands:

Property	Acres	District	Town	Harvest Dates
Peru WMA (1.18 MB)	19	Western	Peru	Nov 2006 - Feb 2007
Fox Den WMA (1.62 MB)	36	Western	Middlefield	Feb 2006 - Mar 2007
Montague Plains WMA (1.18 MB)	118	CT Valley	Montague	Dec 2006 - Present
Herm Covey WMA	30	CT Valley	Belchertown	Dec 2007 – Jan 2008
Birch Hill WMA	62	Central	Royalston	May 2007 - Dec 2007
Phillipston WMA	30	Central	Phillipston	Sep 2007 - Oct 2007
Moose Hill WMA	23	Central	Paxton	Feb 2007 - Mar 2007