By Cynthia Whitty

Why plant trees when we have a forest full of them? The Ashland Town Forest Committee has an answer.

“To the untrained eye the forest looks fine, but let’s take a closer look,” Rob St. Germain, chair of the Forest Committee, said. “The town forest is a magnificent place – miles of well-marked trails, bridges over streams and wet areas, and map-posts at key intersections. However, many of the older trees have fallen, and of those that are standing, many have various species of fungi growing on their bark.”

St. Germain pointed out gypsy moth damage. “Three years of defoliation coupled with severe drought, and now we have a lot of standing deadwood.”

Other younger trees are bent over. “Ice storm damage,” he explained. “Those trees may live for a few years, but they will never mature into a healthy tree.”

“Let’s look at the forest floor. Do you see any baby trees? ‘Deer browsing.’ We have an over-population of deer, and they eat saplings. The average deer can eat an estimated 3,000 saplings a day to survive at certain times of the year.”

“The young trees you see growing are black birch, a specie that deer do not like but not one that will yield the kind of diverse forest we have now. Basically, we have no future forest in the ground.”

Can the Forest be Saved?

St. Germain has an answer: the solution is to plant trees and erect fences to protect them. 

Funded by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the town’s Community Preservation Committee (CPC), the Town Forest Committee will begin planting trees this spring in the Blue Trail area of the forest -- an area partially destroyed by fire in 2015. Working with a professional forester, volunteers will identify other small areas and do ‘micro-plantings’ of one or more trees to create ‘islands’ of new genetic material with the hope of seeding the future forest. The new trees will include Sugar Maple, resistant Elms, Hornbeam, Hickory, and various species of Oaks.

 The Town Forest Committee has a new all-terrain maintenance vehicle to help with maintenance and restoration. (Photo/supplied)

“We can’t just plant new trees and walk away. We will need to water them until they can make it on their own, but we could not even attempt this project were it not for the support that the town has given us,” St. Germain noted. That support is evidenced by a new all-terrain utility vehicle and a shed to store it in. The vehicle is used to maintain trails and will be used to transport fencing materials, new trees, and water deep into the forest.”

“Some people say that the Forest Committee is one of the hardest working groups in town, St. Germain said, “but for us it is a labor of love. It is very rewarding.”

The committee has five voting members and two associate members, and is aided by a growing list of additional volunteers. In addition to the restoration project, the committee is also working to remove invasive plants. For more information and to volunteer for town forest projects, send an email to [email protected].