ERVING — As the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) fine-tunes its draft resource management plans for 11 Franklin County properties, local residents expressed interest in continuing to play a role in land stewardship and advocated for increased accessibility at DCR trails at a Thursday evening forum.
Per state law, DCR is mandated to create management plans, and the drafts describe the “natural, cultural and recreational resources” in DCR-owned properties.
The plans help identify possible threats to the land and offer guides on stewardship opportunities. The plans, created by the DCR Stewardship Council, are approved and then kept at the State Library of Massachusetts for viewing.
Since 2022, DCR has been developing resource management plans for central Massachusetts, including properties in eastern Franklin County. These properties are described in the Erving Complex Resource Management Plan, and include state forests in Erving, Wendell, Warwick, Northfield, Montague, Orange, New Salem and Shutesbury.
Paul Cavanagh, planner with the DCR Resource Management Planning Program, led the discussion on these properties during Thursday’s public information session. He said the draft plans contain many recommendations for each property, but some are consistent across locations.
“For example … to apply landscape designations to portions of property lacking such designations to conduct an archeological reconnaissance survey,” he said. “These are the common recommendations, in addition to priority recommendations. All [resource management plans] also include recommended land stewardship zoning.”
Residents who weighed in on the plans Thursday were largely appreciative of DCR’s attention to the land, and inquired about organizational and individual participation for continued stewardship.
Michael White, president of Mohawk 4×4 Adventures, a nonprofit and social club for authorized off-highway vehicle drivers, provided input on the Warwick State Forest resource management plan, which includes 20 priority recommendations. He shared how the club has completed trash cleanup at the forest before in partnership with DCR, and asked about an addition in the draft language to include access for authorized off-highway vehicles inside the forest, increased signs within the forest on trails, and continued land stewardship partnerships with DCR.
“A principle that our club kind of stands by is that managed access is respected access, and respected access is sustainable access,” he said, adding that signs on Flower Hill Road, as noted as a recommendation in the draft plan, could be accomplished with help from his nonprofit using a state grant.
Regarding the question of access for off-highway vehicles, Cavanagh shared that in the Warwick State Forest, this type of recreation with off-highway vehicles is not recognized by DCR. One priority recommendation is for enhanced Environmental Police presence to monitor for unauthorized off-highway vehicles, like dirt bikes or quadbikes.
“There are areas identified for OHV use in DCR properties in southeastern Massachusetts and in the Berkshires, but Warwick is not one of those properties,” he explained regarding off-highway vehicle access. “It’s not about groups that are working with park operations for a specific event, helping the park.”
Bolstering trail accessibility was another point brought up during the discussion by Michael Toomey — in particular, plans for age and dementia-friendly trail infrastructure. Cavanagh said the resource management plans have accessibility investigations included, noting DCR makes accessibility for people of all ages and mobilities a “high priority.”
“I appreciate being able to go to our properties and have trails that are smooth enough or gentle enough slopes that I can get around,” Cavanagh shared of his own experience. “So the answer is yes, at least mobility-wise and aging-wise, very much a high priority for DCR.”
Western Massachusetts Climbers Coalition Executive Director Stephanie Giguere joined the meeting to speak on behalf of the coalition, noting the fact that draft plans for the Erving State Forest and Wendell State Forest share rock climbing as a frequent activity, but mention the practice being under threat in these areas.
In the Erving draft, unauthorized climbing anchors were installed at Hermit’s Cave, which have not been evaluated for impact on the culturally and geologically historic site.
“We have done trail work in the past at Mormon Hollow, which is in Wendell State Forest, and we really want to continue doing stewardship,” Giguere said. “We just want to reiterate that we want to be a partner as much as we can.”
The draft plans are open for public comment until Oct. 18. The plans can be accessed at tinyurl.com/3mhmvkje and the public comment portal is available at tinyurl.com/42yw3k7t.
