1651 Forest Advisory Committee
Minutes from meeting dated 1/19/06
Present: Sue Haley, Rosalyn Kaplan, Loretta Neilson, Henry Lind
Absent: David Hoerle, Jeff Putnam
Meeting called to order 7:20 pm.
Correction to minutes from 10/27/06 meeting suggested by Loretta, include correct spelling of her last name and clarification on the planting of specimen trees along entry to Wiley Park and their association with memorial donations. Loretta made motion to accept corrected minutes, seconded by Rosalyn. Corrected minutes to be resubmitted to Town Clerk by Henry Lind.
Discussion ensued on memorial tree plantings of specimen trees along entry to Wiley. It is unwise to consider individual memorial trees due to concerns such as natural mortality and expected care and handling of such designated trees, therefore a pool of memorial funds towards this effort is best practice.
Clean up from the storm of December 9th has moved along quickly and all trails and most safety hazards have been cleaned up. Removal of piles of debris will be forthcoming. Much of downed wood and fallen snags are from non-beetle infested trees and therefore may be best left in current state. Brush may successfully deter people from using social trails and snags can become useful to certain wildlife. It was noted that there are no know 1651 plantings lost to the storm. Wood chips from debris may be used on trails to better mark their location. It was suggested that this be done in the fall as it will become more compacted through the winter and be more accessible, especially to strollers, in the busy season. Some downed tree trunks along trails can be cut at level so bases can be used for trail
signage.
The Open Space Committee is submitting a CPA request for $10,000 worth of interpretive and directional signs for the Glacial Ponds Area which includes trails from Cotton Tail Acres to Wiley Park.
The State has provided funds through a grant to survey town open space properties for fire hazard conditions. This will provide advice as to how much of Wiley debris will need to be cleaned up. Keith Johnson has been selected to carry out this review.
Coastal Zone Management will loan the Natural Resource Office an advanced GPS unit to allow for accurate inventorying of 1651 plantings. Henry and Bruce have been working on locating a plant marking system and have decided on a round metal tag, which will be pre-stamped with numbers and species. Henry will provide a numbering system to The Friends of 1651 Forest, and they will fund and purchase these tags.
Planting of some shrubs such as high bush blueberry may begin this spring, throughout the elm section, and remainder of memorial money for George Abott can be used for this. It was noted that these plantings need to be spread out to display a more natural presentation, rather than being clustered in a memorial plot arrangement to maintain the concept of keeping it natural.
Plantings in the spring will include tupelos and elms in the fall. If more money is available the handbook will be consulted and planting of additional species such as red cedars, hollys or red maples may be carried out. Loretta will discuss with the Friends at the next meeting.
The Friends have offered $500 in support towards the sign project being proposed by the Open Space Committee. It was suggested that if the money is available in the CPA for the needs of the sign project, then the Friends may want to consider putting that money towards more trees. Also the Friends will discuss at next meeting the sponsorship of one or two Mutt Mitts at Wiley Park. This would hopefully include the effort to keep the boxes stocked with the mitts.
Next meeting is set for April 20th at 7 pm. A motion to adjourn was made by Loretta and seconded by Rosalyn. Meeting adjourned at 8:25 pm.
Respectfully submitted by:
Sue Haley
Chair
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