The Conway State Forest (CSF) was designated as Woodland in the Massachusetts Division of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Designation Process. I actually support this process as it creates Reserves (largely unmanaged) and Parklands (managed for recreation.) These will consist of 60% of our state lands managed by the DCR. While I tend to think that 100% of DCR managed lands should be Reserve or Parkland, it is a step in the right direction. I am trying to get people to write to the DCR to urge them to classify the CSF as Reserve or Parkland. More on that and sample letter will be supplied later.
I met some of the forestry supervisors, both on the state land side and service side that we experienced problems with in regard to the Town Farm logging project. It was helpful to me that the service forest supervisor asked me what I thought they could have done different. It certainly helped my frustration with this project to at least feel heard. After speaking with these folks face to face, I am cautiously optimistic that DCR has turned a corner and will be more responsive to citizen concerns about specific projects and problems.
