Future of Poland Municipal Forest to be discussed during public meeting Tuesday night
There's some concern over the future of the Poland Municipal Forest.
Concerns over the future of the Poland Municipal Forest will be addressed Tuesday, February 28 during a public meeting at 7 p.m.
For about a year, a plan on how to better manage the space has been in the works. The author of that plan will be present at the meeting to answer questions.
Some ideas were turned over from an advisory board to the village council for a final decision, but earlier this month, Dr. Lauren Schroder, Youngstown State University Professor Emeritus of Evolution and Ecology, expressed concern to council over the proposed plan.
"Despite the good things in the plan, there are some things that will be highly detrimental in my view to the forest," said Dr. Schroder. "If that plan is put in place, which in effect turns one-half of the forest into a wood lot managed for the production of good, economical forest trees. But, there's not a plan for harvest, so you get all the negatives of that management without any of the benefits."
In the earlier meeting, Dr. Schroder also questioned if the more than 230-page plan should have been presented to the public sooner. He pointed out that although council has not given the final approval, an appointed forest board had voted to adopt the plan and recommend it to council.
"There wasn't any discussion of the forest board's plan. There wasn't any discussion of its merit, wasn't any discussion of an alternative plan, wasn't any expert witness, there wasn't anything," said Dr. Schroder.
Forest Board Chairwoman Elinor Zedaker has said while the plan may not have been posted online immediately, it was available to those interested, and she argued that the plan was discussed by the board.
"It was discussed at the meeting, I think I counted five paragraphs and then an amendment, more discussion on the amendment. The amendment was not passed," Zedaker said.
Also speaking in support of the plan was Forest Board Member Mark Thompson. "His (the authors) overall intent is how to position this forest as a healthy ecosystem not only for the next 10, 20, 30, or 40 years but even further," said Thompson. "This is not about wood lots. It has nothing to do about that."
