SHUTESBURY — Residents, town officials and the legislative delegation are raising concerns about a proposed forest management plan for land at the edge of the Quabbin Reservoir that could involve removing many tall white pines using large equipment and impacting recreational trails.

Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, and Rep. Aaron Saunders, D-Ludlow, recently sent a letter on behalf of constituents to the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Brian Arrigo objecting to aspects of the Division of Water Supply Protection’s Office of Watershed Management project on what is known by the state as Lot NS-25-02.

“Constituents respectfully request that alternatives include more selective cutting, smaller equipment and other access points to remove logs are explored to minimize impact on recreation trails and Cornwell Road used and enjoyed by Shutesbury residents,” the letter from Comerford and Saunders reads.

The state recently published a 12-page summary of the work that would take place on the 77-acre site, situated between Camel Brook and Cooleyville Road in Shutesbury, by forester Richard G. MacLean.

“This proposal seeks to advance overall watershed goals of increasing age and species diversity through harvest. Species diversity will be improved by harvesting areas with low species diversity while retaining underrepresented species. Age diversity goals will be pursued by opening the forest canopy over existing regeneration and providing open patches with high sunlight to create opportunities for new regeneration to establish,” the summary reads.

It continues: “This proposal contains a prominent hill, vulnerable to high wind disturbance, that has a stand of tall even aged white pine on it. Introducing openings at the top of the hill, with thinning in between openings, will provide an opportunity for new regeneration to grow and increase the resiliency of that area to large scale wind disturbance.”

During a Select Board meeting on Dec. 17, Select Board Chairwoman Rita Farrell said the proposal for significant cutting and more mechanized removal of trees than in the past is concerning because the state controls so much land in town. The worries include potential runoff from areas where trees are removed, and impacts on recreational uses for hikers and hunters.

Comerford said she listened to what residents on Cornwell Road told her, and that she long opposed clear-cutting by DCR. “We were very persuaded at the concerns,” Comerford said.

“We were only as smart as the good people who brought this to our attention,” Comerford said. “I think this should be considered the first of what will be many conversations with DCR.”

Comerford and Saunders’ letter also cites a recent guest commentary in the Greenfield Recorder from Bruce Spencer of New Salem, chief forester for Quabbin Reservoir from 1965 to 2006, who observed that “white pines are again rising above the supporting oaks, maples, and hemlocks as they did in the past” in the Quabbin, Ware River and Wachusett watersheds.

Spencer wrote that Quabbin foresters see the trees as a source of potential lumber revenue, with the state watersheds putting out six timber sales in June 2024 without public review.

“Considering the threat to the forest caused by insects, pathogens and climate change, it’s important to preserve these healthy trees so they can continue to provide watershed services and the public can enjoy their grandeur. Given that the goal of watershed forestry is maintaining water quality and not revenue, we need to hear from the public before these majestic trees are gone from the landscape,” Spencer wrote.

Comerford told the Select Board that during her six years in the Legislature, she has enjoyed her visits to “beautiful” Shutesbury.

“Until they cut all those trees down,” said Select Board member Eric Stocker, who will be drafting a letter on behalf of the Select Board to state officials with the town’s concerns about the forest management plan.

Other topics

Comerford’s visit touched on other topics as well, such as her proposal for a statewide task force to see what funding can be provided regionalizing services in small towns, including public safety, and her work with Greenfield Community College on the creation of a police academy.

She is also pushing for better funding for education, with many communities in danger of not being able to fully fund their schools. “Towns will reach a cliff, and it’s pretty dangerous to contemplate that without an answer,” Comerford said.

Support from the state leaders is critical on a range of issues, including climate change, she said.

“The state should have a stake in this, because we are 351 cities and towns,” Comerford said, observing that communities in the Quabbin watershed are also affected by what she termed a “frozen economy,” due to the limited development allowed within the water supply area.