Don Ogden: Stop logging in the Quabbin watershed

Yan Krukau/via Pexels

Published: 12-29-2024 11:04 AM

I just read ( "Comerford, Saunders amplify Shutesbury objections to DCR’s Quabbin cutting plans" Gazette, Dec. 24) that some neighbors of the Quabbin watershed opposed to removal of some white pines "… respectfully request that alternatives include more selective cutting, smaller equipment and other access points to remove logs are explored to minimize impact on recreation trails and Cornwell Road used and enjoyed by Shutesbury residents ...” 

To me this sounds like asking way too little from an agency that has been decimating our public lands for far too long. We are in the midst of a climate crisis and one of the few options available to pushback is the natural carbon capture provided for free by our forests. Those forests also provide water purification, cooling, habitat and other benefits day after day. We should be demanding no logging in the watershed and no more road building and soil compacting. DCR claims they do "climate smart forestry" (after decades of never mentioning climate at all) when in fact they are doing the opposite. Their greenwashing and obfuscation is revealed in Gov. Maura Healey's "Climate Forestry Committee: Recommendations for Climate-Oriented Forest Management Guidelines" in which even some foresters agreed there should not be logging in watersheds! Time is running out. The climate crisis is getting worse. Stop the logging!

Don Ogden, The Enviro Show

Florence

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