Are you considering having timber cut on your property in the near future? Do you have questions about the process involved or different types of equipment used to cut and remove the wood
If so, you may want to come on one of MFA’s Winter Harvest Tours in February and March. MFA and DCR are holding a series of tours of active logging operations to show landowners how different types of harvest are conducted and how they can have wood cut while protecting the environmental values of their properties.
Each tour will begin with a short inside portion where MFA staff and DCR foresters will explain the harvest process, what regulations landowners must comply with, and how the logging plan has been set up to meet the state’s requirements for protecting wetlands, streams and sensitive habitats.
After the inside portion, the tours will visit a nearby harvest site and see how the work has been carried out on the ground using different types of forestry equipment.
The first harvest tour will be held in Ashfield on Friday, February 16th, beginning at 9 am at the town hall on Route 116. The logging operation being featured is being done by a father/son team using chainsaws and a cable skidder.
The second tour will be held in Southampton on Friday, March 9th, beginning at 9 am at the Edwards Library on East Street. The logging operation being featured is a combination shelterwood group selection harvest of mature timber on the nearby Holyoke Water Works property using hand felling, grapple skidders and forwarders.
Additional tours are being set up in Hampden and Worcester counties later in the spring.
These tours are free and open to the public. Participants should dress for the weather conditions and be prepared to hike up to a mile in rough terrain. Tours will be held during light precipitation but will be cancelled in event of heavy rain or snow.
Preregistration for the tours is encouraged so partipants can be notified should a tour be postponed or cancelled. To preregister, call Greg Cox at (413) 339-5526 or email gcox@crocker.com