Logo Department Organization Information Organization Address Information Forest Service Washington Office 201 14th Street, SW Washington, DC 20250

File Code: 3360 Date: October 11, 2016 Route To:

Subject: Approval of Massachusetts Forest Legacy Assessment of Need Amendment - Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area

To: James S. Barresi, Acting Area Director, Northeastern Area, State and Private Forestry

This memorandum is in response to your letter of September 6, 2016, regarding the proposed amendment request to the Massachusetts Forest Legacy Assessment of Need.

The amendment proposed a new Forest Legacy Area (FLA), called the Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area, that will absorb three existing FSAs and create stronger linkages across the region. Our staff has reviewed the amendment and I approve.

/s/ James E. Hubbard JAMES E. HUBBARD Deputy Chief for State & Private Forestry

cc: Scott Stewart, Mark Buccowich, Jada Jackson, Neal Bungard, Connie Carpenter

America’s Working Forests – Caring Every Day in Every Way Printed on Recycled Paper

Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area Proposal July 18, 2016

Sponsored by New England Forestry Foundation P.O. Box 1346 Littleton, MA 01460

Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area Proposal

July 18, 2016

Sponsored by New England Forestry Foundation Bob Perschel, Executive Director P.O. Box 1346 Littleton, MA 01460 (978) 952-6856 [email protected]

In Partnership With Berkshire Natural Resources Council Franklin Land Trust Hilltown Land Trust Kestrel Land Trust MassAudubon The Nature Conservancy

Proposal Coordinator Conservation Works LLC Anne Capra P.O. Box 705 North Hatfield, MA 01066 (413) 824-1148 [email protected] Administrative Summary I. Objectives of the Proposed Amendment See Section 1(A) II. Location of each geographic area on a map and a written description of the proposed Forest Legacy Area boundary See Section 1(B), Appendix B and Appendix C III. Summary of analysis used to identify the Forest Legacy Area and its consistency with the Eligibility Criteria See Sections 1(C) IV. Identification of the important environmental values and how they will be protected and conserved See Section 1(D) and Section 2 V. The conservation goals or objectives of the Forest Legacy Area See Section 1(F) and Section 3(B) VI. List of public benefits that will be derived from establishing the Forest Legacy Area See Section 2 VII. Identification of governmental entity or entities that may hold lands or interests in lands The primary tool for land protection will be conservation restrictions (CR). Fee ownership and/or restrictions may be held by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) or Department of Fish and Game (DFG). Both are departments within the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA). Conservation Commissions for each municipality may also hold the fee ownership and/or restrictions with approval by their Board of Selectmen or Mayor. All CRs are subject to the approval of the Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs. EEA and its agencies have a Conservation Restriction Stewardship Policy. This document details how “baseline reports” and annual monitoring will be completed. VIII. Documentation of the public involvement process and analysis of the issues raised See Section 1(E) VIIII. Forest Legacy Area Criteria The following document outlines how the proposed WMFLA meets the Forest Legacy Area criteria:

a. Be threatened by present or future conversion to non‐forest uses b. Contain one or more of the following important public values: 1) Scenic resources 2) Public recreation opportunities 3) Riparian/hydrologic areas 4) Fish and wildlife habitat 5) Known threatened or endangered species 6) Known cultural/historic areas, and/or 7) Other ecological values

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c. Provide opportunities for continuation of traditional forest uses d. Reflect important regional values

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Section I: Introduction

A. Objectives of the Proposed Amendment This proposal seeks to add a new Forest Legacy Area (FLA) to be called the Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area (WMFLA), by amending the Forest Legacy Needs Assessment, Massachusetts [Archey et al., 1993 as amended 2000 (Taconic), 2001 (Nashua River), 2010 (North Quabbin Extension), and 2013 (Heritage Corridor)]. The proposed designation focuses on the “Berkshire Highlands” area, the most heavily forested region of the Commonwealth and one of the largest intact forest blocks remaining in New England. The area offers a landscape of high ecological integrity that is resilient to the challenges of climate change while also supporting a corridor of wildlife habitat that stretches from the Hudson Valley of New York to the Green Mountains of Vermont. The region’s timber and forest products industry, along with sources of clean drinking water, scenic natural beauty, and significant recreational opportunities, have underpinned the economy and health of local communities for centuries and may well hold the key to their well‐being in the future. This proposal also seeks to absorb the three FLAs that currently exist within the area to create stronger linkages across the region: Taconic Range, Stockbridge Yokum Ridge Reserve, and the Connecticut Valley East and West. Each of these areas is small enough to have exhausted its potential for a diverse range of landscape scale projects. In joining them within the new and significantly larger WMFLA, the opportunities for aggregating parcels to create protected corridors for working woodlands and woodland preserves are strengthened.

The Massachusetts Forest Legacy Program is set up with a “sponsoring” non‐profit organization coordinating Forest Legacy projects within each FLA. This FLA nomination is sponsored by the New England Forest Foundation (NEFF). The service area for NEFF covers the WMFLA. This nomination proposal was developed in close working partnership with the following organizations: Kestrel Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy, Hilltown Land Trust, Franklin Land Trust, Berkshire Natural Resources Council, and MassAudubon. The current sponsors of the existing FLAs within the proposed WMFLA – Berkshire Natural Resources Council and Kestrel Land Trust – have worked closely on the development of this proposal and pledged their support (see letters of support in Appendix A). Each of the sponsors will work continue to work collaboratively with NEFF in bringing forth projects within the WMFLA.

B. Location of the Proposed Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area As conceived, this new Forest Legacy Area would span 1.25 million acres across 51 towns in western Massachusetts stretching from the Connecticut River in the east, across the Berkshire Highlands, and into the Taconic Range, ending at the Massachusetts/ New York border in the west. The proposed Forest Legacy Area excludes the 21 towns in Franklin and Berkshire Counties, known as the Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership region, which are currently considering a partnership program with the State and the U.S. Forest Service1. However, as the towns share similar natural and cultural resources, these towns have been included in the study area analysis for this proposal in the event those communities would like to request that the Forest Legacy Area be expanded to include them in the future, a process that would require a public involvement phase and approval by the U.S. Forest Service. A detailed boundary description for the proposed WMFLA can be found in Appendix B, along with a list of the towns and cities in Appendix C.

1 Only 20 of the 21 Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership towns are within the WMFLA study area. Lyden is within the North Quabbin FLA and therefore was not included in the study area.

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In 2003, the Berkshire Plateau Forest Legacy Area was proposed as an amendment to the AON, sponsored by The Nature Conservancy. For various reasons, the momentum behind this proposal was lost, and the Berkshire Plateau Forest Legacy Area was never completed, however it is sometimes recognized as the eighth Forest Legacy Area in Massachusetts. In recent years, there has been renewed interest in expanding the original Berkshire Plateau concept to the larger western Massachusetts area due to current research by The Nature Conservancy and their partners about climate change resiliency and habitat connectivity (see Section 2B below). Thus, this coalition of partnering organizations has worked together to put forth the WMFLA designation based on current research and data documenting its importance in Massachusetts and the northeast.

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Figure 1

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Figure 2

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Figure 3

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C. Summary of the analysis used to identify the FLA and its consistency with the Eligibility Criteria In Massachusetts, there are currently seven Forest Legacy Areas (see Figure 3). In New England, Forest Legacy Areas surround western Massachusetts in Connecticut, New York and Vermont (See Figure 2). Creating a Forest Legacy Area in western Massachusetts would fill a significant void and complement previous federal investment in forestland across the Commonwealth and New England. A significant amount of on‐the‐ground capacity for land conservation exists with over 20 land trusts currently serving this region, in addition to the various state and federal agencies also tasked with protecting the area’s natural resources. However, funding is often critical‐‐and scarce‐‐for successfully completing many land conservation projects which would secure protection for this incredibly scenic and ecologically important forested landscape.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the largest owner of protected and recreational open space in the proposed Forest Legacy Area with 49% of protected land holdings, mostly in the form of State Forests and Wildlife Management Areas. However, only 31% of the land within the proposed Forest Legacy Area is protected in perpetuity.

Table 1 Protected and Recreational Open Space by Owner Type in WMFLA Owner Type Acres % of FLA % of Protected OS & Rec Land in WMFLA State 203,101 16.3 49 Federal 9,306 0.7 2.2 Municipal 67,771 5.4 16.4 Land Trust 31,233 2.5 7.5 Conservation Organization 249 0.02 0.06 Private Non‐Profit 9,948 0.8 2.4 Private for Profit 86,042 6.9 20.8 Other 6,623 0.5 1.6 TOTAL 414,274

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Figure 4

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This large region consists of four counties (Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden), each with its own characteristics which contribute to varying levels of pressure on open space (see Figure 4). The area can best be described in three sub‐regions: the urban core, college towns and farmland of the Pioneer Valley to the east, nested within the Connecticut River Valley along Interstate 91; the rural and sparsely populated foothills to the Berkshires, at least partially known as the Hilltowns, in the center; and, the Berkshire highlands in the west, containing the Pittsfield metro area and a mix of small, scenic, rural towns which serve as destinations for recreation, arts and culture and are popular with vacationers and second homeowners.

Figure 5 Counties of the WMFLA

For the overall area, the population has remained relatively stable between 1980 and 2010, with only a slight increase of 287 people. And in fact, the population pressure at the heart of the area—where some of the greatest expanses of contiguous forest exist‐‐has remained relatively low with development pressure growing and intruding from the eastern, western and southern edges. This configuration is commonly attributed to the relative isolation, in terms of transportation options and commuting distances, of the innermost areas of the proposed WMFLA. However, the addition of a new exit from the MassPike, or a connecting thoroughfare from the MassPike northward—both of which have been proposed in the past decades—could dramatically change the pressure faced by this otherwise intact and overlooked natural treasure.

Despite the relatively stable population curve fore th region overall, between 1971 and 1999, over 23,000 acres of forest land were lost to residential development. A recent Washington Post article that analyzed the change in home values between 2004 and 2015 found that overall home prices in Massachusetts increased by 6% since 2004, however the majority of the towns within the proposed WMFLA are up 9% or higher, as illustrated in the Figure 6 below. Thus, improving home values and a growing popularity for a more rural experience in a not so far off the beaten path place creates even more pressure for the conversion of forest to residential landscapes.

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Figure 6 Change in Home Values Since 2004 in Massachusetts

Western Massachusetts

Source: Ted Mellnik, et. al. “America’s Great Housing Divide”. April 28, 2016, WashingtonPost.com

A closer look at the population trends by county reveal the greatest growth pressures are in the suburban and rural parts of the region, creating demand for forestland conversion to residential homes and lawns. The total population for the WMFLA study area is 646,911 people according to the U.S. Census, 2010. Between 2000 and 2010, the population of Hampshire and Hampden counties, known locally as the Pioneer Valley, grew by about 2.2%, only slightly less than the 3.1% experienced by Massachusetts as a whole. Both Hampshire and Hampden counties are divided down the middle by the Connecticut River, thus only half of each of these counties exists within the proposed Forest Legacy Area. The areas of fastest growth are generally located in rural areas. FLA communities that experienced significant growth are Montgomery at 28.1%, Goshen at 14.4%, Tolland at 13.8%, Plainfield at 10%, and Westhampton at 9.5%. The city of Northampton experienced the greatest losses, with population declines of 429 (‐1.5%) and 357 (‐2.9%) respectively. Cummington lost 10.8% of its 2000 population and Worthington lost 9%. (PVPC; Valley Vision 4: The Regional Land Use Plan for the Pioneer Valley. February 2014)

The total population for the WMFLA study area was 646,911 people (U.S. Census, 2010). The 724 square miles of Franklin County is the most rural area of Massachusetts, with an estimated population density of less than 102 people per square mile, compared to approximately 835 per square mile for the state. According to the federal 2010 Census, the Franklin County total population was 71,372. The twenty‐six municipalities of Franklin County range in size from Greenfield with a population of 17,456, to Monroe with a population of 121. Approximately 46% of county residents live in communities with a population of less than 5,000. Franklin County experienced its greatest population increasess in the 1970 and 1980s. By the 1990s, the population growth slowed to a modest rate of 2.1% for the decade. In the last decade, a relatively stable population trend continued, resulting in a population loss (‐0.2%) from 2000 to 2010. The population trends experienced in the last decade were not uniform throughout Franklin County. Five communities (Monroe, Erving, Rowe, Leverett and Gill) had population increases of greater than

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10% for the period of 2000 to 2010. For this same time period, six towns (Wendell, Heath, Shelburne, Leyden, Colrain, and Charlemont) had population decreases of greater than ‐5%. (FRCOG; Facts about Franklin County, MA)

Berkshire County has experienced population decline since the 1970’s. In 2010 (U.S. Census), the population was 131,219, a decrease of 18,183 people, or 12.2%. The current population brings the county back to a level last seen in the late 1940s. Berkshire County’s total decline of 12.2% over the last 40 years is extremely different from the Massachusetts’s growth of 15.1% and the United States growth of 51.9%. (BRPC; Sustainable Berkshires: Land Use. March 20, 2014)

Within easy driving distance from Boston and New York City, as well as from Connecticut and the Capitol Region, the proposed Western Mass Forest Legacy Area has long been a destination where visitors have chosen to set down roots with second homes, increasing both the seasonal population and the permanent number of structures which contribute to pervasive, low‐density development. The legacy of cultural institutions and natural attractions in the Berkshires continues to provide a strong draw for vacation homeowners. While the impressive array of world‐class colleges and universities—spanning from the Berkshires to the Pioneer Valley—both serve to introduce a wide audience to the area and also inspire devoted alumni to purchase second homes long after their matriculation. Summary of why the FLA is an environmentally important forest, and how it is threatened. The important public values that make the proposed Western Mass FLA an environmentally important forest are numerous. From a biodiversity perspective, this region is one of the most ecologically diverse and intact natural landscapes in Massachusetts. It is home to more than 262 state‐listed endangered, threatened or species of special concern ‐ 61% of all listed species in Massachusetts exist in the five western counties ‐ and its calcareous wetland plant communities are unusual and globally rare. The area provides important forest habitat that connects the northern forests of New England and New York with the forests of the Appalachian Mountain chain, providing safe passage for roaming animals like black bear, fisher and bobcat and treetop habitat for migratory birds. Because of the largely intact, unfragmented forests that stretch from Berkshire County westward to the Taconic Range in upstate New York and southward into northwestern Connecticut, this tri‐state area has been deemed by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) as one of America’s Last Great Places. Referred to by TNC as the Berkshire Taconic Landscape, this area encompasses “more than 155,000 acres and contains one of the most spectacular, healthiest, and most diverse blocks of intact forest in southern New England.” TNC has also recognized the importance of the Berkshire Highlands forest that blanket the county’s eastern border.

The forested landscape of western Massachusetts is one of its most defining characteristics and one that greatly contributes to the quality of life, culture, and economy of the region. The region’s landscape and natural resources have historically served as catalysts for settlement from trappers, to paper millers, to the stately Gilded Age “cottages” of wealthy families, found throughout Berkshire County. This natural, rural character is what inspired Hawthorne, Melville, Wharton, Bryant and other American literary figures to come here, beginning the trend of literature and arts that continues as a hallmark of the region today. It is what spurred naturalists to successfully create Massachusetts’ first park in 1898 on Mount Greylock, still the centerpiece of a now expanded network of state parks and reserves, many of which are within the proposed Forest Legacy Area.

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It is estimated that the forestlands of western Mass contribute $1.4 billion to the local economy with sustainably managed products such as lumber and maple syrup, by protecting clean drinking water, and by offering food sources through foraging and hunting. The region’s rivers and mountains draw tourists to enjoy river rafting, skiing, and sightseeing and contribute to the area’s economic vitality significantly. In 2012, visitors in Berkshire and Franklin counties spent roughly $413 million in expenditures, generating $12 million in local tax receipts. (FRCOG; Mohawk Trail Woodland Partnership Project Report. December, 2015) The area’s natural resources as a whole offer critical habitat to wildlife and offer important ecological functions such as carbon sequestration and storm water filtration.

While large stretches of intact forest, wetland and river habitat exist in western Massachusetts, these areas have been historically fragmented by clearing for agriculture. Most of these areas have returned to forest or other natural cover, but are becoming fragmented again, this time permanently, by an extensive road network and the spread of suburban development in the over 23,000 acres of forestland lost since 1971.

D. Summary of public involvement process and analysis of the issues raised The WMFLA partnership organizations have been exploring the potential to seek a FLA designation for several years. Based on favorable feedback and encouragement from many towns in the region to seek funds that could complement and/or leverage other federal, state, and local funds for conservation projects, the partnership launched a public outreach process in September 2015 to gain support for a WMFLA designation including the following:  September 2015 – The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission mailed a letter to the 43 towns and cities in Hampshire and Hampden counties notifying communities about the effort underway to seek a WMFLA designation.  December 2015 – The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission mailed a letter to the 43 towns and cities in Hampshire and Hampden counties seeking support for a WMFLA designation.  March 2016 – The WMFLA partnership mailed a letter to the 51 towns and cities in the proposed WMFLA informing communities of the intent to seek a FLA designation and requesting support for a designation. Letters were mailed to the Chief Elected Official(s), Planning Board, and Conservation Commission in each town.  The WMFLA partnership coordinator and representatives from partnership organizations responded to questions from communities by attending local board/committee meetings, phone dcalls an emails.

Letters of support for a WMFLA from municipalities, partnership organizations, other local conservation entities, and State officials can be found in the Appendix.

E. Goals and objectives for the FLA – Key Public Benefits Western Massachusetts is an important piece of the larger ecological fabric of the Northeast. Berkshire and Franklin counties contain some of the largest blocks of intact natural landscape in all of southern New England. Sizeable expanses of contiguous open lands in the region stretch across the Taconic Range into Connecticut and Upstate New York, across the Hoosac Range that stretches into Franklin County (MA), and southern Vermont, and across the Berkshire Highlands into Hampshire and Hampden counties (MA). Conservation efforts through numerous public, private and non‐profit partners focus on preserving several key functional uses and values present in open lands including: drinking water protection, habitat protection, recreational opportunities, working woodlands, and agriculture.

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Utilizing public‐private partnerships to leverage resources to achieve multiple goals and objectives is one of Forest Legacy’s greatest attributes. Forest Legacy would be an excellent complement to on‐going activities and leverage potential state investments. State policies and programs that could support the goals of a new FL designation in the region include Massachusetts’ Forest Action Plan, which has identified land conversion/parcelization as one of the top issues of concern. The state’s Forest Stewardship Program is an effort of state and private forestry working together to sustainably manage working woodlands and woodland preserves. The state has also been supporting conservation‐based estate planning and forest stewardship through the Working Forest Initiative and has held several outreach events including two women only events to encourage people to plan for the future of their land.

Last, a Forest Legacy Area designation can be a catalyst to promote forest product development and use, through new economic development policy and practices and encouraging local, state, and federal government to work together on common problems. One example of this type of partnership is the Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership which focuses on 21 towns in a forested area in Franklin and Berkshire Counties in Massachusetts. The partnership explored strategies for supporting one of the region's strongest assets‐‐privately‐owned woodlands. The goals of the Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership Project (MTWP) are to bring recognition and additional financial and technical resources to the 21 municipalities in northwestern Massachusetts, primarily via special designation by the U.S. Forest service and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to: increase economic development related to forestry and natural resource based tourism; support the expansion of sustainable forestry practices and forest conservation on private lands; and, improve fiscal stability and sustainability of the municipalities.

These are just a few examples of the kind of organized partnership initiatives possible in the WMFLA to support its forest economy and the environment in a more effective and efficient manner.

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Section 2: Forest Resources What are the important public values that make this FLA an environmentally important forest?

The forests of the proposed Western Mass FLA are part of the transition zone between central and northern forest types. Transition hardwood species (red oak and black birch) and white pine and hemlock are more common to the north and west as elevations increase. Northern hardwoods, hemlock, and white pine are predominant in the upland regions of western Massachusetts. Red spruce and balsam fir are mixed with northern hardwoods at higher elevations in the Berkshire Uplands and Taconic Mountains. True spruce‐fir boreal forest is found at the highest elevations in the state, along the upper ridges of the Mount Greylock range.

Western Massachusetts falls within two USDA Forest Service Ecological Provinces: the Eastern Broadleaf Forest Province and the New England Adirondack Province. At finer scales, under the USFS ecoregional mapping system, these Provinces are divided into three sections and 14 different subsections. The proposed FLA is within the following ecoregions: Connecticut River Valley, Berkshire Uplands, and the Taconic Mountains. The western New England Marble Valley, which is part of the Taconic Mountains subsection, has been recognized as a separate region because of its unique geological and biological characteristics with rare habitats, unique ecological communities and high biodiversity. This area is part of the existing Taconic Range FLA and would be included in the WMFLA.

The following is a detailed synopsis of the important public values that make the proposed Western Mass FLA an environmentally important forest.

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A. Riparian Areas (including watersheds and water quality protection)

Watersheds The proposed Western Mass FLA is divided between the Connecticut, Deerfield, Westfield, Housatonic, Hudson, and Farmington River watersheds (see Figure 7).

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England. Flowing roughly southward for 410 miles through four states, the Connecticut rises at the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island Sound. Its watershed encompasses five states and one Canadian province – 11,260 square miles) – via 148 tributaries, 38 of which are major rivers. Discharging at 19,600 cubic per second, the Connecticut produces 70% of Long Island Sound's freshwater. Congress created the Silvio O. Conte National Fish & Wildlife Refuge in 1991, encompassing the entire four‐state watershed, with the Connecticut River as its centerpiece. In 1998, the White House designated the Connecticut as an American Heritage River. In 2012, the Connecticut River was designated the first National Blueway.

Deerfield River The Deerfield River flows southeastward throughe th Berkshire Hills in Vermont and Massachusetts in a narrow valley bordered by steep slopes that rise, in places, more than 1,000 ft above the river. Near the Connecticut River, the terrain is much flatter. Overall, the gradient of the Deerfield River is quite steep, averaging 46.8 ft/mi from its headwaters to the USGS streamflow gage near West Deerfield, a distance of about 69.5 river miles. About 78 percent of the basin is forested and only about 3 percent is urbanized. The Deerfield is a popular spot for recreational and competitive whitewater kayaking, canoeing, tubing, fishing, swimming, and camping. There are two sections of the river for whitewater paddling: the Fife Brook section for class II and III paddlers, and the "Dryway" for class IV paddlers. In addition, there are several tributaries of the Deerfield River that provide excellent whitewater class IV‐V creek runs. The Deerfield has hosted several, national whitewater kayaking competitions and was the proposed venue for the Olympic kayaking competition in Boston’s bid for the 2024 Olympic Games. This is also an excellent trout fishery and great for fly fishing.

Westfield River The largest of these is the Westfield River Watershed, encompassing a total of 517 square miles in Hampshire, Hampden, and Berkshire Counties of western Massachusetts and bordered by the Deerfield, Hoosic, Housatonic, Farmington, and Connecticut River Watersheds. The Westfield River is a major tributary to the Connecticut River made up of three branches, the East, Middle and West Branches. The watershed forms a general “L” shape, approximately forty‐eight miles long and twenty miles wide, extending from the Berkshire Mountains in the west to the Connecticut River in the east. The river drops 2,000 feet in elevation before entering the Connecticut River. Thin soils in the hills combined with steep gradients produce extreme and rapid differences in the rate of flow, occasional flooding, and at times low water conditions. Roughly seventy‐eight miles of the Westfield River and its three branches, flowing freely through ten towns, have been designated as a National Wild and Scenic River, the first in Massachusetts. The watershed has a population density of less than half a person per acre—the second lowest density of all Massachusetts watersheds, which combined with the free‐flowing stretches of the Westfield, are likely a contributing factor in terms of water quality, making it one of the state’s best cold water fisheries for eastern brook trout, American eel, and juvenile Atlantic salmon.

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Housatonic River Located in central and southern Berkshire County and parts of New York and Connecticut, the Housatonic River watershed is the largest in Berkshire County, encompassing 320,145 acres in 26 communities. The watershed has been considered one of the most biologically diverse areas in Massachusetts, containing uncommon plants and animals that are found nowhere else in the state. The Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP) has designated Priority Conservation Areas (PCAs) throughout the watershed. These are areas that contain especially high concentrations of state‐listed species and priority natural communities and which are located in close proximity to relatively intact natural landscapes. During 2008‐09 the NHESP oversaw watershed‐specific biological field surveys within the Massachusetts section of the Housatonic River Watershed. Through this work, 46 state‐listed plant species, 30 state‐listed animal species and 18 types of priority natural communities were identified. Experts updated 135 existing records and documented 170 new occurrences of state‐listed species and priority communities. The survey confirmed that the southern Housatonic River Valley in the towns of Great Barrington and Sheffield are exceptionally biologically rich.

Hudson River Located in northern Berkshire and including parts of New York and Vermont, and in the southwest corner of the county, all these waters drain into the Hudson River in New York. Flowing through Berkshire County, this watershed encompasses 130,315 acres in 15 communities. The Hoosic River is the main system within this watershed, encompassing 120,480 acres, while the BashBish Brook watershed encompasses 9,935 acres.

Farmington River Headwaters for both main branches of the Farmington River, referred to as the East Branch and West Branch, are found in southwestern Massachusetts, though only the West Branch officially begins north of the Connecticut border. The Farmington River watershed is 609 square miles, or 384,000 acres, in size and provides 100 percent of the drinking water for over 600,000 people living in Greater Hartford and the Farmington Valley. In 1994, a 14‐mile segment of the Farmington River received a federal Wild & Scenic designation between New Hartford and Hartland, Connecticut.

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Figure 7

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Public Water Supplies While water supply protection areas provide a very direct benefit to human residents, the relatively natural state of the land and water bodies also provide wildlife habitat. Not all of these areas are open for public recreational use. Of the 48 towns in the proposed FLA, 32 hold lands for the specific purpose of providing public drinking water supplies. 32.8% of the proposed FLA is within the watershed of a surface water supply or is classified as a Zone 2 to a groundwater supply. Only 38% of these drinking water watershed lands are permanently protected from development (see Figure 8). The following surface supplies and their watersheds have been identified as priority protection areas by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.

Manhan Reservoir / Tighe‐Carmody Reservoir ‐ Southampton The Tighe‐Carmody Reservoir, constructed in 1957 and located in the Town of Southampton, Massachusetts, is owned and operated by the Holyoke Water Works. The Reservoir has an impound capacity of 4.825 billion gallons and a safe yield of 13.0 million gallons of water per day. The Reservoir drainage area encompasses 9,234 acres of land located throughout Southampton, Westhampton, Huntington and Montgomery, 54% of which or approximately 4,956 acres is owned by the Holyoke Water Works. The City of Holyoke is the largest protected land owner in the watershed with 4,590 acres, followed by MA DCR with 658 acres, and the City of Westfield with 600 acres. There are also three private fee owners with conservation restrictions.

Cobble Mountain Reservoir and Borden Brook Reservoir – Blandford, Granville, Tolland Cobble Mountain and Borden Brook Reservoirs are owned and operated by the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission. Borden Brook Reservoir served as Springfield’s primary supply until 1931, when Cobble Mountain Reservoir was built, and this 22.8‐billion gallon reservoir has been the City of Springfield’s primary water supply source ever since. Borden Brook Reservoir is still an active water source and feeds into the Cobble Mountain Reservoir. Springfield Water and Sewer Commission owns Cobble Mountain Hydro‐Power Station which is located in the Town of Granville, Massachusetts. The Station utilizes stored water head energy at the Cobble Mountain Reservoir Dam to generate green power while water is conveyed to the Commission’s West Parish Water Filtration Plant. The generated power is transferred and sold to the ISO New England electricity market. The Plant can produce up to 33 Megawatts‐hour at full capacity through three turbine generators. In FY 2012, the plant output was 30,400 Megawatts. The Commission controls and limits the amounts of water available for power generation to ensure safe‐yield water storage under various seasonal conditions and drought scenarios.

The City of Springfield is the largest owner of protected land with 14,132 acres, followed by MA DCR with 3,646 acres, the City of Westfield with 3,493 acres, CT MDC with 3,042 acres, and the Town of Blandford with 712 acres. For non‐profit owners of protected land, NEFF owns 705 acres, and the Appalachian Mountain Club owns 352 acres. There are several private CRs as well.

Granville Reservoir – Granville The City of Westfield owns and operates Granville Reservoir. The 4,850 acre watershed collects runoff from Bad Luck Mountain in the south, Sweetman Mountain in the northwest, Seymour Mountain in the northeast, and Drake Mountain in the east. Storage capacity at the 81‐acre reservoir is 630,000,000 gallons with a pumping capacity of 4 million gallons a day (MGD). The City of Westfield owns over 4,000 acres within the watershed.

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Littleville Reservoir – Chester/Huntington This deep, 275‐acre flood control lake is owned by the Army Corps of Engineers and is a popular recreation spot. It was created by damming the Middle Branch of the Westfield River. The reservoir serves as a back‐up water supply for the City of Springfield. The Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game are the largest owner of protected land with 10,156 acres followed by MA DCR with 2,908, ACOE with 1,535 acres. Several non‐profit land trusts own land or CRs including NEFF, MassAudubon, TTOR, and the Nature Conservancy. Additionally, there are several privately owned CRs.

City of Pittsfield, Berkshire County The City of Pittsfield is Berkshire County’s largest single municipal owner, holding 5,911 acres in Pittsfield, Dalton, Hinsdale and Washington as part of a collection of several reservoirs. Some of this land connects to Kirvin Park, October Mountain State Forest and private forested lands, providing a large contiguous block of open lands.

Barkhamsted and Colebrook Reservoirs – Connecticut The watersheds to both of these Connecticut reservoirs extends into Massachusetts making protection of these waters of bi‐state concern. Barkhamsted Reservoir is owned and operated by the CT Metropolitan District Commission (MDC). At nearly 8 miles long, it extends north near Hartland, Connecticut, nearly to the border of Massachusetts, and is the primary water source for Hartford, Connecticut. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages the Colebrook River Lake located on the scenic West Branch of the Farmington River in Colebrook, Connecticut. Opportunities for recreation at Colebrook River Lake include seasonal fishing and boating. The hydroelectric power facility was constructed at the dam by the MDC under a federal license. The MA DCR is the largest owner of protected land in these combined watersheds with 3,301 acres, followed by the CT MDC with 3,122 acres (acres of protected land in CT were unavailable).

A Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area designation would support efforts to protect all of these water supplies by providing communities with access to federal funds for acquisition of forested watershed lands. Lands protected for watershed purposes would then be kept in forest use, and become available for sustainable forest harvesting, which would in turn increase water supply yield and safety.

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Figure 8

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B. Fish and Wildlife Habitat Western Massachusetts was once part of a largely un‐fragmented, forested landscape stretching from the Northern Appalachians in Maine and Canada to the Central Appalachians in Pennsylvania and Southern Appalachians extending south to Georgia. While large stretches of intact forest, wetland and river habitat still exist in western Massachusetts, in historic times these areas have been significantly fragmented by clearing for agriculture. Most of these areas have returned to forest or other natural cover, but they are becoming once again fragmented, this time permanently by an extensive road network and the spread of suburban development. Forest Cores have been identified as large patches of interior, unfragmented forests best able to support critical habitat for forest dependent species. Additionally, evaluating the landscape for resiliency under the stress of climate change is an important tool for guiding conservation efforts. The research presented below demonstrates the significance of the proposed Western Mass FLA to resilient interior forests for providing wildlife linkages from Vermont south to New York.

Forests and Forest Cores An introduction to forest types of the region is provided at the beginning of Section 2. Approximately 75% of the proposed Western Mass FLA is forested, including many large contiguous areas. The Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program and The Nature Conservancy’s Massachusetts Program developed BioMap2 in 2010 as a conservation plan to protect the state’s biodiversity. BioMap2 is designed to guide strategic biodiversity conservation in Massachusetts over the next decade by focusing land protection and stewardship on the areas that are most critical for ensuring long‐ term persistence of rare and other native species and their habitats, exemplary natural communities, and a diversity of ecosystems. An essential element of BioMap2 is Core Habitat; defined as specific areas necessary to promote the long‐term persistence of rare species, other Species of Conservation Concern, exemplary natural communities, and intact ecosystems. (See Figure 9)

One of the Core Habitat areas recognized in BioMap2 are Forest Cores, defined as the best examples of large intact forests that are the least impacted by roads and development, providing critical habitat for numerous woodland species. 50% of all of the Forest Cores in Massachusetts are located within the proposed Western Massachusetts FLA, with 43 distinct Forest Cores totaling 161,341 acres. Of the approximately 3 million acres of forest and forested wetlands in Massachusetts, the largest and least fragmented forest in each ecoregion were selected based on a GIS‐based computer model (Ecological Integrity Assessment). Ecoregions are geographic areas with similar topography, geology, and predominant vegetation, and therefore represent areas of relatively homogeneous ecological setting. The largest forest patch sizes are found in the Taconic Mountains of the Western Mass FLA reaching over 3,000 acres. Minimum forest patch sizes ranged from about 500 acres in eastern Massachusetts and the Connecticut and Housatonic Valleys, to 1,500 to 2,000 acres on the Worcester and Berkshire Plateaus.

Interior forested habitat defined by Forest Cores supports many bird species sensitive to the impacts of roads and development such as the Black‐throated Green Warbler, and helps maintain ecological processes found only in unfragmented forest patches. Of the forests in the WMFLA study area, 131,218 acres are enrolled in Massachusetts tax abatement program Chapter 61 or Chapter 61A as working forest lands.

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Figure 9

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Figure 10

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TNC Regional Resilience Analysis The Nature Conservancy has developed a Resiliency Model for the Northeast and Mid‐Atlantic Region geared toward identifying those sites most suited to succeed as habitat in the face of climate change. With a changing climate, many places may become degraded and lose species, but some places will retain high quality habitat and continue to support a diverse array of plants and animals. Sites that have both complex topography2 and connected land cover3 are places where conservation action is most likely to succeed in the long term. TNC’s model develops Resiliency Scores for an area from Far Above Average to Far Below Average. The model shows several areas within the proposed Western Mass FLA as “Above Average” and “Far Above Average”, including:  The Westfield River and its branches  October Mountain, Mount Washington, Middlefield‐Peru area  Conway, Whately and surrounding areas due to the moderately calcareous geology

Qualitatively, western Massachusetts appears to have some of the most resilient areas in southern New England. Permanent conservation of resilient areas should be prioritized to ensure they can continue to provide habitat for species. Climate change is creating an increasingly dynamic natural world by shifting species distributions and rearranging habitats. Consequently, conservationists need a way to identify important areas for protection that does not assume that the locations of existing plants and animals will stay the same. Rather than trying to protect diversity one species at a time, the key is to protect the different “stages” upon which the drama of nature unfolds. In the Eastern United States, these stages are based strongly on geology and consist of recognizable geophysical settings such as coastal sands, limestone valleys, granite summits, or silt floodplains, that each support a distinct set of species. Conserving a range of physical environments offers an approach to conservation that protects diversity of plants and animals under both current and future climates.

Additionally, TNC’s Regional Flow (Connectivity) Data show the importance of the proposed Western Mass Forest Legacy Area to connectivity from north to south (see Figure 11). These connections form the foundation and imperative for the growing “Berkshire Wildlife Linkage” coalition around maintaining and restoring connectivity across the Berkshire and Taconic ranges.

2 Complex topography is defined as places that have an assortment of small, connected, local climates creating a range of temperatures, elevations, and moisture options for the resident species, essentially breaking the regional climate into a wide array of micro‐climates. 3 Connected land cover is defined as places that allow species to move and disperse, and processes like fire and water movement can occur unimpeded, facilitating the adjustments necessary for the natural world to stay balanced with the climate.

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Figure 11 Regional Connectivity

Western Massachusetts

Berkshire Wildlife Linkage Most of western Massachusetts falls within the Berkshire Wildlife Linkage, an area that connects the Green Mountains in Vermont and the Hudson River Valley in New York. The Nature Conservancy has identified this area as a critical juncture for ensuring a continuous path of connected habitat between the Northern and Central Appalachians. The Berkshire Wildlife Linkages is one of nine linkages that together make up the Staying Connected Initiative in the Northern Appalachians, connecting large protected areas including the White and Green Mountain National Forests to each other from Quebec south to Connecticut and New York.

The Berkshire Wildlife Linkage includes 15 regionally/globally important Forest Blocks, areas of at least 15,000 acres of minimally fragmented, mostly interior forest habitat and the wetlands, rivers, and other natural cover contained within these forests. Forest Blocks consist of Forest cores and the Critical Natural Landscape that surrounds it. Within a core, wildlife are able to move freely due to the low level of development, roads, and other fragmenting features. Between cores, animals may or may not be able to move freely because corridors connecting core habitats can contain major roads and developed areas.

Over 15 land trusts, state agencies, universities, and NGOs currently make up the Berkshire Wildlife Linkages Partnership, working to conserve and manage forest land within the Linkage. These

Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area Proposal 26 organizations have the capacity to reach private landowners in both core habitats and the more fragmented areas between them. Many of these landowners are good candidates for Forest Legacy applications within the proposed Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area. The Partnership’s parallel effort to reduce the impact of transportation barriers on wildlife movement will further safeguard the health and productivity of lands within the linkage that are protected using Forest Legacy funds.

Figure 12 Berkshire Wildlife Linkages in Western Massachusetts

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Conservation Assessment and Prioritization System (CAPS) The Conservation Assessment and Prioritization System (CAPS) computer program developed at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has mapped an Index of Ecological Integrity (IEI) for all communities in Massachusetts. The IEI delineates the relative wildlife habitat and biodiversity value of any point on the landscape based on landscape ecology principles and expert opinion. Mapped areas represent landscape with the highest 50 percent of IEI values. CAPS is also an important resource for assessing wildlife habitat relative to stream continuity. As is illustrated in Figure 13, the proposed Forest Legacy Area has the largest amount of “highly connected” landscape within the State, and is recognized as having high value for wildlife habitat and biodiversity relative to central and eastern Massachusetts.

Figure 13 CAPS Connectedness in Western Massachusetts

Western Massachusetts

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Important Bird Areas The proposed FLA hosts twelve sites that have been designated by Mass Audubon as Important Bird Areas (IBAs). An IBA is a site providing essential habitat to one or more species of breeding, wintering, and/or migrating birds. Berkshires  Hoosic Plateau  Mount Greylock  Eugene Moran Wildlife Management Area  Central Berkshire Lakes  Upper Housatonic Valley  Konkapot and Agawam Marshes  Mill Pond and Marshes (Smiley’s Pond) Connecticut River Valley  Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary and West Meadows  Graves Farm and Wildlife Sanctuary  Hiram Fox Wildlife Management Area  Little River Watershed  Mount Tom These key sites have been identified as contributing to the preservation of significant bird populations or communities across the state. Birds rare to the state such as the blackpoll warbler, mourning warbler, common moorhen, and American and least bitterns can be found in these areas. A wide variety of waterfowl and wading birds can be found in the lowland lakes, ponds and marshes.

Coldwater Fisheries A significant number of recognized coldwater streams are within the 6 major watersheds of the Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area, representing some of the most numerous and dense networks of coldwater streams in the Commonwealth. Coldwater fish and their habitats are particularly vulnerable to changes in land use and hydrologic regimes: alterations have the potential to reduce the ability of a waterbody to support trout or other species. (See Figure 9 Critical Habitat above.)

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C. Known Threatened and Endangered Species The Berkshire region supports the greatest numbers of state‐listed species in the state outside of Cape Cod. The Massachusetts Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program (NHESP) and The Nature Conservancy view the Berkshires as an important focus area in regional efforts to protect the long‐term survival of biodiversity in New England. Massachusetts Endangered Species Act (MESA) Massachusetts has a rich biological legacy and is home to a wide array of plants and animals. Some of these species are unique to our state, others have their largest, most stable populations here, and yet others are still relatively common. MESA, found in Mass. General Laws Chapter 131A, and codified at 321 CMR 10.00, establishes procedures for the listing and protection of rare plants and animals. Activities that occur within Priority Habitat or Estimated Habitat of Rare Species and have the potential for impacting state‐listed Endangered, Threatened or Special Concern (“state‐listed species”) can only occur after review by staff from the NHESP.

Of these native species, there are 176 species of vertebrate and invertebrate animals and 256 species of plants that are officially listed as Endangered, Threatened or of Special Concern in Massachusetts and tracked by the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. These are species considered to be at risk, or potentially at risk, of extirpation from Massachusetts, or at risk of global extinction. The three main criteria used to assess extinction risk are rarity in the state, population trend, and overall threat.

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Table 2 Threatened and Endangered Species in Western Mass Forest Legacy Area Status Total Species West of Total Species in % of Listed Species CT River Massachusetts in MA Existing West of CT River Federally Endangered 3 17 18 Federally Threatened 3 7 43 State Endangered 136 219 62 State Threatened 61 104 59 State Special Concern 65 109 60 Watch‐list Species 128 N/A N/A Definitions for State Listed Categories: "Endangered" (E) species are native species which are in danger of extinction throughout all or part of their range, or which are in danger of extirpation from Massachusetts, as documented by biological research and inventory. "Threatened" (T) species are native species which are likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future, or which are declining or rare as determined by biological research and inventory. "Special concern" (SC) species are native species which have been documented by biological research or inventory to have suffered a decline that could threaten the species if allowed to continue unchecked, or which occur in such small numbers or with such restricted distribution or specialized habitat requirements that they could easily become threatened within Massachusetts. Any native species listed as endangered or threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is also included on the state list. The rules and regulations and precise definitions relative to the establishment of the Commonwealth's list of endangered, threatened, and special concern species are set forth in 321 CMR 10.00 et seq.

The Plant “Watch List” (WL) is an unofficial, non‐regulatory list of plants of known or suspected conservation concern that NHESP is interested in tracking

Sources: NHESP, Email Tara Huguenin, September 24, 2015; http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/natural‐heritage/species‐information‐and‐ conservation/mesa‐list/

There are 54 types of Natural Communities west of the Connecticut River.4 Natural communities are assemblages of species that occur together in space and time. These groups of plants and animals are found in recurring patterns that can be classified and described by their dominant physical and biological features. Natural communities may be restricted or widespread in their distribution across the state. Conservation priority should be given to types of natural communities that have limited distribution in the state, and, of course, those with restricted global distribution (together considered to be Priority Types of Natural Communities or "Priority Natural Communities"). Conservation priority is also given to Massachusetts' best examples of more common types (these occurrences are called "Exemplary Natural Communities").

4 Huguenin, Tara. Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. Email communication September 24, 2015.

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Areas of Critical Environmental Concern Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs) are places within Massachusetts that receive special recognition from the state Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs because of the quality, uniqueness and significance of their natural and cultural resources. ACEC designation requires additional state agency coordination and public environmental review on development projects that require state permits within the ACEC. It also creates a framework for local and regional stewardship of critical resources and ecosystems.

The proposed Western Mass FLA hosts five ACECs, all in Berkshire County (see Figure 9 Critical Habitat). The high quality of the aquatic habitat and surrounding landscape within the ACEC boundaries is largely responsible for the listing of these areas:  Hinsdale Flats Watershed ACEC (designated in 1992; 14,500) acres is located at the headwaters of the East Branch of the Housatonic River.  Upper Housatonic River ACEC (designated in 2009; 12,000 acres) encompasses the 13‐mile corridor of the Housatonic River from southern Pittsfield to northern Lee, and the section of the watershed that drains into this river stretch.  Kampoosa Bog ACEC (designated in 1995; 1,350 acres) in Stockbridge within a mile of the Housatonic River, includes a 160‐acre calcareous fen – an ecological gem unique in the Berkshires.  Karner Brook Watershed ACEC (designated in 1992; 7,000 acres), stretching across Egremont and Mount Washington, is one of the most scenic landscapes in Massachusetts with wooded mountains, rolling hills, open fields and streams, ponds, and wetlands. Both the South Taconic Trail and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail traverse the ACEC.  Schenob Brook Drainage Basin ACEC (designated in 1990; 13,750 acres) covers sections of Sheffield, Egremont and Mount Washington. The brook and its associated wetlands comprise one of the most significant natural communities in Massachusetts including the largest continuous calcareous seepage swamp and some of the finest examples of calcareous fens in southern New England.

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D. Aesthetic and Scenic Values In a recent visitor survey conducted by the Berkshire Visitors’ Bureau, scenic beauty was the principal reason 88% of all visitors surveyed cited for having selected the region as their destination rather than another area, and 42% of visitors engaged in some form of outdoor recreation during their stay. As noted above, in 2012, visitors to Berkshire and Franklin Counties spent roughly $413 million in expenditures, generating $12 million in local tax receipts. The majority of spending occurred in Berkshire County, which attracts an estimated 2.6 million visitors a year.

There are just too many incredibly scenic spots across the region to describe within this proposal. Therefore, the following is a sampling of some of the most recognized highlights the region has to offer along the five state designated scenic byways that traverse the proposed FLA (see Figure 14). It is important to note that the many areas for outdoor recreation and cultural resources recognized within other sections of this proposal are also highly scenic, but not described herein to minimize redundancy.

Mount Greylock Scenic Byway This 16‐mile trail starts at Mount Greylock State Reservation Park Visitor Center in Lanesborough. At 3,491 feet, Mount Greylock is the highest point in Massachusetts. Rising above the surrounding Berkshire landscape, dramatic views of 60‐90 miles distant may be seen, offering views of five states. This beautiful reserve has a campground as well as many trails to hike. Many authors, including Henry Thoreau, Herman Melville, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, have been inspired by visits to this mountain. The trail ends at Western Gateway Heritage State Park in North Adams.

Mohawk Trail Scenic Byway The feet that trotted the 65‐mile Mohawk Trail Scenic Byway have left their marks in history. Benedict Arnold led an army down the trail. Before him in time strolled Metacomet, or "King Philip," as the British called him. The trail got its name when the Mohawk tribe marched and destroyed the Pocumtucks in a fierce battle; in friendlier times, it was a trade route. Best of all, parts of this ancient path still exist and are available for visitors to hike. The byway also has over 100 attractions to see, ranging from old pilgrim churches, to the beautiful statue "Hail to the Sunrise," to the gorgeous one‐of‐a‐kind Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls.

Jacob’s Ladder Scenic Byway Also known as the "Jacob's Ladder Trail," the 35‐mile stretch of U.S. Route 20 was designated as a scenic byway by the state of Massachusetts in 1992. The Jacob's Ladder Scenic Byway is a pleasant alternative to the Massachusetts Turnpike, which it roughly parallels east to west across western Massachusetts. It winds its way through five towns in the Berkshire Foothills, beginning in Lee, Massachusetts and continuing through Becket, Chester, Huntington and Russell. Cultural attractions along the way include Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Becket; Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Lenox; the home of novelist Edith Wharton in Lenox; theatrical productions of Shakespeare plays performed at the gilded Age estate of Ventfort Hall, also in Lenox.

The Keystone Arch Bridges, located in Chester, Becket and Middlefield, Massachusetts along the Byway, were the first system of bridges of their kind built for railroad use in the United States. These 70‐foot high stone bridges, built without mortar or steel reinforcements, were built between 1833 and 1841, extending the Western Railroad across the deep gorges of the Westfield River on its route to New York. Major George Washington Whistler, father of the artist James Whistler, and William Gibbs McNeill were

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the chief engineers responsible for designing the bridges. The five remaining Keystone Arch Bridges are in the Middlefield‐Becket Stone Arch Railroad Bridge District on the National Register of Historic Places. The Keystone Arch Bridges Trail extends for 2.5 miles and provides the only public access to two of the bridges. The trail also provides beautiful views of the West Branch Gorge of the Westfield River, the first National Wild and Scenic River designated in Massachusetts. The hiking trail to the Arches originates off of Middlefield Road in Chester.

Connecticut River Scenic Byway Historic villages and working landscapes combine with natural riverine beauty to create a journey though Colonial history along the 274‐mile Connecticut River Byway in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The byway travels 39 miles through the scenic Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts, the southern half of which parallels the boundary of the proposed WMFLA. These landscapes are special in their combination of early American history and pristine natural beauty. It is a journey through early American history and links a series of historic villages that were settled in Colonial times, including Hadley, Sunderland, Northfield, and South Hadley, among others. Experience more than 1200 nationally significant historic properties along the route. The byway affords access to outstanding natural scenery and recreational opportunities within the WMFLA including the Metacomet Monadnock Mattabesett Trail, a National Scenic Trail, which crosses the byway near Mount Holyoke and provides miles of great hiking opportunities. The Connecticut River, a designated American Heritage River, is a popular site for power boating and fishing and has a state‐designated Connecticut River Paddlers Trail set aside for kayaking and canoeing.

Route 112 Scenic Byway The 51‐mile Route 112 Scenic Byway travels through the mountains of western Massachusetts, passing through historic town centers, working farms, scenic rivers, and majestic forests. The byway intersects with the historical and beautiful Mohawk Trail Scenic Byway and the Jacob’s Ladder Scenic Byway. Along the byway, are opportunities for recreational activities, such hiking trails, state forests, river access points, and other cultural and recreational features.

Route 116 Scenic Byway Zigzagging its way through Western Massachusetts, this road takes travelers from the eastern outskirts of the Mohawk Trail to the heart of the Berkshires, passing through a number of towns that are each just as scenic as the next.

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Figure 14

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E. Timber and Other Forest Commodities The forest based economy in Massachusetts, one of the oldest industry sectors in the State, includes forest products and forest‐based recreation. The annual Gross State Output of Massachusetts’ forest products industry totals $3.0 billion while the forest‐based recreation economy generates approximately $2.2 billion annually. Approximately 17,000 workers are employede in th forest products, maple and Christmas tree sectors while another 9,000 jobs are found in the sectors that include and support the forest recreation economy statewide. 5

The Massachusetts Climate Change Adaption Report notes that each acre of forest in the state provides approximately $1,500 annually in economic value from forest products, water filtration, flood control and tourism. This indicates that forests contribute more than $1.4 billion to the western Mass economy per year (based on 935,593 acres of forest6 in the Western Mass FLA study area). In that same report, the American Forest and Paper Association states that forest harvesting directly supports 3,700 jobs for foresters, loggers, sawmill workers, and wood processing plant workers in Massachusetts, and produces over $385 million of goods annually.

Overall, the proposed Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area is already recognized as one of the largest sources for sustainable forest products within the Commonwealth. It's clear that there is substantial benefit and interest in increasing the conservation and sustainable management of this important forest resource. There is great potential to increase the quantity of sustainable forest products produced by this area. However, further land fragmentation will rapidly close this window of opportunity. Forest Legacy can be an extremely valuable tool in protecting and utilizing this important forest resource.

Timberland The following information about timber resources in Massachusetts is extracted from An Assessment of the Forest Resources of Massachusetts by researchers Avril L. de la Cretaz, et. al at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (June, 2010). The USDA Forest Service classifies 93% of Massachusetts’ forest as timberland (capable of producing crops of industrial wood > 20 [ft3/acre]/year and not withdrawn from forest utilization). The five counties of western Massachusetts have just over 1.2 million acres of “timberland”, or land that is capable of growing wood and where no legal prohibitions on harvesting exist. Of this land, the vast majority, 78%, is in private ownership. The remaining timberland is owned by state, municipal and county entities, though each is a relatively small portion of the land base. Private ownership of all forestland in Massachusetts is 70%, which is lower than the western part of the state. 7

Harvest removals (statewide) on timberlands are estimated to be 13,300,000 ft3/yr ±63%. At the same time removals resulting from land clearing (terminal harvests) are estimated to be 23,000,000 ft3 /yr ±51%. Annual net growth in Massachusetts forests far exceeds annual harvest removals from both timberland and land clearing. The current ratio of growth to harvest on timberlands is 12.7 to 1. The

5 North East State Foresters Association. The Economic Importance of Massachusetts’ Forest Based Economy 2015. 2015 6 MassGIS, 2005 Land Use datalayer 7 Innovative Natural Resource Solutions LLC. Biomass Availability: Five Counties of Western Massachusetts. MA Division of Energy Resources and Department of Conservation and Recreation. January, 2007.

Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area Proposal 36 estimated volume of standing saw timber increased from approximately 3.5 billion board feet to 23.7 billion board feet between 1953 and 2008.

People in Massachusetts use much more wood than is harvested in the state. Harvesting rates are relatively low compared to other regions of the nation and the world.e Th amount harvested is equivalent to approximately 2% of the amount consumed; 98% of the wood consumed is imported. Forestry and forest products are an important part of the regional and state economy, yet trends point to more wood being processed out of state, with sawmills and other primary processing facilities declining in number and jobs. At the same time forestry and logging jobs have remained steady. A steep decline in paper manufacturing has resulted in a loss of local markets for low grade wood. An estimated 14% of homes in Franklin County heat with wood making firewood production one sector of the forestry industry that has remained in the region.

The Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative attributes declines in the production and use of local wood to two primary factors: the loss of markets for low‐value wood (pulp and paper mills in the state and region are not purchasing wood) coupled with the limited understanding of most Massachusetts residents of sustainable forest management principles and practices. The latter translates to a lack of support for (or a repudiation of) timber harvesting as an acceptable land and resource use. While the local wood industry and markets have been in decline, there have been marked increases in public support for local agriculture encouraged by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) and private organizations such as CISA (Communities Involved in Sustaining Agriculture). This signals a problem and an opportunity. Groups such as the Massachusetts Woodlands Coop and the DCR Marketing and Utilization program are attempting to develop markets for local wood and for value‐ added wood products.

Biomass Fuel Within the proposed Western Mass FLA, biomass fuel is potentially available for the production of energy efficient wood heat that replaces oil based heat. Massachusetts has moved strongly in the direction of community‐scale wood heat. The proposed FLA is the most heavily forested region of the state, and presents an area with enhanced opportunities for biomass energy projects. Biomass fuel potentially available from existing operations (residues) includes logging residues, byproduct from forest product manufacturers, wood from land clearing, and urban wood. Each type of biomass fuels has unique characteristics, including moisture content, and Btu content (British thermal units, a measure of heat content). The following information on biomass in the region is from a report published by Innovative Natural Resource Solutions LLC title Biomass Availability: Five Counties of Western Massachusetts (Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester).

The area has roughly 1.2 million acres of “timberland”, or land that is capable of growing wood and where no legal prohibitions on harvesting exist. Of this land, the vast majority is in private ownership, with 78% of all land owned by private individuals. The remaining land ownership is from state, municipal and county ownerships, though each is a relatively small portion of the land base.

Other sources of biomass that exist in the proposed Forest Legacy Area includes residue and existing logging jobs, chips from sawmill operations, and wood derived from land clearing wood. Each type of biomass fuels has unique characteristics, including moisture content, and Btu content (British thermal units, a measure of heat content). With all current markets in place within the area, forest growth exceeds loss (removals and mortality combined); with softwoods and hardwood species showing

Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area Proposal 37 significant net growth. In the proposed Forest Legacy Area, there is almost one million green tons of wood (stem only, not tops and branches) that grow in excess of current loss rates.

Another source of biomass in the area is forest harvest residue which is wood that is left in the forest due to lack of market conditions. In most areas, this is tops, branches and pieces of tree that do not meet local specifications for sawlogs and pulpwood. Forest harvest residue is estimated to be roughly 110,000 green tons a year in the proposed Forest Legacy Area. This is largely a function of existing harvesting activity – in locations with high volumes of existing logging activity, volumes of forest harvest residue tend to be higher.

Moreover, when sawmills cut cylindrical logs into rectangular boards, residue is produced ‐ including bark, sawdust and mill chips. Actual residue generation varies by species and mill equipment, but a general rule of thumb is that a log in a sawmill produces 60 to 70% of useful timber as boards, 20% to 30% as wood chips, and 10% as sawdust. Based upon the latest USDA Forest Service Timber Product Output information, sawmill residue (chips, bark and sawdust) in the area is roughly 112,000 green tons.

Sawmill residue, while a possible biomass fuel, has other potential uses as well. Bark is often sold for landscaping uses, sawdust is sold for pellet production or animal bedding, and sawmill chips are often sold to pulp mills. Most, if not all, sawmill residue generated in the area is presently sold to an existing market. Sawmills in the area have a combined annual production estimated at almost 38,000 thousand board feet.

Secondary forest product residues are by‐products of manufacturing consumer‐ready material from lumber. Manufacturers that buy lumber (as contrasted with buying logs) and create a consumer‐ready product such as furniture, pallets, or factory‐made housing ‐ are secondary forest products industry. They generally do not buy wood directly from loggers, forester, or landowners. Instead, they rely upon sawmill and brokers, both local and distant, to provide lumber as a raw material to their manufacturing process. The residue created at these facilities such as shavings, sawdust, chips, and cut‐offs, is an excellent source of biomass fuel. Because the raw material is purchased as lumber, and is generally kiln‐ dried, secondary forest product residues are a low‐moisture content fuel, and have a higher heating value per ton than green wood fuels. Because of its value as a biomass fuel, or as a feedstock for wood pellets, most of the secondary forest product residue in the area currently has a market.

The reforestation of New England in the 20th century provided a large volume of available woody biomass, widely distributed throughout the proposed Forest Legacy Area. While the sustainable harvest and accessibility of this biomass supply in relation to potential renewable energy demand is a key long‐ term question, wood chips are clearly abundant at present. In the past, there has been significant concern about how to absorb the surplus supply of wood chips created by pulp mill closures and increased land clearing for development (Morris 1995; Innovative Natural Resource Solutions and Draper/LennonInc. 2002). As noted, in the area there is an abundance of low‐grade wood residue. This is important to both the logging industry, which generates low‐grade wood from thinning and forest‐ stand improvement, and to wood‐processing industries like sawmills.

Maple Syrup Massachusetts has over 350 maple producers which employ over 1,000 farm workers annually.8 Most of the sugarhouses are in western Massachusetts where the production of syrup is an integral part of

8 Cretaz, Avril L. de la, et al. An Assessment of the Forest Resources of Massachusetts. UMASS Amherst: June, 2010.

Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area Proposal 38 farming incomes. Maple syrup producers vary in size from those making less than 100 gallons of syrup to those making 2,000 or more gallons. The majority make between 100 and 500 gallons annually. Massachusetts ranks eighth out of the eleven major maple‐producing states. The average annual production in Massachusetts is about 50,000 gallons with a total value of more than $2 million. The maple industry additionally brings in about 60,000 visitors to the state who spend over $1 million during the sugaring season, supporting a variety of tourist businesses, in mostly rural communities.

Other Forest Products – Wild Mushrooms Wild mushrooms are a highly valued culinary resource for a small, but enthusiastic number of amateur and professional mushroom hunters in the Northeast. Forest mushrooms that are commonly harvested from Massachusetts forests include morels, chicken of the woods, black trumpets, beige‐capped honeys, chanterelles, and porcinis. Hen‐of‐the‐woods can be found on the bases of hardwood trees in the forest or for $25/lb. at gourmet grocery stores. A chef and mushroom collector in the Berkshires charges $250 for two people for “mushroom seminars” that include collecting mushrooms in the forests of the proposed Western Mass FLA, followed by a fungus‐themed cooking class and dinner. Massachusetts has several mycological societies including the Berkshire Mycology Society (founded in 1923), and the Boston Mycological Club (founded in 1895, the oldest mycological club in North America, according to their website). These groups sponsor seminars, field trips, and cooking classes (Berkshire Mycology Society, 2010; Boston Mycological Club, 2010).

Carbon Credits Three municipalities in the WMFLA (Holyoke, Westfield, and West Springfield) are working together to sell carbon credits on 15,000 acres of water supply watershed land and generate several million dollars in revenue from the voluntary carbon credit market. This innovative partnership is a first of its kind in New England, demonstrating a new approach to avoid forest conversion and generate substantial income for the long‐term management of these watersheds for clean drinking water supplies.

Ecosystem markets seek to place a marketable value on these services. Carbon markets are the most well‐known example of existing markets, however accessing these markets can be complex. A carbon offset is a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, or an increase in carbon sequestration, used to neutralize or cancel out an equivalent amount of emissions. Offsets are a tradable commodity generated by one party and sold to another party looking to offset its emissions. One offset is equal to one metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent—the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by consuming 112 gallons of gasoline. 9

Tourism In 2012, visitors to Berkshire and Franklin Counties spent roughly $413 million in expenditures, generating $12 million in local tax receipts.10 The majority of spending occurred in Berkshire County, which attracts an estimated 2.6 million visitors a year. Travel‐generated employment for both counties amounted to 3,750 jobs, with a total payroll of $96 million. Tourism related expenditures and employment within the two counties represented approximately 3% of expenditures and employment

9 Beane, Julie. Selling Forest Carbon: A Practical Guide to Developing Forest Carbon Offsets for Northeast Forest Owners. Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences: September, 2012. 10 Ibid

Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area Proposal 39 statewide. More about the outdoor recreational resources and its impact on the economy in the proposed FLA is found in Section 2 (F) Public Recreation Opportunities.

Overall, the proposed FLA is already one of the largest sources for sustainable forest products within the Commonwealth. It's clear that there is substantial benefit and interest in increasing the conservation and sustainable management of this important forest resource. Forest Legacy can be an extremely valuable tool in expanding opportunities for landowners in protecting and managing forests, thereby preventing further land fragmentation.

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F. Public Recreation Opportunities There are 414,274 acres of protected open space and recreational land within the proposed Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area. Of this land, the Commonwealth owns 130 parks, forests and wildlife management areas, together constituting more than 203,101 acres (see Figure 14 Scenic and Unique Resources). These offer a range of year‐round recreation options including bird watching, hiking, Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, hunting, snowmobiling, kayaking and canoeing, fishing, swimming, camping, mountain biking and off‐road vehicles. Municipalities, nonprofit organizations and land trusts own another 99,253 acres in the region, the vast majority of which are open to the public. These include open parks, often with improvements such as ball fields or playground equipment, more naturalized reserves with trails and interpretive nature signage, bike paths, and small village greens, pocket parks, or other small areas interspersed in more developed areas. While these are typically viewed as recreation amenities, they are also important linkages for wildlife to live or travel within more developed areas.

As noted in America’s Great Outdoors: A Promise to Future Generations, outdoor recreation provides American’s physical and emotional rejuvenation and promotes respect for our natural heritage. Research indicates that regular exposure to nature lowers stress, cultivates creativity, and builds self‐ confidence among young people. The New England Governors’ Conference, Inc. 2009 report noted, “tourism now eclipses both farming and forestry as a source of employment in rural economies” of the Northeastern US. To meet this trend, the Berkshire tourist industry is rebranding itself, elevating the natural and outdoor recreational assets of the region from a supporting role to one that is on par with our cultural attractions. The Berkshire Visitor Bureau has long promoted the Berkshires as “America’s Premier Cultural Resort.” Its new slogan says it all: “The Berkshires – Nature – Culture ‐ Harmony.”

Massachusetts has updated its State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP) in 2012. A survey of state residents found that running, jogging, and walking was frequently mentioned as the most desired activities (83%). Close behind at 78% was swimming. During public meetings, the need for more trails was identified, especially those closer to where people live. There was also a strong desire for more car‐free recreation options while attempting to access a recreational activity area. Participants shared their desire to have more town or city‐wide trail systems, loop trails within long distance trail networks that can be completed in a shorter amount of time, and urban trails that connect to water bodies. Rail trails were identified as popular, as is making roads more bike‐friendly. The completion and increased access to long distance trails were mentioned frequently. It was identified from respondents that they want land to be protected not just for trails, but also to provide a corridor for wildlife. The feedback from respondents during surveying and public meetings show a desire to increase the utilization and protection of open space.

Previous SCORP surveys of residents and public focus groups show their strong desire to expand outdoor recreation opportunities and their willingness to utilize local resources to assist in this goal. The addition of Forest Legacy funding will leverage great amounts of additional public and private funding as well as gifts of land.

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Some of the key outdoor recreational opportunities are summarized below:

Table 3 Outdoor Recreation in the Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area Activity Related Businesses Examples of Venues, Locations Hiking Numerous local outfitters State forests, Appalachian National Scenic Trail, New England National Scenic Trail, East Branch Trail, Trustees of Reservations properties, Audubon sanctuaries,

Mountain Biking, road Berkshire East State forests, East Branch Trail, biking scenic byway routes, rail trails Canoeing, Kayaking Zoar Outdoor, Crabapple Outfitters Deerfield River, Westfield River, Connecticut River, Housatonic River Cross‐country skiing, Notchview Reservation, Stump State forests, cross country ski snowshoeing Sprouts, Canterbury Farm, Maple areas, Corner Farm, Hilltop Orchards, Cranwell Resort Downhill Skiing, Berkshire East, Jiminy Peak, See businesses snowboarding Bousquet, Ski Butternut, Blandford Ski Area Adventure Tourism Zoar Outdoors; Berkshire East; Deerfield River valley (ziplining, whitewater Crabapple Outfitters rafting) Swimming, water sports Deerfield River, Westfield River, Connecticut River, Housatonic River; numerous local lakes and ponds Climbing Berkshire Outfitters, Arcadian Shop, Mount Greylock, Reservoir Rocks, Chapel Ledge Camping Commercial campgrounds State parks, Appalachian National Scenic Trail, New England National Scenic Trail Birdwatching and nature State forests, Trustees of viewing Reservations properties, Audubon sanctuaries Fishing Most waterways

Places for Outdoor Recreation Some of state’s most noteworthy parks, forests and reserves/wildlife management areas exist within the proposed Western Mass FLA including October Mountain State Forest (~16,100 acres and the state’s largest) Savoy Mountain State Forest (~11,100 acres), Mount Greylock State Reservation (~12,500 acres and the highest elevation in the state), Beartown State Forest (~12,000 acres), and Pittsfield State Forest (~10,000 acres). The system of parks and reserves provides a wide range of outdoor recreation options throughout the year, but are used most heavily during the summer vacation season. Many of the state

Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area Proposal 42 forests offer camping and visitor amenities, while a few offer special facilities such as visitor centers, swimming beaches, and lakes or ponds with boat launches. While summer months tend to be more active, there are higher levels of winter activity in Pittsfield and Savoy Mountain State Forests, which are both popular destinations for snowmobiling. The state’s highest peak, Mount Greylock, is by far the most visited site in Berkshire County for hiking, taking a scenic drive or bike ride, or viewing fall foliage.

Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) are managed primarily for wildlife conservation and often lack developed infrastructure for camping and recreation. Some WMAs have trails, but these are often not formally maintained as such. Motor vehicles are not allowed on WMA lands outside of roadways and off‐road vehicles are prohibited. The proposed FLA hosts nine WMAs larger in size than 1,000 acres, with Chalet (~6,400 acres), Peru (4,700 acres) and Stafford Hill (1,600 acres) being the three largest sites. WMAs are best enjoyed by those who prefer more of a wilderness experience. These lands are open to the public for hiking and wildlife viewing, but visitors should be careful during popular hunting seasons, such as those for deer, turkey, pheasant, and bear.

Other noteworthy places for outdoor recreation include:  Chester‐Blandford State Forest ‐ Created by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression, this forest contains Sanderson Brook Falls and Goldmine Brook Falls, a semi‐ primitive campground and numerous hiking trails, including the Newman Marsh Trail which offers spectacular views of the Westfield River Valley.  Gardner State Park ‐ Named for the former national president of the Grange Association, Charles M. Gardner, this park is popular for picnicking, and for swimming and fishing in the nationally designated Wild and Scenic Westfield River.  Littleville Lake Reservoir Area, Huntington and Chester – Owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the 1,567 acre park offers visitors many opportunities to enjoy a variety of outdoor recreation activities including hiking, canoeing, fishing, and wildlife viewing. Every spring, water releases at Littleville Lake are coordinated with those from nearby Knightville Dam to provide challenging flows for the annual Westfield River Wildwater Canoe Races. Ice fishing, cross‐country skiing, ice skating, snowshoeing and sledding are very popular during the quiet and serene days of winter.  Knightville Dam and Wildlife Management Area ‐ This flood control dam, built in 1941, has a 1,200 foot long earthen embankment which stores water during flood conditions in a six‐mile long reservoir. The basin contains second growth forest that is habitat to native New England fish and wildlife. Among the many recreational opportunities are catch‐and‐release trout fishing and hiking trails. Located at the northern end of the basin is Chesterfield Gorge, a Trustees of Reservations property that is open to the public.  Blandford Ski Area ‐ This ski area has been owned and operated by the Springfield Ski Club since 1936 and is the oldest continuously operating club‐owned ski area in North America. Located just ½ hour from Springfield, the ski area offers exciting downhill skiing, ski sales, and ski instruction.  Berkshire East Ski Area ‐ A family run resort located in Charlemont and Hawley, has been offering 35 years of quality skiing and snowboarding. Berkshire East recently unveiled their 900kWh wind turbine that produces 100% of their annual electrical need, making them the first ski area in the United States to produce all of their electricity using an onsite, renewable source.

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The resort includes 45 trails covered by 100% snowmaking, a zip line, mountain coaster, and mountain bike park.  Notchview Reservation– Owned and operated by the Trustees of Reservations, the more than 3,000 acres of rolling terrain located in Windsor offers an idyllic escape for winter sport enthusiasts, especially cross‐country skiers looking for a brisk outing. Seventeen kilometers of trails are groomed and track‐set for classical cross‐country skiing; eight kilometers are groomed for skate skiing. A separate trail system is groomed for “skijoring,” or skiing with dogs. You can also go off track and explore the backcountry, or snowshoe alongside the ski trails. Notchview is a part of the Hoosac Range, an extension of Vermont’s Green Mountains. Much of the reservation is above 2,000 feet, with Judge’s Hill the highest point at 2,297 feet – which results in snow on the trails for more than 80 days each. year  Tekoa Mountain Wildlife Management Area and Rattlesnake Sanctuary ‐This rugged, steep‐ sided mountain marks both the mouth of the Westfield River canyon and the eastern end of the Jacob's Ladder Trail. The canyon was formed by the erosion of the highlands by the river over the millennia following the last Ice Age. Purchased in 2000 by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management, Mt. Tekoa has been designated as a rattlesnake preserve. Wildlife and Nature Viewing According to a 2006 study conducted by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 40% of Massachusetts residents engage in wildlife‐associated recreation, such as hunting, fishing, and wildlife viewing, contributing $1.6 billion to the state economy. Of this figure, as much as $1.5 billion is spent on trip‐related expenses and equipment away from the home. As a single group, anglers generated $770 million in revenue. Of those who fished, 64% of the time was spent in freshwaters, with bass (lakes and ponds) and trout (streams and rivers) being the fish most often pursued. Wildlife viewers generated $755 million, and of this, $149 million was spent on trip‐related expenses and equipment.

Figures compiled by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2006 indicate that approximately 1.9 million residents participated in wildlife viewing activities in Massachusetts. Sixty‐seven viewing sites have been identified across the state as exceptional wildlife viewing areas, and thirteen of these areas are in the proposed FLA. The viewing sites chosen were published in the Massachusetts Wildlife Viewing Guide. Some areas, such as Mount Greylock and Monument Mountain contain open cliffs that offer bird’s eye views of raptors, while others such as Darey or Moran WMAs offer large open, unforested landscapes in which to view large game species and birds. Two of the locations are along the Connecticut River: Mass Audubon’s Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary in Easthampton, and the Barrett Fishway in Holyoke. Hiking and Walking Hiking trails are found throughout the region on many of the publicly owned facilities recognized above, as well as land owned by non‐profit land trusts and conservation organizations in the region. The region’s varied topography makes it possible to offer a wide range of trails for different levels of difficulty. The region is also fortunate to have four long‐distance hiking trails (see Figure 14 Scenic and Unique Resources):

The Appalachian National Scenic Trail (AT) The AT is a 2,180‐mile hiking trail that spans fourteen states along the east coast from Georgia to Maine. Completed in 1937, the trail is now an internationally renowned recreation destination that sees two to three million visitors on its various stretches each year. The 89 miles of trail that traverse Massachusetts

Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area Proposal 44 from Connecticut to Vermont are all located in Berkshire County. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy, National Park Service, and the state have conserved 38,972 acres of land in the county along the route. It is the only long‐distance hiking trail in the state that is fully protected along its entire length.

Taconic Crest Trail The Taconic Crest Trail winds 35 miles across the Massachusetts and New York borders into Vermont along the Taconic Mountain Range in the northwest edge of Berkshire County. The South Taconic Trail is a 12‐mile hike in the southwest section of the county reaching into neighboring New York and Connecticut.

Mahican‐Mohawk Trail This trail, envisioned as a 100‐mile long‐distance trail, follows the corridor of the historic Native American trade route from the Connecticut River in Massachusetts to the Hudson River in upstate New York. Today, approximately 34 miles of the trail are open and designated in Massachusetts as woodland trail, on‐road segments, and water trail on the Deerfield River. The route would preserve an important historic trail (even traversing the original trail in one location) and form an east‐west connection to and between the trails and amenities of the Connecticut River Greenway to the east with those in the Hudson River Valley Greenway to the west. Although primarily envisioned as a hiking trail, different segments are also appropriate for cycling, snowmobiling, horseback riding, and paddling.

New England National Scenic Trail In 2009, the historic Metacomet‐Monadnock (M&M) Trail received a tremendous boost in public profile when it was joined with the Mattabesett Trail in Connecticut and officially designated by the National Park Service as the New England National Scenic Trail. Stretching 215 miles now from Long Island Sound in Guilford, Connecticut, to Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire, the trail showcases classic New England landscapes, long distance vistas with rural towns as a backdrop, agrarian lands, un‐fragmented forests, and large river valleys. Since the designation, the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (MassDCR) have been at work to reroute parts of the trail in Massachusetts from privately owned lands to public lands at the Quabbin Reservoir. Advocates continue to work on land protection and easements to fully connect this trail system and to establish campsites for hikers. Mountain Biking There are eight state‐owned properties with trails designated for mountain biking including:  Beartown State Forest  Mt. Greylock State Reservation  Mt. Washington State Forest  October Mountain State Forest  Pittsfield State Forest  Savoy Mountain State Forest  Tolland State Forest  Windsor State Forest

Additionally, Kennedy Park, a Lenox town‐owned park, is also a well‐known mountain biking destination. Berkshire East Ski Resort in Charlemont opened trails for mountain biking in 2015.

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Cross‐country skiing and snowshoeing There are several non‐profit and private properties across the region that offer trails for cross‐country skiing and snowshoeing, and MassDCR lists twelve state forests that also offer winter trail systems. Although most of the trails are not groomed, many trails do get packed down through use and are easily accessed. Six sites groom their trails specifically for cross‐country skiing:

 Notchview, Windsor  Hilltop Orchard, Richmond  Cranwell Resort, Lenox  Kennedy Park, Lenox  Canterbury Farm, Becket  Stump Sprouts, Hawley

Snowmobiling According to the Snowmobile Association of Massachusetts (SAM), 17,000 registered snowmobiles generate $65 million dollars annually to the state’s economy. The Economic Impact Assessment of Snowmobiling was performed by the Human Dimensions Research Unit of the Department of Natural Resources Conservation at the University of Massachusetts and adjusted for inflation. In partnership with local clubs, SAM maintains several hundred miles of trail throughout the proposed FLA, with a few extending into Vermont. The Berkshire region hosts approximately 30% of the snowmobile trails in the state, but only accounts 18% of the snowmobiles registered in the state. This suggests a net import of riders visiting the region to access this vast trail system.

The Berkshires host a large portion of the Statewide Snowmobile Trail System (SSTS). This 2,000‐plus mile system is unique in that it is comprised of both public and private lands that crisscross the state, reaching into nearby counties and other states. This trail system exists only seasonally and private property access arrangements are structured accordingly. The statewide trail system is operated and maintained by the 30 local clubs that form the Snowmobile Association of Massachusetts (SAM) which works closely with MassDCR. Trail passes are required to access the private land portions of the Statewide Snowmobile Trail System. Hunting Hunting is a long‐standing tradition in western Massachusetts, with a total of twenty‐one game species available, including popular species such as white tailed deer, bear, turkey, pheasant and various waterfowl. While hunting for different game species is open in all four seasons, the fall shotgun deer season is the most popular. Hunting is allowed on all state‐owned conservation lands except for certain designated areas. Pheasants are stocked in seven WMAs, two state forests, and 14 other sites across the region. Off‐Road Vehicles (ORVs) Western Massachusetts hosts all four state forests that allow ORVs: October Mountain (30 miles of trails), Beartown (25 miles of trails), Tolland (15 miles of trails) and Pittsfield (14 miles of trails). Through informal surveys, MassDCR estimates that the majority of ORV users in Pittsfield State Forest were Massachusetts residents. This is in contrast to October Mountain and Beartown state forests, where the majority of visitors were out‐of‐state residents. The state of Connecticut does not allow motorized vehicles in their state parks, so these southern forests are popular with riders from that state.

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Camping There are nineteen camping facilities across Berkshire County, seven of which are located within state forests, one owned by the city of North Adams and eleven of which are privately owned. Campers typically engage in a variety of outdoor activities while visiting, often hiking, biking, and kayaking when not at their campsite. They also patronize shops, restaurants, and cultural venues.

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G. Known Cultural Resources Western Massachusetts has a rich cultural heritage with countless cultural resources providing evidence of the character and history of the region. The culture of a place and its people can be discovered through its landscapes, structures, objects, festivals and more. For the purposes of this proposal, cultural resources include places, objects and creations, and are defined as follows:

Places ‐ A special place that helps define the character of a community or reflects its past such as a village center, landscape, river corridor, park, farm, archaeological site, Native American site, trail, or scenic road.

Objects ‐ A special object of historic, scientific, educational, or social importance such as an artifact, historic record, photograph, map, cemetery, or mill site.

Creations ‐ Special art or event that offers evidence of the traditions and creativity of people such as music, dance, arts and crafts, food, festivals, or special event.

Types of places that most define the character of Western Massachusetts and the proposed FLA include its village centers, river corridors, farms, and scenic landscapes.

VILLAGE CENTERS were mostly settled in the mid to late 1700s and are often located on rivers, mainly for power and transportation, because of rich agricultural soils, and later for industry and tourism. Village centers were also established in agricultural areas. Most village centers have in common their historic homes, churches, and mill buildings, often clustered near a village common and located on a main road. Over two‐ thirds of Franklin County’s village centers are on the National Register of Historic Places. One such place is Historic Deerfield, which focuses on the history of the Connecticut River Valley.

RIVER CORRIDORS shape the region in numerous ways, influencing human activities, providing wildlife habitat, offering recreation, food, power, and transportation and providing humans with a deep connection to the natural world. They can be flat and broad, such as the Connecticut River Valley or narrow and hilly, such as those of the Hilltowns.

FARMS in western Massachusetts reflect the agrarian heritage of the region and offer idyllic views of farmland tucked into forests. Behind these idyllic views is the reality of hard‐working farmers, diversifying their crops and working to meet the growing demand for locally‐grown food in the region. Farms provide connections to the agricultural history of the County and an opportunity for economic development for the region.

SCENIC LANDSCAPES in western Massachusetts are often comprised of farms and forest, sometimes located alongside rivers. They often contain village centers and, in many cases offer scenic views of nearby ridge lines and mountains. The five state designated Scenic Byways are described above under B. Aesthetic and Scenic Resources. Heritage landscapes are another notable resource‐driven geography. There are a number of notable historic and cultural sitese in th region with large land holdings, including a few of the Gilded Age Cottages that have retained a portion of their lands, such as High Lawn Farm, Tanglewood, Cranwell and Kripalu. Few of these lands have been permanently preserved through easements.

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OBJECTS IN FRANKLIN COUNTY THAT ARE CULTURAL RESOURCES ‐ Types of objects of historic, scientific, educational, or social importance that are most common in western Massachusetts are found in town historical societies, museums, libraries, town offices, and town‐owned or private land. They include historic maps and photographs, archives, stone walls, cemeteries, bridges, cisterns, mill remnants, private homes, municipal buildings, antiques, and much more. Bridges range from the iconic pedestrian Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls to the historic Bissell Bridge in Charlemont. There are 293 bridges in Franklin County, many of which are historically and culturally significant. Repairing and preserving (wheree possible) th County’s bridges is important for the County’s historic and cultural heritage as well as for the safety and well‐being of its citizens.

ARTS AND CRAFTS – and the artists who create them – are a vital part of the economy of western Massachusetts. Artisans work from home dstudios an from art galleries, form artists networks, and contribute to the local economy. Crafts of Colrain, RiverCulture Project, and Old Deerfield Craft Fairs are just a few of the many arts and crafts‐related projects that draw residents and tourists alike to the region. Other arts and crafts‐based groups include community and school choruses, and theatre groups such as the Berkshire Theater Group in Stockbridge, Double Edge Theater in Ashfield, and Shakespeare and Company in Lenox.

CEMETERIES ‐ These exist in all towns, and some are owned by towns while others are on private property. All cemeteries are important cultural resources and contain evidence of the history of a community, display the work of skilled stone carvers, and document the evolution of funereal iconography. Historic cemeteries and burial grounds present preservation challenges, including the need for maintenance and repair of damaged headstones, deteriorated walks and enclosures, and aging and hazardous trees.

EVENTS AND FESTIVALS ‐ As with other cultural resources in the region, there is a rich and diverse list of events and festivals, too numerous to mention. Examples of these types of cultural resources include the Ashfield Fall Festival and Festival of the Hills in Conway, as well as many other street fairs, powwows, and craft fairs.

The FRCOG’s Greater Franklin County Draft Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) 2016 Annual Report addresses the impact the creative economy has had on the region’s economy. The creative economy sector includes independent writers and artists, as well those employed in firms that produce crafts or media content. The report finds that artists and craftspeople who grow and expand their businesses in Franklin County provide employment and mentoring opportunities. The revenues they earn circulate within the community longer than if the business had ownership from outside the area. In addition, this industry is generally environmentally friendly and contributes to the overall character of the community without significantly using town resources. Galleries, studio space, public art and events, all add to a downtown’s vitality and are a visible contribution to a community. While the concentration of artisans in the region has been acknowledged for a long time, a statistical assessment titled “The Creative Economy of the Pioneer Valley” was published by the FRCOG and Pioneer Valley Planning Commission. This inventory of the creative economy sector in Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties of western Massachusetts, demonstrated that parts of the Pioneer Valley have increasingly higher concentrations of creative workerse than th state and the nation, and that the types of cultural enterprises vary widely within the region. The report creates a baseline for understanding the dimensions of the Pioneer Valley’s creative economy.

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According to New England Foundation’s Culture Count calculator that demonstrates the economic impact of cultural organizations to a Massachusetts community or county, it was determined that for FY2003 in Franklin County, cultural organizations had $20 million local economic impact. While this model does not provide for more updated figures, it does demonstrate the contribution of the creative economy to the greater economy.

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Section 3: Threat of Conversion to Non‐forest Uses Population and economic pressures drive conversion of forest to urban and residential land uses while these same populations depend on the forest that remains for ecosystem services including soil and water protection, carbon sequestration, wood products, recreation, aesthetics, and spiritual renewal. (Avril) A. Type and Level of Threat A significant amount of the proposed Forest Legacy Area is currently for sale by realtors and landowners. It should be noted that adjacency or proximity to larger blocks of conserved forestland (such as October Mountain State Forest) is frequently advertised as an amenity, suggesting there is market demand for land adjacent to large blocks of protected land. This puts already‐conserved forestland at greater risk of ecological isolation and limits the potential to create larger contiguous tracts of land for conservation or forestry purposes. Also of interest is the number of large parcels for sale as of January 2016 (Zillow.com). There were 28 listings for parcels of 100 acres or more for sale, eight of these were 200 or more acres, and only one was 300 acres, the largest parcel on the market in the proposed FLA at that time. 259 Parcels of undeveloped land greater than 15 acres for sale as of January, 2016 in Western Massachusetts (Source: Zillow.com)

As noted previously, over 23,000 acres of forestland were converted to non‐forest uses between 1971 and 1999. This is on average, 821 acres a year during a 28‐year period lost to non‐forest uses. During this same period, the region experienced over 24,000 acres of low‐density residential development. This is statistical verification of the noticeable trend of incremental low density ANR (Approval Not Required) residential development, which is allowed by‐right on forested land tracts with sufficient road frontage across the region. Large forested parcels are being cut up for single family homes on large lots.

Since 2000, forest conversion has continued, though at a slowed rate, perhaps due to the two economic recessions in the early 2000s and 2008. MassGIS has not updated land use data since 2005, when a different data collection method was used. Therefore, Mass Audubon’s Losing Ground Fifth Edition (2014) report providest the mos comprehensive insight into forest conversion in the proposed WMFLA in recent years. Between 2005 and 2013, 870 acres of “natural land” (defined as forest, wetland, and water) were converted to development within the FLA, which averages to about 109 acres of natural land lost to development each year. This translates to a combined loss of about 1.38 acres of natural land per square mile. Although the earlier (1971‐1999, MassGIS) and later (2005‐2013, Mass Audubon) datasets cannot be directly compared due to differing methodologies, a general comparison shows that the average rate of forest loss has slowed but steadily continued in recent years. It should be noted that the 2005‐2013 timeframe includes the Great Recession that began in 2008, which likely is one reason for a slower conversion rate. As the economy improves development can reasonably be expected to increase, particularly in Approval‐Not‐Required patterns, which fragments forested areas with existing road frontage.

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Table 4: Conversion of Natural Land (including forest) to Developed Land in WMFLA Towns, 2005‐ 2013

Total area of Total Area Natural land developed land 2005- of natural converted to 2013 (acres) land 2005- development 2013 (acres) (acres) Total land Change of 81,614 729,979 -870 proposed WMFLA towns (2005-2013)

Table 5 WMFLA Land Change 1971‐1999

Source: MassAudubon, Losing Ground: Planning for Resilience. June, 2014. http://www.massaudubon.org/our‐conservation‐work/education‐community‐outreach/sustainable‐ planning‐development/losing‐ground‐report

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B. Factors Affecting Acquirability The proposed Forest Legacy Area offers fertile ground for land protection projects, based not only on the quality of the landscape, but also on the extensive network of conservation organizations in the region which have been cultivating an awareness of land protection within local communities and incorporating a fine‐grained knowledge of local resources into their organization's goals and planning. As mentioned earlier, roughly twenty private land trusts currently serve the proposed WMFLA, ranging from local, town‐specific volunteer land trusts to regional, statewide and national conservation organizations, many of which work closely with their state and federal conservation agency counterparts on important projects.

Over the course of a decade in the early 2000’s, a local, grassroots program called the Highland Communities Initiative —later an affiliate of The Trustees of Reservations—worked intensively on landowner outreach and municipal technical assistance regarding land conservation and community preservation issues in 38 of the 51 core towns of the proposed WMFLA. As a result of this effort, as well as from continuing outreach work by other area land trusts and agencies, many forest landowners and conservation commissions in the region are aware of the basic tenets and options available for land conservation. Many landowners have also enrolled in one of the Chapter 61 current use tax reduction programs, and have developed Forest Stewardship plans to actively manage their properties. In addition, the number of municipalities in the region that have enacted Open Space and Recreation Plans to document town land conservation goals and become eligible for state conservation grants has grown, and 18 towns have adopted the Community Preservation Act, which provides dedicated local and state matching funds for municipal land conservation projects.

For land conservation organizations working in the region, a lack of available funding is often the only hindrance to converting landowner interest in conservation into successfully protected properties. Several funding organizations and programs have taken notice of the region’s exceptional resources. Recently, the Open Space Institute (OSI) pinpointed the region’s “middle Connecticut River area” as a climate resilient landscape eligible for the Institute’s Capital Grants program. Through the Resilient Landscapes Initiative, OSI will provide $5.5 million in capital grants within four targeted areas. OSI will award matching grants to projects that permanently protect resilient habitat through the acquisition of land or easements.

The Middle Connecticut River region is one of four landscapes across the Northeast and Mid‐Atlantic that are strongly positioned to facilitate wildlife adaptation to climate change, according to the Open Space Institute’s analysis based on data from The Nature Conservancy’s Resilient Sites for Terrestrial Conservation. Resilient landscapes are natural strongholds that are potentially resistant to drought, flooding, rising temperatures and other threats associated with climate change, providing habitat for a variety of plants and animals and benefits, such as clean water, for humans. A full 85% of the Middle Connecticut River region includes above average resilient sites. Over 40% of the region contains exemplary resilient limestone geology types at varying elevations. This rich soil type, combined with diversity of landforms, is expected to provide refuge to species over time. As elsewhere, these fertile soils attract a mix of land uses, including farming, forest management, and development. Despite these other land uses, 50% of the landscape remains well connected, retaining ability for species movement across the region.

Another potential funding source to be leveraged is the Long Island Sound Watershed Regional Conservation Partnership Program (LISW‐RCPP) which focuses on private working lands to manage soil

Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area Proposal 53 nutrient loss, protect non‐industrial forest habitat, biodiversity, and drinking water sources, and stem erosion and thus improve resiliency on working lands through riparian restoration. The purpose of the LISW‐RCPP ‐ Healthy Forests Reserve Program (HFRP) is to assist landowners, on a voluntary basis, in helping to restore, enhance, and protect forestland resources on private lands through permanent conservation easements. The LISW‐RCPP includes a robust forest land protection program, funded through the targeted application of $3.25 million in Healthy Forest Reserve Program (HFRP) funding, and aimed at bolstering the long‐term health of the watershed. More specifically, the LISW‐RCPP values the permanent protection of forestland owned by individual and family forest owners that are vulnerable to development or fragmentation, and that contain critical or significant habitat that sustains biodiversity and drinking water supply areas.

Similarly, as part of Berkshire Wildlife Linkages Regional Conservation Partnership coordinated by The Nature Conservancy, funding is available for due diligence costs on qualified properties throughout the proposed WMFLA. Still, funding opportunities to support forest protection in the region do not match the existing need or demands given the expansive resources available for protection. The Forest Legacy Program would be a natural fit, given that the proposed WMFLA is comprised not only of large stand‐ alone parcels, but also clusters of smaller and medium‐sized parcels that could be aggregated to serve as connectors among large blocks of forest, expanding habitat connectivity or existing conserved areas. Below are examples of current opportunities to protect forest land, on a landscape scale, as identified by various land trust organizations working in this area:

South Worthington: Land Protection Opportunities A cluster of potential projects in South Worthington, in the general vicinity of Jackson Swamp, could add 300 acres in an area that is bracketed on east and west by protected land. Two out of three of the landowners have expressed definitive interest in conservation, possibly through donation, while the third has expressed tentative interest. In addition to being roadless areas, the parcels represent some of the largest acreage in the town. An additional property in the area is currently owned by the Town of Worthington due to back taxes, and could potentially be acquired for conservation at below‐market rates. The acquisition of this cluster could help expand an existing conservation area around Jackson Swamp and provide habitat connectivity between Hiram H. Fox Wildlife Management Area parcels.

Goshen: Land Protection Opportunities A potential 430 acres across Route 112 from the Daughters of the American Revolution State Forest could be conserved based on interest expressed by three landowners. While some of these parcels may be donations, some staggered over time, greater funding availability could inspire neighboring landowners to consider donation in this area and expand protected acreage.

Williamsburg / Westhampton /Chesterfield: Land Protection Opportunities A large roadless area at the borders of Williamsburg, Westhampton, and Chesterfield is the focus of several land conservation organizations working to protect the high‐quality forest characteristics amid approximately 1,000 acres. Parcels in this area are identified as High Priority Parcels in MassAudubon’s Mapping and Prioritizing Parcels for Resilience tool (updated as of April 2015). While there is some protected land in this area, the opportunity in this area overall represents an entirely new addition of protection to a large block of important, high‐quality forest area to the landscape. At least two landowners – of 440 acres and of 100 acres – are highly knowledgeable about the conservation restriction process and have offered to talk to their neighbors about it. The 440‐acre parcel is also currently entering sustainable forestry use. An additional 8 to 10 landowners are currently

Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area Proposal 54 engaged by land conservation organizations in this area, and in general are expressing interest in protecting their land. Based on land trust research and outreach, there is the potential for some below‐ market sales. All towns in this focus area, except Northampton, do not have access to Community Preservation Act tfunds, bu land conservation organizations are willing to raise funding to meet match requirements. Potential match funding may also be available from the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game.

Upper Westfield River: Land Protection Opportunities The Upper Westfield River area is a sub‐region of the proposed Forest Legacy Area that is ripe with potential forest protection projects. Much of the opportunity in this area lies in parcels that could serve to link wildlife habitat corridor areas between large contiguous blocks of forest. The largest and most organized effort underway in this regard includes the Berkshire Wildlife Linkage project. Outreach and research for the Linkage project have already identified dozens of potential and pending projects that represent the receptiveness of landowners for conservation in this area. To complement this effort, The Nature Conservancy has also identified the largest parcels (500+ acres) in single ownership in western Massachusetts and prioritized them based on ecological and conservation values. This short list could serve to guide additional forest protection projects in the Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area.

Southern Berkshires: Land Protection Opportunities The southern Berkshires has a strong history of lands that have been managed as working forests. The New England Forestry Foundation (NEFF) has initiated a land protection effort focused around Sandisfield, MA. Beginning in 2015, NEFF conducted analysis of parcels and identified priority parcels for conservation. Through targeted landowner outreach including workshops and mailings, NEFF has engaged ten landowners that have expressed a strong interest in pursuing land protection.

Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area Proposal 55

APPENDIX A: LETTERS OF SUPPORT

TOWNS/CITIES Town of Agawam Town of Chesterfield City of Easthampton Town of Egremont Town of Goshen Town of Great Barrington Town of Hatfield Town of Huntington Town of Lenox Town of New Marlborough City of Northampton City of Pittsfield Town of Plainfield Town of Southampton Town of Southwick City of Springfield Town of West Springfield City of Westfield Town of Whately Town of Williamsburg Town of Worthington

LAND TRUSTS Alford Land Trust Berkshire Natural Resources Council Hilltown Land Trust Franklin Land Trust Kestrel Land Trust MassAudubon New England Forestry Foundation The Nature Conservancy Winding River Land Conservancy

OTHER Senator Benjamin Downing Representative Stephen Kulik Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Westfield River Wild and Scenic Advisory Committee

Chesterfield Conservation Commission 422 Main Road Chesterfield, Ma. 01012

May 10, 2016

Lindsay Nystrom Massachusetts Forest Legacy Program Coordinator Department of Conservation and Recreation 355 West Boylston Street Clinton, MA 01510

Re: Western Mass Forest Legacy Area Designation

Dear Ms. Nystrom:

The town of Chesterfield supports the proposed designation of a Western Mass Forest Legacy Area. Western Massachusetts has excellent forest resources that could benefit from additional funding to protect them. In addition to conserving the ecological integrity of this remarkable region tracts of forestland contribute to spectacular scenic views, provide protection for public and private water supplies, sustain the forest-based economy, and offer exceptional recreational opportunities. Chesterfield possesses critical habitats for plant and animal life, and is a critical part of the Westfield River watershed.

We believe the Forest Legacy Program could be an important tool in conserving the region’s forest resources while maintaining private ownership, and we strongly support the designation of the Western Mass Forest Legacy Area.

Sincerely,

John Follet, Chair Chesterfield Conservation Commission PO Box 299 Chesterfield, MA 01012 413 296-4771 [email protected]

April 27, 2016

Lindsay Nystrom Massachusetts Forest Legacy Program Coordinator Department of Conservation and Recreation 355 West Boylston Street Clinton, MA 01510

RE: Western Mass Forest Legacy Area Designation

Dear Ms. Nystrom:

The City of Northampton, through its Office of Planning and Sustainability and Conservation Commission, strongly supports the proposed designation of a Western Mass Forest Legacy Area.

This designation is consistent with our Open Space, Recreation, and Multiuse Trail Plan and will greatly support our efforts and the efforts of our regional partners. Northampton has already benefited from an existing forest legacy area, which includes land within our Broad Brook‐Fitzgerald Lake Greenway complex. Expanding this effort helps protect our regional story of rich forest resources supporting a diverse and strong natural ecosystem, water supplies, economy, and recreation.

We support the designation of the Western Mass Forest Legacy Area.

Sincerely,

Wayne Feiden, FAICP Director of Planning & Sustainability

TOWN OF SOUTHAMPTON 210 College Highway, Suite 7 Southampton, Massachusetts 01073 ______

Board of Selectmen

April 13, 2016

Lindsay Nystrom Massachusetts Forest Legacy Program Coordinator Department of Conservation and Recreation 355 West Boylston Street Clinton, MA 01510

RE: Western Mass Forest Legacy Area Designation

Dear Ms. Nystrom:

The Town of Southampton supports the proposed designation of a Western Mass Forest Legacy Area. Western Massachusetts has excellent forest resources that could benefit from additional funding to protect them. In addition to conserving the ecological integrity of this remarkable region, tracts of forestland contribute to spectacular scenic views, provide protection for public water supplies, sustain the forest-based economy, and offer exceptional recreational opportunities.

We believe the Forest Legacy Program could be an important tool in conserving the region’s forest resources while maintaining private ownership, and we strongly support the designation of the Western Mass Forest Legacy Area.

Sincerely,

Board of Selectmen

454 COLLEGE HIGHWAY, SOUTHWICK, MA 01077 Town of Southwick

Southwick Conservation Commission Telephone (413) 569-6907 Fax (413) 569-5284

06/10/2016 Lindsay Nystrom Massachusetts Forest Legacy Program Coordinator Department of Conservation and Recreation 355 West Boylston Street Clinton, MA 01510

RE: Western Mass Forest Legacy Area Designation

Dear Ms. Nystrom:

The Southwick Conservation Commission supports the proposed designation of a Western Mass Forest Legacy Area. Western Massachusetts has one of the largest intact forest blocks remaining in New England, an area resilient to climate change that provides wildlife habitat, timber and other forest products, clean drinking water, and many exceptional recreational opportunities. Funding for the conservation of working forests and forest preserves is needed to help our organization pursue key projects within the region.

The Commission has areas in Southwick that could benefit from this type of program, and is in favor or supporting this effort.

We believe the Forest Legacy Program could be an important tool in conserving the region’s forest resources while maintaining private ownership, and we strongly support the designation of the Western Mass Forest Legacy Area.

Sincerely,

Christopher J. Pratt, Chair for the Commisson

The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts tel (617) 532.8300 th 99 Bedford Street, 5 Floor fax (617) 532.8400 Boston, MA 02111 nature.org/massachusetts

Lindsay Nystrom Massachusetts Forest Legacy Program Coordinator Department of Conservation and Recreation 355 West Boylston Street Clinton, MA 01510

RE: Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area Designation

Dear Ms. Nystrom:

The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts (TNC) supports the proposed designation of a Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area. Western Massachusetts is home to one of the largest intact forest blocks remaining in southern New England. This forest provides a number of benefits, including production of drinking water, storage of carbon, production of timber, opportunities for recreation, and habitat and corridors for wildlife. Enhanced funding for the conservation of working forests and forest preserves is needed to help organizations like TNC and our partners pursue key projects within this region.

TNC has long been a supporter of establishing a Forest Legacy Area in Western Massachusetts. Fourteen of TNC’s twenty-three forest cores, contiguous areas of 15,000 acres or more in the least fragmented and most resilient parts of Massachusetts, are located in Western Massachusetts. At the same time, most of the forest is owned by families and individuals who are in the midst of a generational transfer (the average landowner is over 65 years old), providing a current and time-limited opportunity to help landowners interested in permanently conserving their land. We plan to work in tandem with our federal, state, and land trust partners to assemble and protect multiple forested parcels in this Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area, ensuring that the attributes of the forested landscape are maximized to the benefit of the residents of Massachusetts and the region.

We believe the Forest Legacy Program is an important tool in conserving the nation’s forest resources, and strongly encourage the program to support the designation of the Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area.

Sincerely,

Andy Finton Director of Lands and Climate The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts

International Headquarters: 4245 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 100, Arlington, VA 22203-1606 ∙ 703.841.5300 ∙ www.nature.org printed on recycled paper

PO Box 393, Huntington, MA 01050 www.wildscenicwestfieldriver.org

Lindsay Nystrom Massachusetts Forest Legacy Program Coordinator Department of Conservation and Recreation 355 West Boylston Street Clinton, MA 01510 June 3, 2016 RE: Western Mass Forest Legacy Area Designation

Dear Ms. Nystrom:

The Wild & Scenic Westfield River Committee enthusiastically supports the proposed designation of the Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy area. The Westfield River watershed provides some of the best coldwater fisheries in the Commonwealth, exceptional water quality and some of the largest intact forests in Southern New England.

Our Committee, comprised of representatives from 10 communities, non-profit conservation organizations, regional planning commissions, state and federal agencies, works to preserve, protect and enhance the outstanding natural resources of the Westfield River Watershed in concert with local communities.

As a National Wild & Scenic River, the Westfield River stands out for its diverse habitat, extraordinary natural resources and excellent recreational opportunities. As a result of high ecological integrity, the National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife’s Silvio O. Conte Wildlife Refuge, The Nature Conservancy and other regional conservation partners have recognized the Westfield River watershed as being one of the highest priorities for conservation in the region.

The relatively unfragmented forests of the upper watershed provide critical habitat for interior forest species and serve as connector to other adjacent protected forestlands. Together these lands filter and store water for over 250,000 people who count on the forests and streams for a dependable supply of clean drinking water and recreational opportunities. These same forests provide economic and agricultural opportunities to the region.

The Committee’s Riparian Conservation Grant Program provides funds to cover due diligence and transaction fees for land conservation projects in our region. Through this program, we have helped protect over 650 acres. Our riparian conservation grant program provides a small fraction of funds needed to permanently protect the extraordinary value provided by our forested region. An additional pot of funding would magnify the contributions made by many of the partners in the region and support the long-term protection of our forestry resources.

Thank you for your full consideration of this propped Western Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area.

Sincerely,

Robert Thompson, Chair

APPENDIX B: BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION

A. Beginning at the intersection of the Massachusetts/Connecticut state line at the town boundary between the Towns of Agawam and Longmeadow, B. Thence westerly along the Massachusetts/Connecticut state line, along the southern border of the towns of Agawam, Southwick, Granville, Tolland, Sandisfield, New Marlborough, Sheffield, and Mount Washington, a distance of 40.3 miles, C. Thence northerly along the Massachusetts/New York state line, along the western border of the towns of Mount Washington, Egremont, Alford, West Stockbridge, Richmond, Hancock, and Williamstown, a distance of 49.8 miles, D. Thence easterly along the Massachusetts/Vermont state line to Northwest Hill Rd in the town of Williamstown, a distance of 1.0 mile, E. Thence southerly along Northwest Hill Rd to Main St, a distance of 2.5 miles, F. Thence easterly along Main St. to Thornelibank Rd, a distance of 0.2 miles, G. Thence southerly along Thornelibank Rd to Cold Spring Rd, a distance of 0.4 miles, H. Thence westerly along Cold Spring Rd to Bee Hill Rd, a distance of 0.1 miles, I. Thence southerly along Bee Hill Rd to Torrey Woods Rd, a distance of 2.0 miles, J. Thence easterly on Torrey Woods Rd to Oblong Rd, a distance of 0.6 miles, K. Thence southerly on Oblong Rd to Route 43, a distance of 3.41 miles, L. Thence southerly on Route 43 to the boundary between the Towns of Williamstown and Hancock, a distance of 1.7 miles, M. Thence southerly and easterly along the north‐eastern boundary of the towns of Hancock, Lanesborough, Dalton, and Hinsdale to the boundary of the town of Washington, a distance of 33.5 miles, N. Thence easterly along the northern boundary of the towns of Washington and Middlefield to the boundary of the town of Worthington, a distance of 5.2 miles, O. Thence northerly along the western boundary of the towns of Worthington, Cummington, and Plainfield to the boundary of the town of Hawley, a distance of 12.3 miles, P. Thence easterly and southerly along the northern boundary of the towns of Plainfield, Cummington, Goshen, Williamsburg, and Whately to the boundary of the town of Deerfield, a distance of 23.4 miles, Q. Thence northerly along the western boundary of Deerfield to the to the center of the Connecticut River, a distance of 6.9 miles, R. Thence southerly along the eastern boundary of Deerfield, Whately, Hatfield, and Northampton in the center of the Connecticut River to the confluence of the Fort River and the Connecticut River, a distance of 24.3 miles, S. Thence easterly and northerly upstream along the Fort River to a point where it crosses Bay Rd in the town of Hadley, a distance of 0.8 miles, T. Thence southerly along Bay Rd to Lawrence Plain Rd, a distance of 0.1 miles, U. Thence southerly along Lawrence Plain Rd to Churma Road, a distance of 1.1 miles, V. Thence easterly along Churma Rd to its end at a cul‐de‐sac, a distance of 1.3 miles, W. Thence northerly along a line from the cul‐de‐sac to the intersection of Maple St and Bay Rd, a distance of 0.4 miles, X. Thence easterly along Bay Rd to Route 116 in the town of Amherst, a distance of 1.2 miles, Y. Thence southerly along Route 116 to Pearl St in the town of South Hadley, a distance of 3.6 miles, Z. Thence westerly along Pearl St to Route 47, a distance of 1.8 miles, AA. Thence northerly along Route 47 to the boundary between the towns of Hadley and South Hadley, a distance of 0.7 miles, BB. Thence easterly along the southern boundary of the town of Hadley to the center of the Connecticut River, the boundary of the city of Holyoke, a distance of 0.4 miles, CC. Thence southerly along the center of the Connecticut River, the eastern boundary of Holyoke, West Springfield, and Agawam to the point of beginning, a distance of 21.5 miles.

APPENDIX C: TOWNS WITHIN OR PARTIALLY WITHIN THE WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS FOREST LEGACY AREA

Agawam West Stockbridge Alford Westfield Becket Westhampton Blandford Whately Chester Williamsburg Chesterfield Williamstown Cummington Worthington Dalton Deerfield Easthampton Egremont Goshen Granville Great Barrington Hadley Hancock Hatfield Hinsdale Holyoke Huntington Lanesborough Lee Lenox Middlefield Monterey Montgomery Mount Washington New Marlborough Northampton Otis Pittsfield Plainfield Richmond Russell Sandisfield Sheffield South Hadley Southampton Southwick Stockbridge Tolland Tyringham Washington West Springfield