TNC welcomes Massachusetts' new management framework for 311,000 acres of public land, including sustainable timber production on 122,108 acres of woodlands

Allison Oesterle

BOSTON, Massachusetts , April 9, 2012 (press release) – The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts welcomes today’s announcement of new landscape designations for 311,000 acres of public land owned and managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

“At The Nature Conservancy, we think these new landscape designations will provide a lasting management foundation for the future of Massachusetts’ forests and the vast array of benefits they provide,” said Wayne Klockner, executive director of The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts. “Forests provide critical habitat for wildlife; they remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; and they provide myriad benefits to people from forest products we all use to opportunities for recreation.”

The three landscape designations are: reserves, where wild forests will be allowed to develop, and timber harvesting is excluded; parklands, where recreation is the focus and timber harvesting is excluded; and woodlands that are harvested and managed as model forests for sustainable timber production .

The designations, which were adopted Friday by the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Stewardship Council at a public meeting in Holyoke, create 111,227 acres of reserves, 77,331 acres of parklands and 122,108 acres of woodlands.

The designations follow a rigorous, three-year, science-based process that included two rounds of public hearings statewide and subsequent comment periods.

For more information from the Department of Conservation and Recreation, please visit: http://www.mass.gov/dcr/ld/landscapedesignations.htm

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than 1 million members have protected nearly 120 million acres worldwide. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.

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