HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-01-14 Town Forest Committee Minutes rrAj Town of Reading
Meeting Minutes
Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
�
Town Forest Committee ,i12: 4u
Date: 2020-01-14 Time: 7 PM
Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Berger Room
Address: 16 Lowell Street Session:
Purpose: Version:
Attendees: Members - Present:
Bill Sullivan,Rick Wetzler,Kurt Habel, Tom Gardiner,Nancy Docktor
Members- Not Present:
Farrukh Najmi,Dan Ford,Michael Bourque
Others Present:
Phil Benjamin,lane Kinsella,Ben Ream
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: NDocktor
Topics of Discussion:
Bill Sullivan called Town Forest Committee to order and opened Public Hearing on Proposed
Town Forest Thinning Project at 7pm.
Bill Sullivan, Chair, gave presentation of Town Forest Thinning Pilot Project. Phil Benjamin,
Forester, and lane Kinsella, DPW Dept Head, answered questions regarding safety and
public notification of project.
Public Hearing was closed at 7:50pm.
Agenda for next Town Forest Committee meeting was discussed. Meeting ended at Spm.
Page 1 1
1/is/2020
Reading Town Forest Pilot Thinning
To improve the health of the Town Forest by selective tree removal
Public Hearing January 14,2020
nAM
r �
1
xr
Dead Trees at Council Ring
1
>
i
Ip. • �I
I
1/15/2020
Buckthorn Invasive Species
Forest Management Plan 2010
•All-Ages Management—3 age classes
• Seedlings and saplings
• Poles 4"to 9"in diameter
• More mature trees larger than 9"
• Healthiest forests have all ages of trees
•TF planted as a plantation in 1930s in dense rows of primarily pine trees
• Periodically harvested for many years,but not now
• Result is areas of monoculture with old trees very close together
• Will become vulnerable to environmental stresses
• Droughts
• Disease such as Red Pine scale
• Insects
• Fire
• Plan recommended selective tree removal in order to balance the age and size
classes of trees in the Town Forest to better prepare the forest to withstand
natural disasters
3
1/15/2020
Current Efforts
-TFC retained a certified forester to develop a proposed
pilot tree thinning program as recommended in the
Forest Management Plan
•Create openings in the canopy to add sunlight to the
forest floor to facilitate the growth of saplings
•Remove about 25% in most areas, and 50% of Red
Pines
•Better to remove old trees before they die
•Location
-As indicated on trail Map
-About 4.5 acres in two areas x
•Buckthorn removal
3 - -
+ Town Fonsi e
�Y M
.wx
� t
4
t/t5/zozo
The Logger Will:
•Drop marked trees with a Feller Buncher
•Use a skidder to bring trees to chipper or trimmer
•Use a log truck to bring logs to the Compost area
where logs will be transferred to larger trucks for
delivery to a saw mill
•Total of 586 trees to be removed
Equipment: Feller Buncher
9
I
5
1/15/2020
Frozen Ground will help minimize impact
npirdg,-.
s Y
v5Ome VI 1 alFef
7
1/is/zona
State andLI
Reading
Conservation
Commission s
approvals -_
have been -- --`
received - --6 with = — —----
conditions —
Next Steps
•Award the contract
•Conduct the thinning in February
•Remove buckthorn in the spring
8
1/15/2020
Questions?
-Certified Forester Philip Benjamin
-Town Forest Committee
• Mike Bourque
• Nancy Docktor
• Dan Ford
•Tom Gardiner
• Kurt Habel
• Farrukh Najmi
•Bill Sullivan
• Rick Wetzler
9