A plan to cut acres of white pine trees in the State Forest that is backed by Vineyard ecologists and firefighters was met with stiff resistance from Islanders this week. And the first pinkletinks of the season have been heard on the Vineyard. You can hear them too.

A plan to cut about 175 acres of white pine trees in the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest that is backed by Vineyard ecologists and firefighters was met with stiff resistance from Islanders this week.

The state’s pending plan to clear 175 acres of white pine and other trees in the Manuel F. Correllus forest has earned the endorsement of a coalition of Island ecologists, fire chiefs and other conservation groups. 

A proposal by the Department of Conservation and Recreation to remove an area of white pine trees from the state forest is facing pushback from local forestry experts.

Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation this week received a $75,000 grant from the state to help combat an invasive beetle infestation in the Phillips Preserve forest in Tisbury. 

Rapidly, at a pace of 10 feet per day, an infection of southern pine beetle is spreading in the pitch pine forest at Sheriff’s Meadow’s Phillips Preserve near Lake Tashmoo.