To the Editor:
Correllus State Forest is one of 38 forest reserves in Massachusetts, the Island’s keystone conservation property, and a treasured community asset carrying multiple layers of meaning in Islanders’ individual histories.
Today, the State Forest is threatened, not by climate or development, but by the state agencies entrusted with stewarding it: the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW), and the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP). The agencies plan to clear-cut 175 acres of mature white pine plantations to create a highly flammable “barrens” landscape of scrub oak, grass, and pitch pine. The plan runs counter to established state and societal priorities on climate change and the environment, and has not engaged the local community, state advisory committees, or climate-oriented forestry recommendations.
Below, I share concerns, an alternative path for low-intensity management, and one request: that the state engage with the Vineyard community to develop a plan that addresses climate change, the reserve status of the State Forest, and its central role in supporting the Island’s well-being.
Major concerns with the clearcutting plan
Extreme environmental impact. The destruction of intact forest ecosystems will interrupt natural succession; destroy native vegetation, habitat, soils and below-ground communities; and encourage invasive plants and pitch pine, which is vulnerable to the Southern Pine Beetle. Photographs from the Phillips Preserve, which was recently managed in an environmentally destructive fashion with support by DFW, DCR, and NHESP, illustrate the concern with clearcutting.
Major climate consequences. The plan ignores the 2024 recommendations and state endorsement of the State-appointed Climate Forestry Committee. It will destroy one of the island’s most carbon-rich forests and generate perpetual carbon release through fire and mowing.
Enhancement of the fire threat to neighboring communities. Findings from the State-funded UMass study “The Modern and Historic Fire Regimes of Central Martha’s Vineyard” completely contradict the plan, indicating that older forests reduce fire risk while “barrens” increase it:
“Scrub oak barrens exhibit the most extreme fire behavior of all sandplain vegetation found in the MFCSF.”
“The rate of fire spread in young plantations is less than that in scrub oak areas that are likely to revegetate these areas if the conifers are removed; as these plantations mature, rates of spread will decrease further.”
“Although many old plantations will begin to fall apart in the next 50 years, the fire danger in these areas will not increase substantially … Thus fuels management in these plantations is of lower priority [than] external [fire] breaks.”
“Although large fires were present on the forest in the past, the lack of fire [since 1946] has fundamentally changed fuel beds, stand structure and the role of fire on MFCSF. Without fire, 27 percent of the forest’s vegetation has developed into mature oak woodlands. The closed canopies of these stands serve to limit the development of large, intense fires.”
Failure by the agencies and MVC Task Force to cite this state study undermine the plan’s credibility.
Management for a degraded historical condition. There is no evidence that barrens and sandplain grasslands were a natural feature in New England before European arrival. All sandplain grasslands occupy abandoned farm pastures. Barrens resulted from colonial deforestation and fire.
The Vineyard’s indigenous population thrived in and exerted minimal impact on a forested landscape. The large fires of the 18th and 19th centuries were the product of European colonization.
The NHESP directive for environmentally destructive practices — clear-cutting, soil destruction, fire, and endless mowing — dates from 2001, and should be completely rethought.
Lack of review by the Forest Reserve Science Advisory Committee (FRSAC). DCR Reserves are intended to be managed passively, with exceptions reviewed with the FRSAC. Statements from FRSAC members confirm that this plan was never presented and reviewed.
An alternative plan for climate, biodiversity, the environment, and recreation. This low-intensity alternative draws on the Foster & Motzkin (1999) and Mouw (2002) studies. It allows natural processes to prevail, enhancing carbon sequestration, reducing fire danger, maintaining biodiversity, and accommodating passive recreation.
Passive management for natural processes and reduced fire danger. Allow all forests, including plantations, to develop through natural succession and disturbance to create a diverse array of mature and old-growth forest ecosystems currently missing on the Vineyard. Fire danger will continue to decline, as older forests hold moisture, reduce wind speeds, and suppress flammable ground fuels.
Passive management should be followed when trees die from Southern Pine Beetle, Beech Leaf Disease or wind. Phillips Preserve, a Sheriff’s Meadow property in Tisbury, illustrates that harvesting is expensive, exacerbates environmental damage, and requires restoration. Forests damaged by insects or hurricanes add natural variation to ecosystems and landscapes.
Infrequent low-intensity management for biodiversity in scrub-oak bottoms. Scrub-oak shrublands support rare species and are maintained by frost action that inhibits tree growth. Occasional light management could sustain these habitats. The extreme fire danger from this highly flammable fuel type will be constrained by surrounding forests.
Frequent, high-intensity management of fire lanes. Fire lanes are necessary, but were unfortunately widened by the state in 2000, encouraging the establishment of pitch pinegrass and rare plants. Regular mowing is required to maintain these and reduce fire hazard.
Low-intensity management for aesthetics. Bucket trucks along roadways and hand tools in native vegetation can be used to control unwanted tree growth with little associated environmental damage. Most felled trees can be simply left.
Support fire chiefs and communities in making FIREWISE safe neighborhoods. The state, local governments, and neighborhood associations should assist neighboring residents in recognizing their personal responsibility to make properties safe and minimize the spread of accidental fires into the State Forest.
David Foster
Martha’s Vineyard
David Foster is former director (1990–2020) of the Harvard Forest; former member of the State Climate Forestry Committee and MVC Task Force; and author of “Historical Influences on the Landscape of Martha’s Vineyard: Perspectives on Managing Correllus State Forest” (Harvard University, 1999).
