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Foresters Council Meeting
May 23rd - Register Now!
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Registration is now open for the next Foresters Council meeting, which will be held Thursday, May 23rd at the Bluebonnet Diner in Northampton. The cost for the meeting is $40 for current MFA members, and $50 for non-members.
The meeting will start with registration and social time at 4:30 pm, followed by the Bluebonnet's famous buffet dinner at 5 pm. The meeting will begin by 5:45 and will end by 9 pm. Speakers include Attorney Sydney Smithers on Title by Adverse Possession, Easement by Rights, and more; Tom Akin from NRCS on grants available to foresters and their clients; Dr. Jonathan Parrott on requirements for qualifying wood for state programs, and speakers from DCR - including Bill Hill and Jennifer Fish.
The meeting has been approved for credits:
- 2.75 Mass Forester Credits in Category I
- 2.5 SAF CFEs in Category I
- 1.0 Connecticut Forester CEUs
- 3.5 Mass Timber Harvester Credits
The meeting is open to foresters, timber harvesters, wood producers, forest landowners, and other MFA members. Ready to register? You can purchase tickets online at mfa-foresters-council.eventbrite.com or register by mail by downloading this form, printing, and mailing with a check. Hope to see you next month!
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Paid Family and Medical Leave Updates
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Massachusetts is introducing paid family and medical leave, beginning in January 2021. However, companies must begin withholding new taxes (and paying an employer share) starting this July. The program enables employees to take up to 12 weeks of paid family leave, and up to 20 weeks of paid medical leave, funded by new taxes on employees and employers.
You can learn more about the program from an employer perspective here, and the state also offers a contribution calculator, where you can estimate your costs.
The state has now drafted regulations for the program, and they are accepting public feedback and will hold public hearings.
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Coalition Responds to Attacks on Wood Heat
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The Partnership for Policy Integrity, an anti-wood-energy group in Massachusetts, recently wrote a letter to Governor Baker advocating for their bill, H. 853, which would remove wood heat from the Alternative Portfolio Standard, a renewable heating initiative that offers alternative energy credits for those who switch to advanced modern wood heating systems such as pellet or dried chip boilers. You can read PFPI's letter here.
A coalition of forestry, wildlife, land preservation, and agricultural groups (including MFA) responded with our own letter to the Governor, pointing out inaccuracies in PFPI's letter and referring to the science supporting wood heat. Read the coalition letter here.
MFA continues to push back on troubling bills that represent bad policy and are damaging to forestry in Massachusetts. As these bills come up for public hearings, we'll be representing you and your interests, and will ask you to contact your legislators to express your concern.
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Wood Stove Changeout Program
Launches for 2019
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 The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) recently held a kickoff event for the 2019 Wood Stove Changeout Program. This program, supported by the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), offers rebates to Massachusetts residents who replace an older wood stove with a new, more efficient and cleaner-burning model. Residents can receive up to $1,750 towards the cost of a new stove, and residents with low incomes can receive an additional $1,500 - which can almost completely cover the cost of the stove and its installation.
These newer wood stoves are more efficient, producing the same amount of heat from 1/3 less wood, which can amount to a $5,000 fuel savings over the life of the stove. New EPA-certified stoves also emit up to 90% less particulates than old wood stoves, resulting in cleaner air in the neighborhood. Only the cleanest, most efficient stoves qualify for the full rebate.
The kickoff event was held at The Fire Place in Whately, one of the leading retailers for the program. Representatives from MassCEC, DEP, DOER, the Heath and Patio Barbeque Association, and MFA's Executive Director Chris Egan all spoke at the event.
Stores like The Fire Place that sell wood stoves handle all the rebate paperwork, so it's easy for those looking to replace their stove. Rebates will be available until August 5, but it's likely the funding will run out before then - so don't wait! Click here for more information about the program.
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Chainsaw Safety Workshop - May 18 & 19
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 Chainsaws are probably the most common tool used by landowners in managing and caring for their woods. Chainsaws, of course, are inherently dangerous and proper maintenance and careful operation are necessary to avoid serious injuries.
This spring, the Massachusetts Forest Trust is holding a two-day Game of Logging Level I & II workshop in Warren on May 18th & 19th. If you want to improve your skills in how to maintain and use a chainsaw safely, you should consider taking this workshop.
The cost of the two-day workshop is $250 for MFA members, and $300 for non-members. Workshops are limited to 10 participants, so don't wait to register - we expect it to fill very quickly.
The workshop will be based on the popular Game of Logging curriculum and be taught by GOL instructor Bill Girard. The workshop will consist of two days of instruction and cover Levels I & II of the GOL curriculum.
The Game of Logging training levels are:
- Level I focuses on introducing the participant to open face felling and the development of techniques to safely use it. Topics covered include personal protective equipment, chainsaw safety features, chainsaw reactive forces, bore cutting, pre-planning the fell, and understanding hinge wood strength.
- Level II focuses on maximizing chainsaw performance through basic maintenance, carburetor setting, and filing techniques. Limbing and bucking techniques are introduced, spring pole cutting is covered and more felling is practiced.
- Level III focuses on techniques for handling difficult trees. Topics covered include limbing, height measurement, segment calculations, wedging techniques and hinge placement. The felling is done against the tree's natural lean and participants also limb and buck using techniques demonstrated in level II.
- Level IV focuses on ways to maximize a harvest plan for safety and productivity. Felling is practiced at working speed using all the techniques from previous levels. This level is geared to the user group.
The workshops will run from 8 am to 4 pm each day, and participants must be 18 years of age or older and in good physical condition.
Prior completion of a Level I & II workshop is a requirement for taking a Levels III & IV workshop. We plan to hold a Level III – IV workshop later this year.
Participants are encouraged to bring their own chainsaw to use, with a new chain, as well as safety equipment such as hard hat, hearing protection, eye protection, boots, safety chaps, and gloves. If you don’t have a chainsaw or safety equipment at the time of the workshop, there will be equipment to use at the workshop.
To sign up for the workshop, click here to download the registration form. Contact MFA's Program Director Greg Cox with any questions: (413) 339-5526 or gcox@crocker.com.
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Ask Your Legislators to Support
the Forest Recovery Act!
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 The Massachusetts Forest Alliance has signed on as a member of a coalition led by the Forest Landowners Association to promote the federal bill H.R. 1444, the Forest Recovery Act. When a forest is severely damaged by a natural disaster, forest landowners can deduct only the lesser of fair market value, cost basis, or adjusted timber basis. Unfortunately, this tends to be far less than the fair market value and in some cases can be zero. Unlike agriculture, timber isn't eligible for federal disaster funding or funding to defray the cost of lost crops. It's also not eligible for crop insurance.
The Forest Recovery Act would allow forest landowners to deduct the fair market value of timber before the natural disaster, minus any revenue from salvage and the timber value of any remaining healthy trees. This benefit would encourage landowners to keep the forest as forest instead of converting the land to other use.
You can learn more about the bill and contact your congressional representative and Senators with a message of support using an easy online tool - click here to learn more.
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Tree Farm Assessments Coming in 2020
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 Every year Tree Farm programs in selected states are assessed to determine how well they are meeting the American Forest Foundation’s Standards for Sustainability. Such assessments both help to confirm the great work that Tree Farmers do in managing their woodlands, and help us find out how we can better serve you as a woodland owner.
Next year, Tree Farms in Massachusetts will be part of the 2020 assessment and a random group of Tree Farms will be selected for on-site visits by the professional foresters hired as neutral assessors. In the last assessment in 2015, foresters visited 15 Tree Farms from Lanesboro to LIttleton and were very impressed by the way Tree Farmers here care for their land. Many Tree Farmers very much enjoyed showing off their woods and talking about the issues they had in managing their land.
In preparation for next year’s visits, the Tree Farm Committee will be contacting Tree Farmers around the state to check on their addresses, phone numbers and emails, and verify if they still own their Tree Farms to make sure our database is fully up to date.
In January, members of the committee will meet with the third party assessor to help put together a list of Tree Farms they’d like to visit during the assessment in the spring. Once a tentative list has been selected, we will contact those Tree Farmers who have been selected and ask for copies of their management plans and any Forest Cutting Plans for harvests done in their woods in the previous five years.
The actual assessment will be carried out over a three day period next spring. A member of the Tree Farm committee and the assessor will visit each of the Tree Farms selected for visits, talk with the Tree Farmers about their land and what they’ve been doing with it, and talk with the foresters who manage the different Tree Farms.
Massachusetts Tree Farms have been shown by the previous assessments in 2011 and 2015 to be very well managed and we expect the same will be found next year. Every Tree Farm we’ve visited has been a great example of how caring landowners take care of their woods.
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New Book Explains How to Identify Ferns
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 How many times have you seen a group of ferns in your woods and wondered, “what species are those?" Knowing more about the different types of ferns and how they affect the natural environment can help us be better stewards of our woods.
One problem in learning more about ferns is having a simple handy guide to help identify the ferns growing on your land. Now Vermont forester Lynn Levine, working with illustrator Biony Morrow-Cribbs, has created just that: a handy guide to Northeast ferns that you can carry in your back pocket and use in the woods.
Their new 74-page guide, Identifying Ferns the Easy Way: A Pocket Guide to Common Ferns of the Northeast, provides drawings and text on how to identify 25 different fern species, both by the shape and type of leaves, and the habitats in which they are found.
Levine and Morrow-Cribbs will discuss the evolution of their new book at a launch party at the Brattleboro Museum on Thursday, May 9th, at 7 pm.
The evening will begin with a discussion about how this beautiful and easy-to-use fern guide was conceived and how Levine and Morrow-Cribbs collaborated. Morrow-Cribbs will demonstrate her process for creating the illustrations, and Levine will explain how to use this field guide. There will be ample time for questions.
Copies of Identifying Ferns the Easy Way: A Pocket Guide to Common Ferns of the Northeast will be available at a reduced launch price, and 25% of all book sales will be donated to the museum. Cards and prints will also be available for sale.
For more information about the launch party, click here. For information about the book itself, click here.
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 The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) has created a new price survey for pellets and dried wood chips, which will be updated twice a year. Take a look to compare what you're paying with the average price collected from suppliers across the state.
Click here to visit the Wood Pellet Pricing page.
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Wildlife Camera Project
Helps Support Young Forest
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 The New York Times recently featured an article about young forest creation and the important benefits for many species of wildlife. New York State has a program similar to MassWildlife in Massachusetts to create young forest to support wildlife species in decline that rely on this type of forest habitat. But there was opposition from the public.
To help explain why this is important, staff from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry set up wildlife cameras and a website called Canid Camera and asked the public for their help in categorizing the photos to track what species of wildlife are attracted to this type of forest habitat.
The website turned into an addiction for people, with some categorizing tens of thousands of photos. Want to try your hand at it? It's simple and easy to do, but watch out - you might not be able to stop! Visit the Canid Camera website to get started.
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Estate Planning Workshops
for Forest Landowners
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 Creating a plan for the future of your forestland and figuring out your options can be an overwhelming process.
UMass Extension is holding Estate Planning workshops this spring to provide landowners with an overview of essential estate planning tools that help them accomplish their goals, whether they are minimizing taxes, passing the land on to the next generation, or keeping it open and undeveloped in the future.
Two of these workshops are coming up soon:
Westminster, MA: May 15th 6:00- 8:00 PM at the VFW in Westminster
To RSVP: email conservationist_americorps@mountgrace.org or call 978-248-2043
Gardner, MA: May 30th 6:00-8:00 PM at Mount Wachusett Community College.
To RSVP: email conservationist_americorps@mountgrace.org or call 978-248-2043
Make sure to reserve your seat by RSVPing in advance of the workshop.
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