Friday, November 26, 2010

Modern Forestry - criminally incompetent and the greatest threat to woodlands

Took FFC to look at an extended ceremonial site along the eastern edge of Rocky Pond Boylston. I thought this place was safe, as it is a "New England Forestry" site. Sadly, these fools have been driving large equipment all over the rock piles and stone walls, doing a "minimal cut". According to FFC, this means they have been removing a minimum of trees in order to go through the motions of logging so as to preserve their tax status. FFC also tells me the New England Forestry association has a stated priority to preserve historically significant places in the woods. Too bad they have no clue as to what is "significant" and, apparently no eyes to see with.
That is what a rock pile looks like when driven over by logging equipment. Look at those white scars as the treads crossed the split-wedged rock in the background.

I was trying to console FFC, saying that the whole site had not been destroyed. But he was incensed that the continuity was lost between one part of the site and another. Of course he is right, this site will not be worth visiting again. We need to make it a priority to communicate with the Forestry community. This is not the first time I have found them leaving a swath of destruction.

I believe that keeping rock pile sites secret protects them from a largely non-existent group of vandals and new age types. The real threat is right there: ignorant foresters.

3 comments :

Norman said...

With your photographic documentation, I'd write, call, or go in person to the organization overseeing this area and show them photos of the cairns and what damage has already been done. Maybe they'll listen.

Tim MacSweeney said...

Looks like a crime scene.

Anonymous said...

Terrible! I know this is an old post - I found it while trying to identify some rock piles on my land. I live in New Hampshire and have about 9 acres which includes a number of large, well-formed rock piles (probably not just from field-clearing - likely what you would call burial piles) as well as stone walls and another formation which I think is either from a chimney or kiln. It's really amazing what a concentration of structures of formations exist in this relatively small lot.

We have a small powerline corridor running through part of the land, and you can see that they just removed a huge segment of a stone wall which would have crossed through the corridor. There are also stones EVERYWHERE (only really noticeable in early spring when all vegetation is dead and matted down) which I suspect used to be in different formations. Every 4-5 years or so the power company comes through and clear-cuts the area, doing further damage.