Notch Forest located at the base of Mt. Greylock is the home to not only Bellows Pipe Trailhead, but to Notch Reservoir. This reservoir supplies water to residents of North Adams, Williamstown and Clarksburg. 

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In August 2024, North Adams residents attended a Conservation Commission meeting to learn more of a potential logging plan, disguised as a forest management plan that would take place at Notch Forest. This plan if allowed to go through would have jeopardized not only the forest and habitat but a healthy watershed.

 

A healthy watershed provides a balanced ecosystem, stabilizes soil and works to help keep drinking water clean.

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This plan came as a shock to many especially after learning it originated two years prior and originally called for the use of herbicide chemicals.

 

As residents voiced their concerns, we came together to stop the logging that would have destroyed the forest and contaminate our drinking water.  ​

We propose that the lands of North Adams, now owned or hereafter acquired, constituting the forest preserve within the watersheds of the Notch Reservoir and Mt. Williams Reservoir, and serving as the water supply for North Adams and adjacent communities, shall be forever kept as wild forest lands. They shall not be leased, sold or exchanged, or be taken by any corporation, public or private, nor shall the timber thereon be sold, removed or destroyed.

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