Bear Path Farm - Sustainable Forestry

Black Cherry marked for harvest.

SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY

Bear Path Farm is known for its quality compost and to a lesser extent for its peaches. But what many people are unaware of is Bill’s commitment to sustainable forest management. Of the farm’s 50 acres, 35 are forested with a diverse mix of hardwoods (red oak, sugar maple, black cherry, yellow birch, white ash etc.) as well as eastern hemlock and some white pine. For such a small wood lot, it’s extremely productive.

At Bear Path Farm - cutting boards on the property. Over the years of Bill’s ownership Bear Path Farm has produced over 114,500 board feet of saw logs including some red oak and black cherry veneer logs. Over 200 cords of firewood and pulpwood have also been removed as prescribed thinnings to improve the health and growth of the residual stand of trees. Some of the logs harvested were sawn on the farm with a portable band-sawmill with the lumber being marketed to local woodworkers and friends.

In 2002 Bill became aware of a new organization that services the needs of forest landowners. “The Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative was organized in 1999 by and on behalf of forest landowners in western Massachusetts. Through it, landowners protect and manage their lands more effectively, add value to forest products by processing and marketing them cooperatively, and strengthen the local economy based on sustainable use of one of the region’s most abundant assets, the forest.”

It was not long before Bear Path Farm became a member of this organization which currently has 57 members with 12,000 acres of forest land under sustainable management.

portable saw mill
By managing their forests to meet FSC certification standards Coop members reap multiple environmental benefits for themselves as well as for the greater good.

Coop forests are not high graded, - a poor logging practice where only the best trees are removed.
Consideration of wetlands, wildlife habitats, and scenic vistas is of prime importance.
Forest access roads are well built and routinely maintained.

Trees on steep slopes are minimally harvested to deter erosion problems.
Coop forests are properly thinned of small diameter and low grade trees for firewood and pulp.
For decades after timber harvests and thinnings, the remaining future crop trees thrive and grow rapidly thereby converting large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into wood fiber. Because of this, Coop forests are positive contributors in minimizing the future impacts of global warming.

As a sustainable compost producer, Bear Path Farm is excited about being a member of an organization producing and marketing “Home Grown”, sustainably harvested forest products. In the summer of 2007 the farm conducted its first FSC certified timber harvest of over 43,000 board feet of timber and 48 cords of firewood - the timber being sawn by a member sawmill and the lumber marketed by the Coop. Locust posts from this timber harvest are now supporting the portico at The River Valley Market in Northampton.

The Massachusetts Woodlands Cooperative has it's office at 1 Sugarloaf St. in South Deerfield, MA where our executive director, Suzanne Webber can answer any questions that you might have about membership, the Coop in general as well as potential needs that you or others might have for “green certified” forest products.