Legal logging is Illegal Logging

Cut no logs. Remove no native trees or plants in Buckland State Forest

This notice is for State Foresters; not just public visitors.

Massachusetts state lands need to be completely returned to the natural landscape. All forms of logging harm the forest. Forestry oversight harms the forest. We do not know how to do oversight; we must get out. Massachusetts forestry schools will always be contributing to the degradation of state lands. They continue to teach old school forestry and resource extraction. They cannot self-regulate.

We do not need you on State lands. Forests benefits the community without being logged, hunted or open to vehicles.

From the Mohawk Trail (State Route 2) you can clearly see a totally protected set-aside species' forest in the center of these mountains above the Deerfield River. Directly on the far side of these mountains looking southwest is Buckland State Forest which is "controlled" by the State of Massachusetts employed foresters and thus it is in danger of legal logging. One can walk cross-country through the forest from one to the other.  Forest protection ends outside of the Species' Forest.

This 21st century the Commonwealth of Massachusetts could have total state land protection, but it does not. Among other things, over a century ago, State foresters created the problems with tree plantations and selective logging. And today State foresters continue this ignorance by the creation of the ugly commercial forest triage "futures" plan.

Led by entrenched commercial foresters they divided state lands into three arbitrary resource driven gerrymanders: "parks", "preserves" and "woodlots".  None of these are set-aside as species' forests and therefore none of these, including Buckland State Forest, is a returned or returning forest.

The century has just begun and the old guard is still here. If individual State Foresters do not protect the species' forests then these foresters have no business being State foresters. They should quit their day jobs let others do conservation.

"If I am a conservationist then what exactly do I conserve?"

Tree Farms of Evergreen Bad. Foresters are Wrong Again.

Buckland State Forest species' forest must be cured of tree farm past. New England forests must be returned as they were thousands of years ago. It is easy to do this. Europe leads the way for returning native forests. Massachusetts must catch up. State forestry is an embarrassment and all logging on state lands must end. 

Typical broadleaved spcies' forest ideal for Buckland State Forest.

'Wrong type of trees' in Europe increased global warming By Matt McGrath Environment correspondent, from Science  05 Feb 2016:
Vol. 351, Issue 6273, pp. 597-600 DOI: 10.1126/science.aad7270

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35496350

April 2015 Species' Forest Circuit Tour in Cooperation with Friends of Buckland State Forest

SPECIES' FOREST CIRCUIT TOUR

Welcome forest mountain guardians, ethical vegans, ethical vegetarians, ethical conservationists, writers, all progressives and vegan atheists. Free and open to the public!

April 25, 10:00 AM, rendezvous at Deerfield River overlook, visitors center, 75 Bridge Street, Shelburne Falls, MA (US) Free, Public invited.
(802) 258 7845

Towns of Buckland, Conway, Ashfield, Conway Street, Summer Street, South Street, Conway Road, Shelburne Falls Road, Wilder Hill Road, Baptist Corner Road, March Road, Bray Road, Ashfield Street, and the mountains within.

See http://maps.massgis.state.ma.us/map_ol/oliver.php .

Same weekend as: Sunday, 4/26, New England Vegfest, Worcester, MA (US)

Illegal logging in Buckland State Forest

Logging without a logging plan.

There will be a public tour by car and on foot at a selected group of mountains in Massachusetts (US). The circuit will be the shortest public road circumnavigation of the selected mountains. On this day it will be ten miles by car stopping at a variety of locations. We will visit several “conserved” forests and learn that conservation means something different to those in control. From the outside forests may simply look the same, but these forest are not protected over time. In some cases you may return in a decade or so only to find the forest logged or gone. How can that be if they are “conservation” land? What is being conserved? You will learn that only a species’ forest set-aside is returned to nature complete. Only the species’ forest is conserved, restored and preserved for the Rights of Nature. There is always some Human purpose which always harms other forests. This tour is in cooperation with Friends of Buckland State Forest.

A species’ forest is of, by and for all the other native plants, animals, fungi and soil microbes which occupy or have occupied their forest. Why does species have an apostrophe?

Species Forest, Inc. is an IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit organization organized in Massachusetts, US. Please call Richard Stafursky at (802) 258 7845 for information or email rhstafursky@yahoo.com. New Web site is http://speciesforest.blogspot.com/, 

old Web site is http://wslfconwaymausa.blogspot.com/ [World Species List]

Letters and Comments 2014

Letters and Comments

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On Oct 27, 2014, at 10:47 PM, richard stafursky <rhstafursky@yahoo.com> wrote:

Sharl,

Thanks for the note. We are at Friends of Buckland State Forest, MA (US).

Fungi at nearby Flagg Mountain ghost subdivision state land.

We probably will not come to the FN Conference Dec. 6, 2014. For the last year we have been visiting Buckland State Forest from several vantage points. Currently our purpose is to find out the extent of human impact from hunting, snowmobiles and future logging. We probably won't have a plan to get these things banned soon. These are entrenched practices that will be hard to kill, so to speak. That is unfortunate, because they do harm the species' forest of Buckland State Forest. Right next door are Flagg Mountain, the Species List Forest and lands of NEFF. All are open to the public and all can be accesses by walking.

The ghost subdivision of Flagg Mountain is rife with invasive plants. If the nightmare of logging (selective or clearcut) happens those invasives would spread via logging roads to the sun-lit logged areas. The Species List Forest to the east has just about eliminated most of the invasive plants caused by a State illegal logging plan some 21 years ago. That was eight years prior to the Species List Forest being donated. If Buckland State Forest was logged we fear it would also give invasives more than twenty years to invade the area.

Next year we plan to check out reports that there are non-native Norway pine and European larch in BSF. None of us are botanists so it may take a while to confirm this. If there are significant number of non-native trees we will have to devise a plan for their removal and a plan to prevent non-native saplings from growing again. We do not know the extent of the early 20th century tree plantation and we can't even begin to guess on how to eliminate it and return the full canopy of a species' forest in perpetuity. There are several options to choose.

At this time we have only two members of Friends of Buckland State Forest. We have informed the Buckland Town Administrator of our and concerns. She has provided us with some helpful information. We have posted at least one event, but only one person has gone with us. There is a lot of competition from other forests open to the public in the area. In order to get the community involved in defending Buckland State Forest it will take some planning. Our goal is to return the forest complete. A returned species' forest is the healthiest forest. It is best for the climate and the human community. The MSJC has made it perfectly clear that simply by being conservation land all such lands benefit the community. We believe that Buckland State Forest can and should be such a place and it should join with the existing Species' List Forest in northern Conway as a model species' forest. A species forest is of, by and for all the other native plants, animals, fungi and soil microbes that occupy or have occupied that place.

Two years ago Susan and I participated in a FN Conference in Worcester. There was no opportunity for local groups to speak. We had expected that all of the FN Conference would be for friends participation. Instead we were an audience only. In 2015 perhaps this will be different. If so, I would be glad for Susan or me to make a presentation.

Our web site is not well viewed. We are working on this, too.

Best wishes,


Friends of Buckland State Forest
Richard Stafursky
155 Belmont Avenue
Brattleboro, VT 05301
rhstafursky@yahoo.com
802 258 7845 cell


On Monday, October 27, 2014 7:06 PM, Sharl Heller <slheller@comcast.net> wrote:


Hello Richard,

How've you been? Do you have a website or facebook page that we can link to from the Friends Network newsletter and website? Hope to see you at the FN Conference Dec. 6!

Thanks,

Sharl Heller, Facilitator
The Massachusetts Forest and Park Friends Network
http://www.networkingfriends.net

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Richard,

Thank you for the update and the link. 

We listened to the suggestions of friends groups and give more time now for groups to share what they are doing with the other groups.

You have a big job on your hands with little support. Keep up the good work.

Best,

Sharl

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Buckland State Forest Friends, Buckland, MA (US) Fall 2014 Report

Buckland State Forest Friends, Buckland, MA (US)

Fall 2014 Report

It is almost October 2014 and the Buckland State species' forest will soon be in harm's way by people going there to kill native species. About this time we have seen people carrying in shooting blinds to be installed in trees. During this "season" people will go into the State Forest to kill the local native mega-fauna. Obviously, this will discourage other people from walking in this State species' forest.

The few marked foot trails here are fairly neglected. Most of them are actually old coach roads with stone walls on each side of the ways. Just after Flagg Mountain was purchased by Mass Fish & Game one of these ways was used as access by vehicle to get to the Flagg Mountain boundaries deep in the woods. This way also was used in the recent past by the owner of Flagg Mountain to mark his twenty-four unit ill-fated subdivision plan for Flagg Mountain. Unfortunately, now that Flagg Mountain and Buckland State Forest are State controlled people seeking to kill mega-fauna will no doubt access both species' forests by this one way.

People walking in the woods in the Fall should wear day-glow yellow. Blue and orange are also part of wild turkey colors and might actually put you in gun sights.

Unlike the now dedicated State Flagg Mountain with its invasive infested ghost subdivision the Buckland State Forest has fewer invasive plants. We hope that next year we will walk this species' forest to see the extent of the old tree plantation containing non-native trees. We probably will need help in identifying the non-natives. We have learned that non-native trees can self re-populate especially after trees are cut. We have spoken to State foresters and they have said that the State does not normally kill non-native tree saplings after a forest cut. Reversing the plantation damage will be difficult. If the State removes mature non-native tree species the Buckland State Forest Friends and the State can brain storm to find a way to kill the plantation foolishness of the past.

To be continued . . .