New York’s planned logging project for Zoar Valley Conservation Area is supposed to begin this year, though no start date has been set.
Despite vocal opposition, one local expert says there could be a big risk, regardless of whether the plan goes through.
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation and Audubon Connecticut and New York have been steadfast in their statements that cutting down trees within a 92-acre portion of Zoar Valley’s multi-use area would help improve the ecosystem.
The project would allow for a diversification between the canopy and lower layers, said Suzanne Treyger, Audubon Senior Forest Program Manager.
“We weren't noticing a lot of downed, woody material, understory layers, mid-story layers, you know, things that we know are pretty critical to support a number of birds that come here to breed," she said. "We identified Zora Valley, from a bird conservation perspective, as a site that could use some forest-restoration work to try to increase diversity overall, to better support breeding birds.”
Niagara University biology professor Mark Gallo says the answer isn’t that simple.
“Our intention, intentional actions — or even inactions — on forests, are going to have consequences, some of which might be, you know, quite undesirable," he said. "This is the kind of thing that we need to consider with all land use, what kind of management should be used on forests? Especially ones that are in the public, what's considered good forest stewardship and good management?”
Zoar Valley advocate Lynn Kenney believes reducing the number of mature trees will be detrimental in terms of conservation and providing the right environment for wildlife.
“When you start fragmenting the forest by cutting it down, you're losing bird habitat and habitat for other types of animals," she said. "We're also interested in carbon sequestration, you know, looking at large mature forests that take out carbon and methane out of the atmosphere to help decrease global warming as well.”
According to the Zoar Valley Coalition, the group now has almost 4,000 signatures from Western New York residents petitioning against the project.
But not all residents are opposed to the logging project.
Local hunter Logan Misseldine sees the value, and says increasing active stewardship is needed.
“There are plenty of areas that we should never touch with ax, or saw, or drill. It just so happens that we live in an area where because of the lack of disturbance, we see a lot of negative impacts on wildlife, on human ability to navigate our environment as well," he said. "Disturbances aren't just logging. Earthquakes, anything, quite literally anything, that will open up the canopy and reintroduce the sunlight to the forest floor again … Every process, including the process to recover, there are wildlife and other organisms that are reliant on that specific process.”
The logging project would also provide an opportunity to clear out any invasive flora and fauna that has taken hold over the years, Treyger said.
“We do document invasive species and kind of percent cover of those invasives. And DEC does the same thing when they do their forest inventory work too. They are inventorying for species like that as well," she said. "And part of what's really important is that we go in ahead of any management to control invasives, and that can look a lot of different ways depending on the species you're trying to control. And then once the management has happened, you want to keep monitoring annually and see are those species coming back.”
The plan could be executed effectively, Gallo said. But it would require a continued increase in stewardship, Gallo said, and he isn’t sure Zoar Valley is the right location.
“You may add to the diversity of what's left behind, and hence you might actually help the structural characteristic of this forest … But the other thing is, should it be at Zoar Valley that this is being done," he said. "We have something there that is different than found in many other places, which is a large tract of land that has a fair amount of secondary growth forest. Could it be easier to establish bird habitats of this type in other locations? And that's where the answer might be yes.”
According to both Gallo and Treyger, only about 3% of forests in New York are "new growth" or trees younger than 20 years old, while roughly the same percent is "old growth" or more than 120 years old.
For any leftover brush not usable for logging purposes, the DEC and Audubon plan to build “slash walls” that would prevent deer from entering certain areas and grazing the underbrush.
Gallo says the practice has been effective at keeping deer out other places it has been used. But he notes that it will limit the area’s “multi-use” aspect.
