North Quabbin Forestry

08/20/2023

Sun, Mike's wife is posting this.

We chose one day in October as a memorial day for Mike.

Sat, Oct 14. 12 - 3

Family, friends, neighbors are going to gather to memorize Mike along with simple Korean lunch which Mike liked...
Please feel free to stop by to share memories of Mike.

Thank you for the prayers with all of my heart. He has left us for another journey but the memories are always with us...

08/05/2023

View Michael Leonard's obituary, send flowers and sign the guestbook.

03/01/2023

01/08/2021

North Quabbin Forestry – 2020 Forestry Work

We had a banner year in 2020! Thanks to all the great timber harvesting companies and landowners we worked with!

Two Main Services: Forest Management Plans and Forest Cutting Plans

I. Forest Management Plans – The Massachusetts Chapter 61 Forest Land Tax Law provides a way for landowners to reduce their property taxes by enrolling in the program and can be combined with the Forest Stewardship Program. It encourages landowners to keep their land in forest rather than developing it and manage their forest effectively to meet their goals.
Forest Management Plans for 2020: 30 plans, 1,648 acres
CO2 sequestered on 1,648 acres = 146,672 tons
The average forested acre in Massachusetts is storing approximately 89 tons of carbon. 51% of that carbon is stored in living plants and trees, 34% in the soil itself, and 15% in dead wood debris and leaf litter.

II. Forest Cutting Plans – The Massachusetts Chapter 132 Forest Cutting Law requires that a Forest Cutting Plan be filed for any commercial timber harvest that exceeds 25 MBF or 50 cords or for lesser volumes when working within wetland resource areas.
Forest Cutting Plans for 2020: 13 plans, 682 acres

Total Timber Harvest Volumes on 682 acres:

MBF Cords Tons
1,812 2,490 6,800

1,812,000 board feet – That is enough timber to build over 1,200 houses (1,500 square feet/house). Total CO2 sequestered = 4,258 tons.

2,490 cords – That is enough firewood (or wood pellet equivalent) to heat or partially heat 498 homes (5 cords/home) reducing the amount of imported heating oil by 373,500 gallons! (one cord equals at least 150 gallons of oil). Total CO2 savings = 4,482 tons since utilization of low grade timber for firewood is carbon neutral as long as our forests are growing faster than they are being cut while burning heating oil emits about 24 pounds of CO2 per gallon.

6,800 tons of chipwood – That is enough to produce .58 MW of power at a biomass power plant (11,600 tons/MW) which is enough electricity to power 435 homes for an entire year! It is also carbon neutral as long as the biomass is derived from well managed forests and our forests are growing faster than they are being cut which they are (up to 5X as fast).

All forest products were harvested from sustainably managed woodlots which followed a Forest Management Plan. The residual forest stands are now of higher quality and will grow at a much higher rate.
We are not only improving woodlots but we are also providing landowners: with a source of income; encouraging them to keep their land in forest; improving wildlife habitat; greatly increasing CO2 sequestration rates; and maintaining many real green jobs right up the wood supply chain. So our forestry work has a huge multiplier effect.

01/04/2021

Temperature and Precipitation Trends in Massachusetts shows a slight warming trend (.2 degree F every 10 years or 2 degrees in 100 years if the current trend holds) and an increase in precipitation (.82 inches/decade or 8.2 inches in 100 years if the current trend holds).

The increase in temperature and precipitation along with a slightly longer growing season and increasing levels of atmospheric CO2 (280 ppm to 400 ppm) which causes plants and trees to grow faster (CO2 enrichment) has increased forest growth much more than it would have been if those variables had stayed the same.

At Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers examined the response of net primary productivity (NPP) to elevated Co2 in four free-air CO2 enrichment experiments in forest stands. They calculated a 23% increase in forest Net Primary Production as atmospheric CO2 increases to 550 ppm over the next few decade.
Another by the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” indicated that forests in the Eastern United States are growing at a faster rate than at any time in the last 225 years. At the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, the study of a mixed hardwood forest revealed that the forests are adding an additional 2 tons per acre annually.
On a global scale, the Earth’s vegetated lands have shown significant greening over the last 40 years largely due to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide as measured by Leaf Area Index (LAI). The greening represents an increase in leaves on plants and trees equivalent in area to an astonishing two times the continental United States.

Massachusetts as well as other states and countries could take better advantage of these more optimal climatic conditions for forest growth if we had forest policies that did a better job of promoting forestry.

12/10/2020

Massachusetts forests have grown a lot over the past century. However, our forests are now in significant decline due to insect and disease agents, non-native invasive plants, and the awful legacy of state-sanctioned destructive highgrade logging where the best timber is cut leaving a junk forest behind. So although our forests have grown a lot, tree mortality has increased to almost 50% of the annual growth! In addition, at least 65% of the timber is low grade junk. This is why we need "A New Forestry Deal for Massachusetts Forest Landowners".

12/06/2020

A Comparison of the Carbon Footprint of a Forestry Operation in Wendell State Forest with the Carbon Footprint of the Residents of Wendell, MA.

A small group of anti-forestry extremists protested a forestry operation in Wendell state forest and even sued the state to try and stop it. They falsely claimed that it would cause a massive release of CO2 and help “fuel climate change”. In this research paper, we did a comparative study to examine the facts.

Forest Cutting Plan for Wendell State Forest – 2018 – We obtained a copy of the plan after making a Public Records Request.
Location: Montague & Brook Road, Wendell State Forest, Wendell, MA
Acres Cut: 117 Acres Volume Harvested: 550 MBF, 369 cords or 1469 cords (2 cords = 1 MBF).

Harvard Forest concluded that growth rates for forests in this area are in the range of approximately 2/3 cord/acre/year using “conventional” rather than “highly intensive” forest management. Using that growth rate, those 117 acres will grow (117 x .2/3) 78 cords/year or 1482 cords over 19 years. So the volume that was cut will grow back in about 19 years. Cutting cycle = 15-25 years so the harvest intensity fits nicely inside the cutting cycle for sustainable forestry.
The fuel use from logging & trucking releases .05 tons of CO2/cord harvested so 1469 x .05 = 73 tons of CO2 that were released by the timber harvest at Wendell State Forest. That amount of CO2 will be re-sequestered by the area that was harvested (117 acres) in about one year.
The sawlogs that were cut were sold to regional sawmills that will produce lumber and other forest products that will sequester CO2 for a very long period of time. The cordwood that was harvested will reduce the use of imported heating oil greatly reducing the carbon footprint for home heating. The managed forest also provides many other benefits such as: lower tree mortality which means lower CO2 and methane emission rates; higher rates of CO2 sequestration because of higher growth rates; the growth of more high quality timber provides a better product mix for long-term wood use (more sawlogs and less pulpwood and firewood) and other product replacement such as wooden furniture, flooring, and other wood products from the harvested timber which replaces plastic/metal/synthetics that use more CO2 to process and create more pollution and are not renewable resources. Finally, the managed forest provides for more diverse wildlife habitat.
Add it all up and you can see that forest management is not only good for our economy but good for our environment and the climate.

Now let’s compare the carbon footprint for Wendell residents to the forestry work done in Wendell State Forest:

390 households in Wendell –

1500 square feet/house for the average modest house. An average of 4 new houses are built every year in Wendell = 6,000 square feet. 16,000 board feet of lumber and wood panels are used for each new house or an equivalent of 33 cords. 33 x 4 = 132 cords x 2.5 tons/cord = 330 tons of carbon in new house construction. The 1500 square foot house also needs a foundation which uses about 134 tons of concrete whose manufacture produces another 134 tons of CO2 emissions. 134 x 4 = 534 tons.

At least ½ of households use some wood heat – 5 cords/year = 1,000 cords/year = 2,600 tons of carbon/year

80% of households heat with oil. The average house uses at least 500 gallons/year. So about 312 households (.8 x 390) use 500 x 312 = 156,000 gallons of heating oil every year. .0113 tons/gallon of heating oil emits 1 ton of CO2 so 1,762 tons of CO2 are emitted every year from burning heating oil.

Propane for cooking – average of 3 gallons/month x 390 = 1,170 x 12 months = 14,040 gallons/year. .0063 tons of CO2/gallon propane = 88 tons of CO2/year

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated in 2017 increased to 4.51 pounds per person per day. Paper and paperboard products made up the largest percentage of all the materials in MSW, at 25 percent of total generation. = 2 lbs. per household/day = 730 lbs./year x 390 households = 284,700 lbs./year = 142 tons/year for the town of Wendell. That does not include any yard waste.

Average miles driven per licensed driver in MA = 12,000 miles/year. A typical passenger vehicle emits about .000453 tons of CO2/mile. The population in Wendell was 848 at the 2010 census. Assume 70% are licensed drivers based on MA statistics then there are 594 licensed drivers in Wendell driving an average of 12,000 miles/year or a total or 7,128,000 total miles emitting a total of 3,229 tons of CO2 every year.

Average CO2 emissions per capita in Massachusetts every year from electricity generation = 1.3 tons/person. 848 x 1.3 = 1,100 tons

Approximate Carbon Footprint of the people of Wendell every year:

New House Construction – 330 tons for wood and 534 tons for concrete
Wood Heat – 2,600 tons
Oil Heat – 1,762 tons
Propane – 88 tons
Municipal Solid Waste – 142 tons
Car/truck transportation – 3,229 tons
Electricity - 534 tons

Total Carbon Footprint for the Town of Wendell every year:
9,219 tons

These are approximate tonnages. If you wanted really accurate numbers you would have to survey each household.

The anti-forestry protesters in Wendell say we need to shut down all forestry operations on over 600,000 acres of state forest because we are in a “climate emergency”. Yet look at all the emissions they are generating while the forestry work in Wendell State Forest that they were protesting is carbon neutral within a normal cutting cycle.

CO2 emissions from forestry operations are not a problem. The problem is that we need more forest management not less. And if you are concerned with CO2 emissions, you should try and reduce your own carbon footprint rather than trying to shut down forestry operations which provide the forest products that we all use and depend on.

Photo: A nicely thinned red oak forest stand after the forestry operation in Wendell State Forest.

Mike Leonard, Consulting Forester
North Quabbin Forestry
33 Leighton Road
Petersham, MA 01366