Town Of West Greenwich: Tree Cutting - Plain Meeting House Road

Press release from the Town of West Greenwich:

Posted on: April 6, 2021 - 2:48pm

We have had a number of people inquire about the tree cutting on Plain Meeting House Road. That strip of land is part of the Tillinghast Pond Management Area and is owned jointly by DEM, Town of WG & The Nature Conservancy. As part of the forest management plan, it was put out to bid a year or so ago. The land borders Alton Jones Campus to the east and the residential side of Plain Road to the west. 75% of the oaks were devastated by the gypsy moths the past few years. Will Walker, the DEM forester, has marked the trees to be cut and is overseeing the project. He sent notices explaining the project to abutting home owners several months ago when the project went to bid. Cutting will stop in a few weeks to allow for spring bird nesting and resume in the fall. This is being cut to improve the current forest and help reduce forest fire danger by removing all the dead wood. It also creates excellent wild life habitat for a variety of birds and rabbits. With the dead wood gone, it will allow sun in and quickly green up with low growing shrubs and allow sprouting of oak and pine which will regenerate. It is not a destruction of the forest - it's a management practice to improve and make the forest healthy again. When WG voters approved borrowing $8 million in 2006 to preserve 1800 acres (now close to 2500 acres) one of the requirements was to have an active forest management plan in place which includes selective cutting at various sections of the preserve.

This press release was produced by the Town of West Greenwich. The views expressed are the author's own.