Trees are the solution – this needs to be sent to every official and every bureau within Mass DCR. This is not a drill! — Environmental activists Greta Thunberg and George Monbiot have helped produce a short film highlighting the need to protect, restore and use nature to tackle the climate crisis. Living ecosystems like …
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It was a beautiful, pristine Amazon rainforest that was “managed” by being deliberately burned to make the way for conversion to agriculture. We need more “unmanaged” forests to maximize carbon sequestration, protect biodiversity, and provide access to natural green space.
Visit beautiful Mt. Greylock and hear scientist, educator and landscape expert Margery Winters explain how you can help biodiversity with the shrubs and trees in your back yard! Wednesday August 14, 2019 6:00 PM free lecture 7:00 PM optional dinner (fixed price, one seating, reservations required) Drinks and snacks also available Bascom Lodge – Top …
STAND WITH WENDELL FOREST PROTECTORS NOW! We need your support. Come hold signs NOW. share widely! 9-4pm Today 8-7, through Saturday. Wendell State Forest Headquarters, 392 Montague Road, Wendell. (GPS might say 392 Montague Road, Millers Falls – that works too). Join our action list at savebrookrdforest@gmail.com Your support for our cause has been outstanding. …
pl bear with me. one more download so it can be shared. This time no language that may raise red flag. Admins can edit content Thanks to all who share the visual. https://www.facebook.com/leonore.alaniz/videos/10156560740782992
Wendell State Forest Alliance was formed to protect, through non-violent means, the health, diversity, and various ecosystems of the Commonwealth’s state forests. The Alliance recognizes the urgent need to protect Earth and all her inhabitants from the disastrous effects of climate change. Safeguarding forests is the easiest and least expensive method of carbon sequestration. Our …
Last Friday marked the close of a three-month public comment period on the Baker Administration’s proposal to overhaul rules that establish what electric power generation resources qualify for renewable energy subsidies. Massachusetts clean energy advocates sent a letter yesterday to Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Kathleen Theoharides sharply criticizing these proposed regulatory changes that would, among …
Read more “Enviro Advocates Call Out MA Gov. Baker For Promoting Dirty Fuels As Renewable Energy”
BUCKLAND — Following some objections to the Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership, the Selectboard will send the issue to a Town Meeting rather than vote on the matter itself, making it the first county town to do so. Concerns mainly pertained to the partnership’s support for wood burning as a source of fuel, and plan to …
News of a changing climate is causing fear that we are headed into a less livable future — perhaps even into a “catastrophic” future marked by “…human devastation and…extinction…” [“An appeal for coverage”, Greenfield Recorder letter, June 4, 2019]. The big picture doesn’t offer much comfort, but our local forests may offer some, especially for …
Read more “Positive relationship with local forests will help maintain a livable Western Mass.”
New science says land conservation must double by 2030 to prevent dangerous warming and unravelling of ecosystems. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/science-study-outlines-30-percent-conservation-2030
https://www.recorder.com/DOER-extends-biomass-deadline-26221376 By ANITA FRITZ Staff Writer Published: 6/13/2019 10:35:44 PM The state Department of Energy Resources has given the public until the end of July to comment on changes it has made to its biomass wood-burning regulations. The deadline was originally May 24, but that was extended to June 7. Then, because of public outcry …
Palmer biomass energy is dirty energy and Municipal Light Plants could make or break the project going up. If it goes up it will be a HUGE violation of Environmental Justice. We cannot continue to let these injustices happen in MA. Sustainable Belmont Belmont Light Sustainable Taunton Sustainable Wellesley Town of Concord Arise for Social …
Sunday, 6pm! Join Dr. Susan Masino at Bascom Lodge, Mt. Greylock, for a discussion about forests and brain health. (Disregard the “Wednesday” in the graphic — the date, 6/23, is correct!)
PITTSFIELD — With 11 towns signed up, the controversial Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership can move off the starting blocks. Advocates envision hope for hard-pressed towns. But critics see a patient effort, aided by the U.S. Forest Service, to unlock access to privately owned tracts in a region that’s 82 percent woods. Public concerns led proponents …
Read more “New Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership reaches starting line”
Leonore Alaniz I asked a MA Forester on site what was going on, and was told “…. forest restoration to the way it was when “Indians used to live here”. Really? Who hacked that story nd carted away the oak logs? White folk knows nothing of the ways First Nations (hand) cultivated forests, wetlands, all …
The Species’ Forest Model need to be seen. Local papers are one way. The comment below is a rare occurrence, but the 21st century has just begun. https://www.recorder.com/my-turn-stafursky… “By RICHARD H. STAFURSKY Published: 6/12/2019 8:57:44 AM
Forest protectors have installed a message to the governor — and to you — located at the start of Dirth Road in the Wendell State Forest. We see this as a demand for local sovereignty (i.e. who decides what happens to our public lands) and climate emergency responsibility…and as an opportunity to remember our reverence …
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2019 AT 5:45 PM – 8:30 PM John J Duggan Academy GATHER AT DUGGAN ACADEMY AT 5:45PM Info on biomass: http://www.pfpi.net/ma-bioenergy-backgrounder We ask that you are mindful in centering the voices of our EJ community and Springfield residents. To help with this effort we have drafted the following: June 5th Location: John J. …
The Biomass Monitor is the nation’s leading publication investigating the whole story on bioenergy, biomass, and biofuels. thebiomassmonitor.org
OER has rescheduled the final public hearing on the rollback (Springfield) for June 5th. Please scroll down for info on the hearing. Click here to sign the petition to get polluting technologies out of our renewable energy supply! Email us if you want to be added to the list-serve where we post updates and detailed talking points, discuss issues, and answer …
Moratorium on Logging on Massachusetts State-Owned Lands https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/moratorium-on-logging-1 Every year the trees in the Great Northern Forest do something incredible https://www.facebook.com/ThisIsZinc/videos/10156064344158300
Here’s how to respond to those misleading posts claiming our recent fires are all about tree huggers preventing logging and a supposed fuel build up via past fire suppression. 1. Most of California’s most devastating fires were far from any forest (see map below). 2. For those few devastating fires that were near forests, most …
We, the undersigned, call for an immediate moratorium on logging on all Massachusetts state-owned lands, including woodlands, parklands, reserves, and watersheds managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, and wildlife management areas managed by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, excluding the cutting of trees proven to be necessary to protect public …
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Forest Management Project in Myles Standish State Forest The Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) Bureau of Forestry will be hosting a public meeting to discuss a forest management project in the Myles Standish State Forest: · Wednesday, December 5, 2018 – 5 PM. DCR South Regional Headquarters, 194 Cranberry Road, South Carver, MA 02366. …
https://www.recorder.com/State-considering-response-to-Wendell-State-Forest-protesters-21266793 State officials are ignoring citizen opposition to logging this beautiful, century-old oak forest in their drive to turn our natural forests into industrial tree farms. We need an immediate moratorium on logging on state-owned lands to end this senseless destruction of our forest heritage. TAKE ACTION: Sign the petition calling on the governor to …
National parks keep existing old-growth forests intact and protect younger forests from logging so they can grow old. —- Each spring, songbirds migrate thousands of miles to breed in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains. Deep in a forest, Oregon State University researcher Hankyu Kim feels he has gotten inside the head of one species, the hermit warbler. …
Read more “Old-Growth Forests May Help Songbirds Cope With Warming Climate”
The Department of Conservation and Recreation is planning to cut trees in the Wendell State Forest. Two non-profit groups are trying to stop the DCR from logging at Wendell State Forest. There are 75-hundred acres of trees, ponds, and hiking trails in Wendell State Forest. The DCR wants to clear three locations, including an 88-acre …
Read more “Two non-profit groups protesting logging plans at Wendell State Forest”
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2018 AT 3 PM – 5 PM Brook Rd. Forest, Wendell State Forest, 42.543791,-72.445158 A Gathering: Honor Our Trees in Brook Rd. Forest A Gathering to Offer Love, Honor, Respect for the Trees of Brook Rd. Forest:We invite you to join us to honor our trees of Brook Rd. with our love, …
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“Drain the swamp” has long meant getting rid of something distasteful. Actually, the world needs more swamps – and bogs, fens, marshes and other types of wetlands. These are some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth. They also are underrated but irreplaceable tools for slowing the pace of climate change and protecting our communities from storms and flooding. Scientists widely …
Read more “What the world needs now to fight climate change: More swamps”
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2018 AT 11 AM – 1 PM Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) proposes to log in the Wendell State Forest in November 2018. Part of the proposal is to harvest an 80-acre, 110-year old oak forest that is a part of the 7,000 acre publically owned forest. https://www.facebook.com/events/1767681126682143/
If we can’t help them, let’s at least stop making their regenerative work harder
One of the biggest impacts resulting from logging our forests that is largely ignored by public land management agencies is the contribution that timber harvest makes to Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. Increasingly it is clear that the greatest value of our public forests might be to end all thinning/logging and protect them as carbon …
Not only is Boston failing to plant new trees, but it is cutting down old trees. Even worse, the state is cutting down forests on public lands across Massachusetts, helping to fuel climate change. This shortsighted and destructive program needs to be halted. https://www3.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/06/09/city-fails-promise-plant-trees/7QWlaMHDFuKjcVj7SxomTL/story.html
– by Avory Brookins, June 1, 2018, Rhode Island Public Radio “A Rhode Island bill that could have cleared the way for biomass power plants won’t move forward this legislative session.” Do you support the decision?
THURSDAY, MAY 31, 2018 AT 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM George Wuerthner is Wilderness Watch’s Advocate-Organizer. He is a noted ecologist author, and activist, has visited more than 400 designated Wilderness Areas in the U.S. His presentation will cover the early years of the Wilderness movement, the creation of the national Wilderness Act and Wilderness …
Read more “Wilderness Under Siege: A Road Show with George Wuerthner”
This misbegotten U.S. Forest Service program is a gift to the forestry, wood products, and biomass energy industries. It will use taxpayer funds to subsidize projects that promote cutting down forests and burning them for energy or using them in buildings that will be torn down in a few years. It will worsen climate change, …
Leaders touted the economic benefits of these [wood pellet] mills without considering the environmental or health downsides…. In the Southeast, wood pellet mills are 50 percent more likely to be located in low-income communities where at least a quarter of the population is nonwhite… https://www.huffpost.com/entry/south-new-environmental-movement-justice-first_n_5af49388e4b0e57cd9f78533
We, the People of Wendell, state that we want this 80-acre, 110-year old oak forest placed in reserve status, and classified as a zone 1 wildland pursuant to the forest management policies of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We want our forest as a living, wild and natural asset, not to be “managed” and turned into …
Read more “Save the Brook Rd. Forest in Wendell State Forest – 110 year old oak forest”
‘Rip Van Winkle’ Plants Can Hide Underground for 20 Years Rip Van Winkle, the titular ne’er-do-well of Washington Irving’s 1819 short story, famously spent 20 years napping in a forest. This lengthy slumber, apparently triggered by ghost liquor, caused Van Winkle to sleep through the American Revolutionary War. Nearly two centuries later, scientists are shedding …
Until now, scientists thought water moved through trees by osmosis, in a somewhat continuous manner. Now they’ve discovered the trunks and branches of trees are actually contracting and expanding to “pump” water up from the roots to the leaves, similar to the way our heart pumps blood through our bodies. The only difference between our …
Dear Massachusetts Supporters of the Old-Growth Forest Network, I will be visiting Massachusetts soon and hoping to see many of you there. Here are some of the details: On Sunday, April 29 at 1PM I will be visiting the beautiful Ice Glen in Stockbridge, MA. This forest has been nominated as a possible representative of …
In a Washington Post opinion piece, authors Kristine Tompkins (former CEO of Patagonia) and Tom Butler (Tompkins Conservation), explore the question, “Can we create a durable civilization in which humans become good neighbors in the community of life?” We believe we can. What do you think? #WildernessMattershttps://buff.ly/2EZak3F
Peru State Forest Hike Saturday, April 28th, 2018 10:00am-2:00pm (Rain date: Sunday, April 29 ) Lace up your boots and explore the amazing natural and cultural wonders atop Garnet Peak in Peru State Forest as we discover a special place perched along the rugged Berkshire Highlands Plateau. This strenuous 5-mile hike will follow unimproved woods …
Peru State Forest Hike Saturday April 28th 10 am to 2 pm. Meeting directions: From the east, take Route 112 Huntington, then follow Chester Hill Road and Main Road (Skyline Trail) west to Middlefield town center and continue west 4.0 miles to parking area on the right. From the west, take Route 8 in Hinsdale …
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Volunteer at a Massachusetts Park Near You! The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) invites you to attend DCR’s Annual Park Serve Day, Saturday April 29, 2017 at parks across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. With the help of volunteers, DCR will spruce up park facilities, clean coastlines, clean and maintain trails, plant flowers, and more! …
Read more “11th Annual Park Serve Day – Saturday April 29, 2017”