Save the Notch Reservoir Forest and Bellows Pipe Trail from Logging

A Petition to officials of the Town of North Adams, the new England Forestry Foundation, the Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership and Mass Audubon.org. We, the undersigned, want to preserve the Notch Reservoir Town Forest and immediately and fully STOP the proposed logging project referred to as "the forest stewardship plan.” 

Why this petition matters

This beautiful and historic forest in North Adams, Massachusetts in under threat of destruction by logging. Instead of quiet, peaceful stands of trees leading to a reservoir that feels like a pristine northern lake inhabited by beaver, deer and bear, it will be turned into a muddy field bisected by logging roads and skid trails and will never fully heal from this degradation. The proposed project will destroy the peaceful nature of the famous Bellows Pipe Trailhead for decades. 

The area proposed for "selection harvest" is currently a healthy forest of mixed species and age, with the successional generations uniformly of native species. The trees marked for harvest are widely distributed, on a steep slope. All slopes in the forest lead directly into the only public water supply for the town. Heavy logging equipment access throughout that area will inevitably damage the trees intended to be saved, of all ages, as well as destroy the understory vegetation including tree seedlings and younger growth.

This 1067-acre forest is of environmental and cultural importance to the residents of North Adams and to the thousands of visitors to the Greylock State Reservation and hikers, cross-county skiers, and bicyclers of the Bellows Pipe Trail, and the people who enjoy and value the quiet natural beauty of this historic area, the current abundance of wildlife, and the quality of the Notch Reservoir water supply. 

Logging Spin and Propaganda

Townspeople have been misled by timber industry propaganda presented representatives of the Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership, Mass Audubon.org, and the New England Forestry Foundation who state these changes are necessary for “climate resiliency” and “early successional habitat.” In fact, there is no current climate emergency that requires destruction of this pristine forest. Logging will only exacerbate any future forest issues associated with climate change:

“The Committee generally agreed that passive management would confer greater increases in carbon stocks compared with active management.” – Report of the Healey Administration, Climate Forestry Commission

"There is no conservation reason for creating early successional habitat. There is much more of it nowadays than there ever was in pre-Colonial times. It's a bogus argument, ginned up as an excuse for more logging. But their argument could work with a gullible public,” -John Terborgh, Worldwide Leading Conservation Biologist

“Cutting forests serves human desires for wood and money, but except for rare and specific cases, logging is not ‘needed’ to ‘help’ the forest as is often claimed by those who stand to benefit by cutting it,” - https://www.maforests.org/Timberspeak.pdf - Logging Spin and Propaganda

Lack of transparency

Town officials did not make a fair and viable communication of their intentions for this forest with abutting residents and townspeople, or with any group which regularly hikes the Bellows Pipe Trail. Because of the lack of public relations efforts by the town, time is now of the essence and the logging plan is scheduled to be implemented in December 2024. 

Negative impacts on recreation 

The Notch Reservoir Forest contains the beginning of the Bellows Pipe Trail that leads directly through the abutting historic Mount Greylock Reserve and to the historic Bellows Pipe lean-to. The world-renowned Appalachian Trail runs only one-half mile away and directly parallel to the Notch Reservoir Forest. Any logging activity in this sensitive area will create large open mud slicks that run into the reservoir and will change the current peaceful forest experience for generations of visitors. The popular Bellows Pipe Trail will be closed for months or years and will never reopen as a viable hiking trail. 

Forest fragmentation

Proposed selective cutting of older trees and small clear-cuts will result in forest fragmentation and worsen the condition of the forest and weaken its ability to withstand climate change. This project will destroy the integrity of a currently dense forest for decades and destroy the habitats of the bear, deer, turkeys, migrating and resident birds, beaver, salamanders and so many other animals that currently make this forest their home. And it will significantly and negatively change the recreational experience of this forest for generations.

Soil Erosion 

Most of the Notch Reservoir Forests is on land that slopes directly down to the reservoir that serves as the Town of North Adams ONLY drinking water supply. The area is replete with underground streams and is very rocky. Removing undergrowth, the existing deep forest floor, and roots of vegetation will create a slick, uncontrollable mud and silt flow into their reservoir and down into the Notch Brook that leads down into the popular Cascades hiking trail. The increased dirt in the already stressed old outflow culverts at the corners of the Reservoir will lead to forest and trail area being continuously wet and muddy while polluting the town’s water supply:

"Soil erosion in an undisturbed forest is extremely low, generally under 1 mg ha−1 yr−1 (0.5 ton/acre/year). Disturbances, however, can dramatically increase soil erosion to levels exceeding 100 mg ha−1 yr−1 (50 tons/acre/year). These disturbances include natural events such as wildfires and mass movements and human-induced disturbances such as road construction and timber harvesting. Soil erosion, combined with other impacts from forest disturbance, such as soil compaction, can reduce forest sustainability and soil productivity." (USDA Forest Service RMRS - Moscow, Idaho)

Increased ATV and snowmobile activity

For decades, the Bellows Pipe Trail and Notch Reservoir Forest has provided a peaceful, pristine hiking area for residents and visitors to the area. The trail leads into state forests that surround the historic Greylock Mountain and Appalachian Trail cross-over trails. It is inappropriate to turn this pristine forest and Bellows Pipe Trail into a logging “demonstration forest” as proposed. A demonstration forest means continued logging activity and will permanently destroy the peaceful nature of this treasured public recreation resource. New logging roads and skid trails will open the area to ATVs and snowmobiles which will further erode the soil and disrupt the surrounding neighborhoods. 

Further degradation of Reservoir Road

Reservoir Road is very narrow and currently pocked with frost heaves, potholes, and gravel-fills. It is already difficult to navigate for motor vehicles and bicycles. Increased use of the road by logging vehicles will further degrade the road and make it increasingly impassable for residents living on Reservoir Road, snow-clearing vehicles, and visitors driving up to the North Adams entrance to Mount Greylock.

We urge the Town of North Adams create a naturally wild recreational reserve at the Notch Reservoir Forest and Bellows Pipe Trailhead.

Preserving the Notch Reservoir Town Forest should be part of a larger, positive movement to permanently protect scenic and historic Massachusetts state and town-owned lands as reserves for recreation, relaxation and wildlife habitat:

https://www.restore.org/ Protect the North Woods, Restore.org.

https://www.maforests.org/ Massachusetts Forest Watch

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563991071793 Friends of the Notch Reservoir Forest and Bellows Pipe Trailhead