Plans to cut 52 acres of pine trees in the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest have hit a snag after the lone bid for the work came in well over the state’s budget.
The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation was hoping to start clearing trees this winter on the controversial project, but will now have to put the project out to bid again in the fall.
“DCR remains committed to improving the health of the forest, reducing wildfire risk, and restoring native-barrens woodland communities in accordance with the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program permit,” a DCR spokesperson said. “DCR expects to rebid the project in the Fall of 2026.”
Favreau Forestry, a mainland outfit from Sterling, had proposed to cut the pines for $1.1 million. The state said that plan, which included $257,261 for the initial 12 test acres and another $857,538 for the remaining 40 acres, far exceeded DCR’s available budget, though officials did not specify by how much.
With the discrepancy, no award was made.
The state has sought to cut the pines in the southeastern corner of the 5,300-acre forest as part of an effort to restore the area to a sandplain grassland habitat. The habitat type, full of short grasses and shrubs, has become increasingly rare and the Vineyard remains one of the last footholds in the world.
The state is required to remove about 175 acres of trees to make up for past clearings, and these trees were considered a fire hazard.
The white pines were planted as part of a prior attempt to establish a lumber industry on the Vineyard that has since petered out. The remaining pines have grown in a thick grove, making it hard for other species to survive there.
The plan has been met with resistance from some Islanders, including some who questioned if the project needed to go through another layer of environmental review.
The contract was supposed to be awarded at the beginning of the month, and the work was estimated to take about two months. The cutting will produce a projected 2,600 tons of wood chips, and there have been proposals to send some of the wood to local sawmills.
This article appears in February 20, 2026.
I hope that when they commence chopping down those trees they start well before or after that season’s chicks have fledged. Previously when the M V hospital housing began their project in mid-Spring there was a noticeable drop in birds coming to my feeders soon afterwards and that Summer. And some of those species have still not returned, or at least not in the abundance from before. It’s not hard imagining the nests in those trees being destroyed with eggs, chicks and even brooders themselves having been the unfortunate trapped victims. A little common sense and care for our wildlife should perhaps be a consideration, also.
Suggestion: See if Islanders are interested in taking trees down for their own use, with some help from the Commonwealth and local government services to remove those harvested trees? I would think one could get some good lumber or even firewood for private use from the tree removal proposal.