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[email protected] June 3, 2020 William Hill Department of Conservation and Recreation 40 Cold Storage Dr Amherst, MA 01004 Dear Mr. Hill: Board of Directors Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on DCR’s proposed 2020 Dicken Crane State Forest Management projects. We appreciate the extension of the comment President period due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Windsor, MA Charles Thompson The Massachusetts Forest Alliance represents forest landowners, foresters, timber Immediate Past President harvesters, and forest products companies. We support DCR’s forest management Pelham, MA efforts in state forests. Here are some comments about the proposed 2020 projects. James Dammann Treasurer First, we’re glad to see varying sizes of projects. Our concern in the past has been Hillsboro, NH that DCR forest management projects in state forests were so large that the number of timber harvesters able to take on the work was significantly limited. By offering James Kelly some smaller projects, more harvesters will bid on the projects, which could Secretary Great Barrington, MA potentially lead to lower costs and/or greater revenue for DCR. Fred Heyes Several of these proposed projects – Balance Rock State Park, Huntington State At-Large Forest, and Granville State Forest – deal with unwanted beech regeneration. We find Orange, MA this problem is widely misunderstood by the public, who are concerned about Shane Bajnoci removal of native trees that are a valuable food source for wildlife, especially when it North Amherst, MA involves the use of herbicides.