SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY
A Clear-Cut Controversy
from the Boston Globe (Registration Required)
PETERSHAM -- As Chris Matera reached a barren hilltop on state land near the Quabbin Reservoir, he swept his arm toward 2 acres of oak stumps and scattered gray tree skeletons. "This is a clear-cut," the Northampton resident said angrily. "Is this really what the public wants on its land?"
Matera and other conservationists have found and photographed similarly altered landscapes across Central and Western Massachusetts: a 50-acre opening on October Mountain. More than 15 acres in Savoy State Forest. Swaths near Windsor Jambs State Park and Chester-Blandford State Forest with virtually every tree gone. A patchwork of half-acre to 2-acre clear-cuts on other Quabbin lands.
... The controversy is occurring as logging and preservation interests increasingly collide in the Northeast's forests, most of which were once abandoned farmland. ... How Massachusetts--the nation's eighth-most-forested state and the third-most-densely populated--resolves that conflict could serve as an example for other Eastern states.
Read more...
Science in the Media
Newspapers:
Magazines and Web Sites:
The Science-Media Intersection:
Subscribe to Our Content!
Visit our RSS Feeds page to choose among 13 customized feeds, or create a free My AmSci account to request an email notice whenever a specified author, department or discipline appears online.