Forest Management Site Walks

Following up on a public site walk at the Montague Plains Wildlife Management Area in May 2008, MassWildlife's Forestry Program is hosting a series of public site visits on state wildlife lands throughout the summer and fall of 2008. Each visit will focus on wildlife habitat enhancement goals for the property, and the forest harvesting and other habitat management activities employed to achieve those goals. Foresters and biologists from MassWildlife will lead the site walks, provide information and answer questions.

A schedule of public site visits follows. Details on exact time and location are updated on this page and the MassWildlife Calendar of Events when finalized. MassWildlife encourages any interested citizens to attend these interesting and informative walks.

All walks will occur rain or shine--wear appropriate footgear and clothing. Bring insect repellant, binoculars and a camera!

Current Schedule of Site Walks

September 9 at 5PM-Peru WMA , Peru-Explore the Tracy Pond section of the Peru Wildlife Management Area, on Middlefield Road (a.k.a. Skyline Trail) and see a 13 acre regeneration harvest conducted by MassWildlife to regenerate a Norway spruce plantation to a mixed, two-aged stand of northern hardwood, Norway spruce, and white pine forest. Visit open portions of the site, retention areas of Norway spruce within the site, and an extensive un-cut stream filter of Norway spruce at one edge of the harvest area. Discuss habitat goals for the site, as well as recreational and aesthetic impacts of the harvest. Take a short 0.5 mile drive down Middlefield Road at the conclusion of the site visit to walk into Tracy Pond if your schedule allows. Meet at the entrance road into the WMA on the south side of Middlefield Road opposite the intersection with South Road in Peru, MA. (From Route 143 in the center of Peru [near the town hall and church], turn south onto South Road. Follow South Road for a distance of about 2.5 miles to the intersection with Middlefield Road (about 2.0 miles from Peru center, South Road takes a hard right turn, then a hard left turn before you come to Middlefield Road). The WMA entrance road is nearly opposite the intersection of South Road and Middlefield Road, so turn left on Middlefield Road, then immediately turn right into the WMA entrance road. There is a gate a short distance up the entrance road, but the gate will be open for additional parking).
October 21 at 4PM-Phillipston WMA , Phillipston-White pine seed tree harvest and adjacent moose wintering site. Meeting location TBA. This will be the final site walk in 2008.

Past Site Walks

June 18-- Herm Covey Wildlife Management Area , Belchertown at 6:00 pm. On this property habitat management activities include white pine shelterwood harvests to establish structurally diverse young forest habitat of mixed white pine and native hardwoods. Meet outside the McLaughlin State Fish Hatchery on East St., in Belchertown, just south of Route 9.
July 18 at 2PM and 3PM-Eugene Moran and Chalet WMAs in Cheshire and Windsor-Shrubland management and forest reserve. For the first walk, which will take about an hour, meet at 2 PM at the large parking area at the Moran WMA in Windsor on the east side of Rte 8A. The second walk will begin at 3 PM, meeting at the Holiday Farm which can be reached from the Moran WMA by following Rte 8A south for 0.2 miles to Route 9. Turn right (west) on Route 9 and travel for about 4 miles, and turn right into Holiday Farm. Park near the office and prepare to hike up into the Chalet Forest Reserve. This walk will have two components; first, a half hour hike of moderate difficulty on a logging road into the forest reserve to an area with discussion on how the area came to be a reserve and how reserve status impacts wildlife habitat. At this point in the walk, attendees have the option of returning to the parking area or embarking on a further exploration of the Reserve with MassWildlife staff. This portion of the walk will be a strenuous hike through rugged terrain over a couple of hours. Participants should be in good physical condition, wear quality hiking boots, and carry water, snacks, and insect repellent.
August 15-- Forest Management Site Walk, Middlefield-As part of a series of Forest Management Site Walks offered by MassWildlife to the public, agency foresters will lead a site walk on state wildlife land on Friday, August 15, 2008 at 6:00 PM. This walk will focus on the results of forest cutting practices for aspen regeneration and reclamation of abandoned orchard habitat at the Fox Den Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Middlefield and Worthington. MassWildlife Foresters and Biologists will be on hand to provide information on the wildlife species benefiting from active forest management as well as answering questions from attendees. The walk will take place rain or shine--wear appropriate clothing and sturdy footgear for walking in the woods and fields. Bring insect repellant, binoculars and a camera! Meet at the Middlefield General Store in the center of Middlefield at the intersection of Skyline Trail and Bell Road (immediately west of the Middlefield Fair Grounds and the Middlefield Highway Garage, and across the road from the Methodist Chruch). Because of the rough terrain, car pooling from the meeting location in 4 wheel drive vehicles will be necessary. Foresters!--This public site visit will be approved for 1 Continuing Forestry Education credit in Category 1. Complete listing of Forest Management Site Walks.

It is the mission of MassWildlife's Forestry program to provide a range of forest conditions that conserves the biological diversity of species, communities, and ecosystems on state wildlife lands. MassWildlife foresters work with the MassWildlife's Upland Habitat Program to reclaim abandoned field habitats, the Ecological Restoration Program to restore degraded habitats important to rare species, and the agency's Land Acquisition Program to provide technical assistance on using sustainable harvesting practices to enhance wildlife habitat. MassWildlife Foresters have also provided technical assistance to other public and private landowners on forest harvesting practices.