State officials are planning to clear out some 32 acres of white pines in the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest in an effort to allow more native species to return, and to mitigate wildfire risks, a project that some Islanders have pushed back against.
The Department of Conservation and Recreation, which manages the over-5,300-acre forest, is looking to replant 175 acres of woods into sandplain heathlands and barrens consisting of scrub oak and pitch pine.
As part of the plan, DCR wants to clear pine planted on the Island between the 1930s and 1990 for the lumber industry.
Paul Gregory, the department’s Southeast district forester, said white pines have “overpowered” indigenous plant species, such as oaks.
Originally proposed in 2022, the first year of the project would tackle a 79-acre area in Edgartown where there are 32 acres of white pine plantations.
The exact timeline and costs of the whole project have not been determined yet. But the state held a tour recently that “culminates a public process” which included a public meeting and a written comment period.
Under the proposal, the state plans to remove non-native trees and replace them with species more compatible with the rare creatures that make the forest their home, like the eastern whip-poor-will and the imperial moth — both listed in the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act. Additionally, the newly planted species will be “fire-dependent,” making prescribed burns and mechanical mowing easier. Replanting and managing native plant species will also make it easier to decrease the amount of material that can start fires in the forest.
“We’re trying to make up for … the lack of management,” Conor Laffey, the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest superintendent, said during a tour on Thursday, Nov. 7. Islanders have been calling for improved management of the State Forest for decades, Bob Woodruff, a member of Friends of M.F. Correllus State Forest, and former director of the Vineyard Conservation Society, told The Times. That cry intensified recently after the department cleared a homeless encampment in the forest this August, a move widely criticized by Islanders.
Thursday’s tour started at the southern end of Fire Road 12, which meets Edgartown–West Tisbury Road. The group of around 20 Vineyard officials and residents got a look at three areas where the state was planning to conduct its project, including wooded spots on Red Trail and on Fire Road 11.
At each spot, department officials told Vineyarders about the goals of the project and the boost of biodiversity it would bring.
“There’ll still be a forest; we’ll just be getting rid of species that shouldn’t be here,” Gregory said. He also said similar habitat management projects have been done before, such as removal of red pine more than 10 years ago in the State Forest.
Despite Gregory’s efforts to assure Islanders about the project’s soundness, attendees questioned the state’s approach.
Several attendees were concerned about the carbon footprint from the project, which would bring in equipment like skidders and tree chippers to remove the white pine trees. Many of the wood chips would need to be transported off the Island due to the large amount expected to be produced in the process.
The carbon emissions from the project were something the state had not calculated, Gregory said. Still, he said there would be an effort to keep as much material on the Island so the wood could also be used locally.
The diversification of plant species in the forest would make the environment more resilient to pests and diseases that are “likely to worsen” from climate change, according to the state.
Still, there were worries over the addition of pitch pine in the planned barren habitats. David Foster, director emeritus of the Harvard Forest, who authored a 1999 report on the management of the Vineyard’s State Forest, said this tree species was not common on the Island, nor does it have a history of growing on the Island before the white pine plantations. He also pointed to the risk of Southern pine beetles, an invasive insect that forced the clear-cutting of pitch pine in forests like Phillips Preserve in Tisbury.
Additionally, some attendees were concerned about the disturbance the work would bring to the animals living in the project sites, alongside soil disturbances. According to Gregory, there may be some disturbances to wildlife, but the project would ultimately be a benefit to the forest ecosystem. And the department plans to avoid soil disturbance during its work.
Some questioned the need for the project altogether. Ben Robinson, a Tisbury representative to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, pointed out that native plants like oak and blueberries have grown between the white pine areas. He advocated for letting nature take its course.
Gregory said the project areas were not at their “full potential” as rare species’ habitats, saying the project was a return to the native species before the white pine were planted.
Vineyarders who heard of the plan also wrote letters to the editor and the state protesting the proposition.
