HomeMy WebLinkAbout1966-04-02 Town Forest Committee Minutes 6
During dry seasons a fire watch has been in foroe, and
prior to the Christmas season, a watch has been kept to
protect loss and damage to pine and spruce trees.
The Committee has obtained for their records, maps and
copies of deeds to the various lots of the Town Forest .
The ladies of the Reading Garden Club have run guided
tours and bird walks in the Town Forest during the year.
They have planted and oared for wild flowers and shrubs
in suitable areas. The Boy Scouts dug a water hole so the
ladies could water their new plants .
The Boy Scants have used the new area which had been
assigned to them by the Selectmen car August 20, 1962.
They hiked and studied conservatiomm and nature in the
whole Forest . Cleaning land and removing dead limbs has
been their Good Turn.
The Town Forest Committee has worked closely with the
Conservation Commission for the benefit of all persons
in Reading,, not only for the present , but also for future
generations.
Respectfully submitted,
James F. Perry, Chairman
Benjamin E. Nichols, Secretary
Maurice H. Donegan
Town Forest Committee
Notice of regular meeting of Town Forest Committee to be
held at Fire Station No . 2 , 267 Woburn Street , Reading, Masa.
onSaturday, April 2 , 1966 at 10;00 AM was posted on bulletin
board in Town Building.
Meeting was held as scheduled with following members present :
James S. Perry , Chairman
Benjamin E . Nichols , Secretary
Maurice H. Donegan
The committee was organized for year of 1966 with the same
persona holding the same offices.
Tl$e Secretary's report of the meeting of December 21 , 1964
was read and approved.
A motion was made , seconded and voted on to oontinue the
practice of town forest improvement in 1966, as reoommanded
by Willard H. Estee , Jr. , Forester for the Division of Forests
and Parke, Department of Natural Resources, The Commonwealth
of Massachusetts in his letter of December 8, 1964 . This
letter is included in this book between Pages No. 6 , and
No . 7.
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The sum of $1,600.00 was voted by the Annual Town Meeting
in March 1966 for town forest improvements.
A formal request was filed on January 14, 1966 with the
United States Department of Agriculture , Agricultural
Stabilization and Conservation Service for partial
reimbursement of costs for "Forest Improvement" for the
Program Year 1966.
The problem of maintaining a "Fire Watch" during the
fishing seasory , which opens April 16 , 1966 was discussed.
Men will be hired to work on forest improvement during this !,
period., and will maintain a "Fire Natch" as part of their
duties.
Current bills were approved covering chain saw maintenance .
During the late winter, there were heavy wet snow canditions
which bent some of the white and red pines . An inspection of
the Forest shows that after the snow had melted from the
trees , most of them went back to an upright condition, and
the trees came through in very good shape . Only a few trees
were broken completely, and these had to be removed.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:05 AM.
BSay 19 , 1966
The Reading Chronicle carried the following article :
BOY SCOUTS PLANT TREES IN FOREST
Four hundred trees were planted in the Reading Town
Forest by Boy Scouts of Troop 702 on Saturday. These
were added to the many thousand trees which have been
similarly planted since the Town Forest was started
in April 1936 . (The correct date is 1930)
Craig Blockwick planned and carried out this project.
The Boy Scouts working with h.m included: Don Gagnon,
Stan Bales ,Chrie Bales, Tom Darrin, Steve Carter,
Jim Halfyard, Jackie ^ebster and Gary Rultgren.
The Siwanis Club furnished the small saplings. There were
one hundred each of Red Pine , White Spruce , Norway Spruce
and Balsam Fir.
a Tree Warden Donegan chose s section in the Ordway Pit Area
of the Town Forest for the Planting. Mr. Donegan is a
member of the Town Forest Committee, and the other two
members of this Committee, Fire Chief James Perry and
Benjamin Nichola helped the Scouts in this conservation
program.