NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Officials say the forest management plan for the Notch Reservoir watershed will improve the forest's resiliency.

 

But residents continue to be concerned about erosion, water quality and logging, and the effects on wildlife and the popular Bellows Pipe Trail. 

 

The plan includes selective and salvage harvests because of infestations of the emerald ash borer, patch cuts on the red pine plantations, and enrichment plantings of resilient species. The project aims to reinvest income into the forest and watershed, with a focus on best management practices in collaboration with Mass Audubon and the state and federal forestry services.

 

The initiative is part of Mass Audubon's Forest Climate Resilience Program in conjunction with the Woodlands Partnership of Northwest Massachusetts, of which the city is a member. Two demonstration forests in the partnership are eligible for three-year U.S. Forestry Service grants. 

 

It will focus on 70 acres of the more than 1,000-acre woodland to the west and north of the reservoir off Pattison Road. The management plan has been approved by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation but further permitting will be required from the Conservation Commission, for the cutting operation and for endangered species clearance. 

 

"It's an opportunity to harvest trees, open up the understory and replace them with resilient species, part of the climate change initiative here," said Gary Gouldrup, vice president of New England Forestry Consultants.

 

"So the whole purpose is to go above and beyond the typical forest management practices that have been done in the past."