Public Meeting Notice  Forest Management Projects Virtual Public Meeting

The Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) Bureau of Forestry will be hosting two virtual public meetings to discuss the seven forest management projects noted below.  These meetings are intended to replace the in-person meetings originally scheduled for March 16^th, 19^th and 31^st which were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the virtual meetings, slides describing each proposed forest management project will be presented by DCR foresters.  The public may ask questions using the “chat” function during and after the presentations which will be answered after each respective presentation.

The public comment period for the projects is extended through June 3 and written comments will be accepted as described on the DCR Forest Management Projects website.

• Monday, June 1, 2020 - 3 pm – Participants may join the meeting using this link and telephone number (646) 876-9923 for audio if necessary.  Meeting ID: 952 6298 7175

Five projects will be presented.  The project located at Florida State Forest proposes to use uneven age and even age management in both mixed hardwood stands and Norway spruce plantations to regenerate native species, Huntington State Forest proposes to use a combination uneven/even age management system (irregular shelterwood) and even age management in hemlock-hardwood stands to regenerate native species; October Mountain State Forest proposes to use even age management in Norway spruce and red pine plantations to regenerate native species; Granville State Forest proposes to use a combination uneven/even age management system (irregular shelterwood) in oak hardwood, hemlock hardwood and northern hardwood forest types to regenerate native species; and the project in Balance Rock State Park proposes to use uneven age management to regenerate native tree species in northern hardwoods, oak-hardwoods and white pine-hardwoods forest types.

• Wednesday June 3, 2020 – 3 PM – Participants may join the meeting using this link and telephone number (646) 876-9923 for audio if necessary.  Meeting ID: 949 8231 3687

Two projects will be presented. The project in Marlboro-Sudbury State Forest proposes to use even age management system (shelterwood) to regenerate native species in a white and red pine plantation and thinning in pine and oak stands to promote growth. The project in Erving State Forest proposes to use an even age management system to convert a red pine plantation to native oak and white pine.

The proposals may be viewed at this website address: https://www.mass.gov/guides/forest-management-projects