Wilbraham
& Monson Academy is preparing a Forest Stewardship Plan in partnership with
the Massachusetts Forest Stewardship program. The Science department has
encouraged students to become involved in the preparation of the plan. Working
with Biology teacher Paul Ekness, the students will measure the amount and type
of marketable timber that is present on our campus.
The final
plan includes a map of the WMA campus describing the location and the amount of
harvestable timber as well as the following important natural and cultural
features of the landscape:
- brooks and streams
- ponds
- vernal pools
- forested wetlands
- stone walls
- beaver ponds
- very large or unique trees
- other important natural history features
The survey
will take place at a series of Sunday morning field trips attended by various
concerned and interested students. The first meeting on January 17 saw thirteen
students in attendance. Mr. Doug Hutcheson, a forester who works with the state
of Massachusetts, instructed us on the methods used to make assessments of
marketable timber products.
We are excited
about the project and about being able to give our students first-hand
experience gathering data and applying methods that are used around the world for conducting forest inventories.
