Massachusetts Chapter, Society of American Foresters, Presents:
Thursday September 28, 2017
1:00-6:30, rain or shine
H.O. Cook State Forest, Colrain, MA
A Challenge to the Question, “Why Cut a Tree When You Should be Storing Carbon?”
A Workshop to View and Discuss Forest Management Techniques and the Effect on Carbon
AGENDA
1:00 Assemble and Register
1:30 Intro and begin tour
5:30 Finish field portion of event
5:30-6:30 Box Supper and MA SAF Business Meeting
There will be a group picture taken at the HO Cook memorial stone to commemorate the 50th anniversary of HO Cook State Forest
Commentators:
Lead: Anthony D’Amato, Associate Professor in Silviculture & Forest Ecology
https://www.uvm.edu/rsenr/profiles/anthony_damato_tony
DCR forest managers: Bill Hill, Nick Anzuoni
Supporting: Robbo Holleran, Vermont Consulting Forester
Description of Field Tour
The idea for this field tour stemmed from the growing sentiment, by a segment of the general public, who promote that all forest trees should be allowed to become “old growth” in order to store carbon and combat climate change. In particular, there have been two recent news pieces, one by the Fitchburg WBUR radio station and the other in the Greenfield Recorder which stated, “Our forests are being managed as economic commodities, not for optimal health of the ecosystem and, in the long run, our planet.”
We all know that the climate change puzzle is much more complicated, but do we have the technical knowledge to answer the challenge when the reporter calls?
This field tour will include an opportunity to see and discuss various silvicultural techniques and how they fit into the carbon cycle. Volume and type of product harvested will be provided to aid the discussion of long-lived (dimensional lumber) vs. short-lived (pulp, chips) forest products.
Specific tour sites:
- Norway spruce and white pine plantations that have been managed with “classic” even age silviculture
beginning with TSI in the 1950s and 60s, followed with commercial thinning in 2004 of the spruce and a
shelterwood regeneration harvest in the white pine completed in 2009
- Norway spruce treated with strip shelterwood regeneration harvest 1980s
- Norway spruce plantations with irregular shelterwood in preparation.
Questions that would be interesting to explore are:
1) What are the carbon storage and sequestration implications with the classic even age shelterwood?
2) What would be the preferred path for the current even age managed stands?
3) What aspects of the irregular shelterwood are better from a carbon storage / sequestration approach? How does it compare with classic even age management?
3) What are the options for future work? What happens if nothing more is done?
Presentation style: Rather than a formal lecture, after an introduction to the topic by our lead commentator and outline of the management techniques, the workshop participants will be invited to express their thoughts and opinions. Through open discussion we hope to pool our knowledge base and direct conversation in the most meaningful pathways.
Continuing Education Credits:
Field portion: 4 CEU’s category 1.
Business Meeting: 1 CEU category 1.
PLEASE REGISTER: https://goo.gl/forms/wdY9MMjFISSVUFWp2
Directions:
We will be meeting at the intersection of Ed Clark Road and Cook Road, within H.O. Cook State Forest in Colrain, MA. There is no off street parking so please carpool if you can. There is a park and ride on Rt 2 in Shelburne, just west of the intersection of Rt 2 and Rt 112.
From the East :
Take MA-2 W, Greenfield Rd and MA-112 N to Thompson Rd in Colrain
23 min (14.3 mi)
Turn left onto Thompson Rd
3.0 mi
Turn right onto Ed Clark Rd
0.7 mi
Turn left onto Cook Forest Rd and park roadside
From the South:
MA-112 N
Turn left onto Adamsville Rd
3.6 mi
Turn right onto Ed Clark Rdet View
3.4 mi
Turn left onto Cook Forest Rd and park roadside
From the West
Turn right onto MA-2 E/MA-8A N
0.6 mi
Turn left onto MA-8A N
8.8mi
Turn right onto State Farm Rd
1.7 mi
Continue onto Cook Forest Rd
0.7 mi
Park roadside near intersection with Ed Clark Rd.