The recent treatment of the homeless in the State Forest has reignited another county official complaint about the state Department of Conservation and Recreation’s management of the Island’s 5,300-acre resource.
Dukes County Commissioners were not only dismayed by the state’s lack of communication with local officials before homeless encampments were cleared on July 29, but they are also concerned that, for years, they say the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest has been under-managed.
On Wednesday, commissioners unanimously voted to draft a letter voicing their complaints to the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, or DCR, outlining their concerns.
The county’s frustrations come as the state cleared a number of tents from the State Forest, which Island officials say displaced some 25 residents, including two minors.
Aside from wanting advance notice and coordination with local officials on any future actions, the commissioners plan to stress with state officials that the State Forest needs a full-time ranger living on-Island at all times to address significant fire risks, preferably living in the dwelling currently sitting empty within the forest.
The current forest superintendent, Conor Laffey, commutes to the Island, Martina Thornton, county manager, said.
“I think the condemnation of that action has been universal,” commissioner R. Peter Wharton said. “We really want to see true active management of one of the most valuable resources here on this Island, and that means, yes, having an active, live person in the forest, but also, if you’re really concerned about wildfire risk, then how about managing that resource?”
There used to be active burns and forest floor clearings, Wharton said, who also asked why there hadn’t been a species replacement for pine trees, which burn easily, as well as management of the forest’s invasive species.
Commissioner Tristan Israel said they’ve been blown off by DCR.
The effort to provide housing for a full-time State Forest staffer is not a new complaint.
Rep. Dylan Fernandes of Falmouth refiled a bill in early 2023 that asked to allow a DCR employee to take up residency in an existing house in the State Forest. Housing is not currently permitted in state forests, but the bill is an effort to make an exception for the Island.
“The department shall make available housing without charge to the superintendent of the Manuel F. Correllus state forest on Martha’s Vineyard. The housing shall be the existing house in the forest. If the superintendent elects not to live in the house, the department shall make the house available to other employees of the department who care for the forest, on the same terms,” Bill H.796, which asks for an amendment to Chapter 21 of Massachusetts General Laws, reads.
The bill was referred to the House Committee of Ways and Means on Jan. 18 of this year. The bill is currently alive, Fernandes said, but noted that it would have to be refiled if it doesn’t pass by January.
This legislation has been submitted at least once before, and commissioners have sent several letters to state lawmakers advocating for the bill’s passage.
DCR is “doing what they think is right for the forest, and it’s the way they did it that we have a problem with. I don’t think anybody thinks that reducing fire risk is a bad idea,” commissioner Doug Ruskin said.
Commissioner Randy Milch said that if the state’s going to expend resources, they should do so to help the homeless problem, “not to operate a search and destroy mission.”
“The forest is an important resource. It is under-managed, under-resourced, and those resources should be spent in a different way,” Milch said.
The State Forest was initially created as a reserve to protect the heath hen, which has since gone extinct, Christine Todd, commissioner chair, said.
“The heath hen is extinct, but the homeless are not,” Todd said.
Once the letter is drafted by a communication subcommittee, which meets on Fridays, it will be finalized and signed by Thornton and sent to DCR. Ruskin also suggested that the letter be copied to the governor, state senator, state representatives, local select boards, and posted as a letter to the editor in the papers.
Checked all the boxes…
Maura passed a bill that will increase the amount of ADUs on the island, hardness of what the real outcome and implications of that will be.
We handed out some bags with the help of the hospital.
We wrote a letter to the state asking for one house in the forest to be occupied.
Good job Island! All the boxes are checked… no more fire risk and the homeless have homes. Now let’s go back to another unresolved story like the Grey Barn or the Chabad event.
I wonder what Manny would have said about this. I know Lorraine is someone who deeply cares about all people, no exceptions.
Congratulations to the County Commissioners for recognizing a fundamental problem with the State Forest: no resident manager. DCR has been less than helpful in solving some of the Island’s problems that interact with DCR’s jurisdiction. Copying the governor is not only a good idea, but urgent. Gov. Healy has shown a welcome sensitivity to the Island’s needs, and we should lobby her on this issue.
The island is better when people commute.
It reduces islanders costs.
I can remember back in the 1970s there was an employee of the DCR? that lived in the house in the state forest. I can’t remember the mans name. I was in horticulture at MVRHS and part of our curriculum was helping out in the State forest.
When I was fire chief in West Tisbury, I cannot count on how many meetings I went to over the condition of the state forest they just don’t care. They have a building up there that was remodeled and won’t let anybody stay in it. No one has been in the fire tower, and that is our first line of defense. They really don’t care about the forest here they were more about Mild Standish. They come here and make a big deal about cleaning the brush and area around your house, but they leave the forest in distress. Just think about it there is only two truly brush trucks on the island and that is in West Tisbury. All the classes that I went to even the ones that DCR put on set two brush trucks is not enough for the island..
Moderation just post
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