Trailhead off a section of trail at Bald Hill/Wood Hill Reservation in Andover.Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
ANDOVER, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Andover's Conservation Department is planning on cutting down up to a quarter of the trees in one section of Bald Hill/Wood Hill Reservation to improve the health of the forest there.
The section to be thinned covers 53 acres, but only some of those trees are coming down.
On a walk in the woods, Land Manager Mike Murray explained that parts of the forest were clear-cut before the industrial revolution to make room for farms and pastures.
When trees started growing back, they all grew at the same time staying the same height.
Fast forward to decades later and the trees have bunched into a forest canopy that blocks out light allowing diseases to spread while preventing new tree growth.
Murray explained that by cutting down some of the older and sicker trees down, the town can make room for new saplings allowing more light into the forest improving the overall health of the trees.
Diversity of age, and species, is key.
By staggering the ages of the trees, the town hopes to mimic an old-growth forest, which would be more naturally resistant to plant pathogens and climate change.
Without that diversity, changes in temperature or new invasives can devastate a forest made of mostly the same kind and age of trees.
As he walked through the woods, Murray pointed out some of the concerns. "This pine suffers from one of the pathogens called white pine blister rust," he said, a type of fungus that kills trees and thrives in a moist understory created by the dense canopy.
Murray said the trees that are cut down will be sold as firewood or lumber, and the money made is invested back into the health of the trees in the Bald Hill/Wood Hill forest, especially into preventing invasive species.
The plan should net between $15,000 and $20,000.
That's a crucial investment, he said, because the Conservation Division isn't sure yet how the thinning will affect invasive plants in the area.
WBZ NewsRadio's Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports.
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