To the editor: Friends of the Notch Reservoir and Bellows Pipe Trail propose permanent, perpetual, irrevocable preservation of the 1,088-acre city-owned forest as a “forever-wild forest." The forest is already owned by the city of North Adams. Protection could easily be more financially lucrative than logging, with far less risk or expense for the city. But first, the well-intended but nonessential potentially damaging logging plan currently before the North Adams city government must be stopped.
Williamstown resident Dr. William Moomaw, emeritus professor of international environmental policy at Tufts University, promoted pro-forestation in a February 2021 presentation: “We in Western Massachusetts in particular live in the ‘most carbon dense forest region, with the tallest trees ...’ in the eastern United States. He labels this accumulation of forested land “a Natural Climate Solution, protecting the already accumulated carbon in trees, plants, soils and wetlands.”
The recent report Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities shows that New England, “with some of the most intact temperate forest on the planet, is uniquely positioned to lead the nation’s participation in this global effort” of carbon sequestration.
The Notch Forest must be permanently protected as “forever wild” because it is a diverse mature forest in healthy condition. Preserving such forests is the proven best tool available for carbon sequestration.
The forest is home to the nationally recognized, beloved Bellows Pipe Trail. It protects North Adams’ drinking water. Being adjacent to Mount Greylock State Reservation, it is integral to a vast area of linked, conserved forest and essential to regional wildlife movement. It is a largely unblemished gem, and a preservation action could prove contagious, as rarer wildlife species would be enabled to return. It is large, highly visible and will make a difference, because New England forests are a world-class asset as a
carbon sink.
Walt Cudnohufsky, Ashfield
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