To the Editor:
Comprising more than 5,200 acres, Manuel F. Correllus State Forest (MCSF) is the largest and most important conservation land on Martha’s Vineyard. This site supports important coastal sandplain habitats, including globally rare pitch pine scrub oak barrens, that have many unique and specialized plants and animals. Given the importance of the State Forest for protecting this special wildlife, this task force endorses its ecological restoration. Toward that end, we support the removal of artificial conifer plantations and the restoration of native habitat. A plan to remove 175 acres of white pine plantation is currently under development by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), to be administered by their forest managers. In addition to restoring native habitat, this work would satisfy a legal requirement from MassWildlife’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP). Our support for ongoing land stewardship at MCSF is founded on the following benefits to Islanders and nature:
- Fire safety. Island fire chiefs report that wildfire in low, native vegetation and under oaks can be fought with the Island’s existing equipment, but not crown fires in highly flammable, densely planted pine plantations. Such crown fires may throw embers into nearby residences. High wind and drought conditions, increasingly common with climate change, compound this concern. Maui and Los Angeles are our red flags. Restoration of native vegetation in concert with ongoing fuel management is proven proactive wildfire risk mitigation.
- Regional importance. At the turn of the last century, the Nature Conservancy estimated that more than 90 percent of coastal sandplain ecosystems had been lost since the middle of the 19th century across the Northeastern U.S. For example, just 65 acres remain in Long Island, which once boasted 60,000 acres of sandplain communities. Thus, our State Forest’s importance extends beyond the shores of Martha’s Vineyard.
- Biodiversity conservation. Of all the coastal sandplain lands left in the state, NHESP has identified our State Forest as having one of the highest concentrations of state-listed rare species in the commonwealth, as well as some of the Vineyard’s highest biodiversity. This is a direct result of the large, relatively high-integrity examples of barrens natural communities in the State Forest. By contrast, the plantations within the State Forest are unnatural, do not support this specialized biodiversity, and represent a long-term threat to the integrity of the varied native natural communities inside the forest. White pine is a common species in several mainland ecosystems, covering thousands of square miles, where it fulfills important recreational and ecological roles in its native habitat in natural systems. Yet this species is disruptive to our rare sandplain systems found on the Island.
- Ecosystem services. Native vegetation supports native wildlife, and native wildlife provides most of the ecosystem services on which Vineyarders rely, including pollination, natural regulation of pests and pathogens (both increasing with climate change), and soil complexity.
- Carbon and biodiversity. Both white pines and native shrubs and trees (such as oaks) sequester carbon, helpful to mitigating climate change. However, the carbon tradeoffs with restoration are not well understood. Given that there is also a biodiversity crisis, the oaks that will regenerate will support far more wildlife species and provide greater ecosystem services.
For example, oaks feed more than 500 species of moths and butterflies in North America (not to mention many other birds, mammals, and other species). Oaks are widely considered the tree of life for the insects and birds they support, where in contrast, a plantation planting of a single species of pine hosts far less diversity. Monocultures, in general, are also very susceptible to pests and pathogens; little genetic resistance can be found in a single species of trees. Moreover, many of the plantations’ white pines are already in physical decline. - Invasion control. White pine and other conifer tree species proliferated as artificial plantations, but have since become the seed source for invasion of those species into the surrounding natural areas, where they are further impacting native habitat. Weeding new seedlings from natural areas will be a labor-intensive task, but also a necessary one that is supported by DCR and NHESP. Leaving deliberately planted pine plantations to degrade natural areas is not “letting nature take its course”; it is neglect. Both removal scenarios — of dense plantations and encroaching white pines — deserve attention in the name of restoring our barrens vegetation communities.
- Sustainability. Decades of experience by state agencies and many conservation organizations have resulted in spectacular and sustainable recovery of significant native vegetation, and many native species on and off the Vineyard. These stewards know how to restore and maintain sandplains, and have the resources to do so. Much of it can be done by our State Forest superintendent, with equipment already found and methods already used in other parts of the State Forest.
- Climate adaptation. Because of climate change, other important coastal sandplain conservation lands on the south shore of the Island, such as on Long Point Wildlife Refuge, will see their habitat change owing to sea level rise and erosion. Removal of pine plantations and restoration of native vegetation will provide habitat for coastal species to migrate inland.
- Controlled emission. While the mechanical removal of the white pines will result in the release of some carbon dioxide, it can be lessened by conversion into timber and biochar. Conversely, runaway wildfire beyond the plantations will release vastly more carbon dioxide, as well as threaten human life and property. Dangerous drought and high wind conditions already prevail in the summer months, and climate predictions indicate they will worsen over time.
- Cultural heritage. Finally, we believe the special habitats of the State Forest are one of the Vineyard’s most iconic landscapes, and that it is a cultural right of all Islanders to experience its vistas, wildlife and recreational values.
MCSF Task Force
The MCSF Task Force includes Martha’s Vineyard Commission, Friends of the State Forest, Edgartown Fire Department, West Tisbury Fire Department, the Nature Conservancy, Vineyard Conservation Society, BiodiversityWorks, Polly Hill Arboretum, and Village and Wilderness.
