A plan to eventually cut almost 200 acres in the State Forest is full steam ahead as the state department that oversees the area recently issued a request to vendors for the price of the work to be done.
The state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) issued a request for quotes Monday for Phase 1 of the Manuel Correllus State Forest (MCSF) Plantation Removal and Restoration Project. This comes a few weeks after the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) Office, which conducts reviews of environmental impacts of development projects, restarted progress on the plan that was under scrutiny, after some Islanders noticed a required environmental impact report had never been completed.
Assistant Secretary Tori Kim issued a six-page advisory opinion on the matter on Dec. 26, stating that earlier processes and other documents were sufficient to stand in the place of the mandatory environmental impact report.
After Islanders brought attention to the absent environment impact report, the DCR pushed the issue toward MEPA. The DCR said in early December that it planned to issue bids to choose a vendor for the project over the winter, and a spokesperson for the DCR said in early January that the department would update the timeline based on the advisory opinion.
The advisory opinion also said the state department must submit a forest management plan, which is not a new requirement, that describes operations and maintenance activities as well as habitat management activities, such as plantation removal, invasive species control, and prescribed fire, by Dec. 31, 2026. The DCR was also told to make that plan available for public comment through a public notice in the Environmental Monitor, a publication that provides notice of projects under review.
The department said that it plans to issue the notice to proceed, which is granted to a contractor when they are awarded the bid, next month, and that work will be completed later this spring. The request for quotes was posted on the state’s procurement website, COMMBUYS. Responses are due by Friday, Jan. 30, and the request for quotes indicates that the estimated duration of the project is two months and the estimated cost for labor is $50,000. The anticipated completion date is April 30, 2026. The request also requires that the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) receive a predetermined amount of sawlogs (not to exceed 5,000 board feet) from the contractor.
Phase 1 of the plan, which hopes to restore native species to the forest, focuses on 52 acres out of the total 175 acres of white pine plantations slated to be cut by 2035. The work for Phase 1, which will be monitored to inform future forest management, includes four three-acre areas and another 40-acre area.
The DCR and the Martha’s Vineyard Commission’s MCSF Task Force plan to explore ways to repurpose the harvested wood products locally. The request for quotes also requires at least 25 percent of the felled wood remain on the Island.
“Today, DCR has issued the bid for our plan to create a healthier ecosystem and reduce wildfire risk in Manuel Correllus State Forest by removing a portion of the white pine plantation and restoring the forest’s native barrens oak woodland communities,” a DCR spokesperson said in a statement. “This work will improve the long-term health of the forest that is home to one of the highest concentrations of rare species in the state. We look forward to continuing to work with the task force and local community as this work progresses.”
However, some Islanders aren’t satisfied by Kim’s opinion, and have written to her about it. This group of Islanders wants more transparency in the project’s approval process, and feels that the environmental impact report is paramount. They said they may consider a legal review of the matter.
