Milton offers to buy preserve, stop plan for timber harvesting
MILTON — In an effort to keep trees from being cut in a popular trail-laced preserve, town officials are seeking to purchase the 130-acre forest from its current owner, the village of Ballston Spa.
Supervisor Scott Ostrander sent a letter to village officials Jan. 6 with an undisclosed purchase offer for Woods Hollow Nature Preserve, which he called a community treasure. In the letter, he also asked village officials to “cease and desist” plans for timber harvesting.
“When the town board got wind that they were going to harvest it and log it, we do not want that,” Ostrander said. “I’m concerned if people go in there and start cutting trees, what will it look like when they are done? What damage are they going to cause?”
Ostrander said the letter was acknowledged by village Mayor Frank Rossi, but as of Thursday, “there have been no negotiations” on a possible deal.
Rossi said they are open to selling
the land to Milton, but have yet to determine a price. He is also uncertain if that would mean postponing the harvest.
As of Thursday, the village was still on track to selectively cut trees, a move necessary, Rossi said, to ensure the health of the forest. He said it’s a job that has not been done in decades and, without the harvest, other trees will die.
“The selective cutting is to take out the deadwood or the trees that won’t survive the battle for sunlight,” Rossi said. “If we take out those dead and diseased trees, other trees will have more of a chance. … by no means are we raiding the forest or creating a huge clearing scenario.”
Rossi estimated that about 15 percent or one in every six trees in the forest have been marked to come down.
Ostrander said that the cutting would ultimately pull 211 truckloads of wood from the forest. The supervisor, who has often aligned himself with fellow Republican Rossi, also pointed out that the town has maintained the park for decades, plowing snow from and mowing grass at its entrances. He said town crews have also trimmed and removed trees that block trails.
“People use it on a daily basis,” Ostrander said. “It’s our busiest park. That is why we maintain it all those years because people use it so much.”
Furthermore, if Milton is allowed to purchase the preserve, he said the town would build a dog park, pavilions, campsites and docks on the preserve’s
ponds.
Deputy Supervisor Barbara Kerr said the town has been getting a lot of phone calls from concerned residents about the number of trees that are already marked to come down. She also said it’s important to Milton and its residents as “it’s in the middle of our town.”
Ostander agreed, saying, “people are highly upset about the amount of wood that is going to be taken out of there.”
If the village moves on timber harvesting, its would begin at the end of the month, when the trails are still frozen and thus
less likely to be damaged. The process would take six to eight weeks and would require closing the preserve.
Milton officials would also consider harvesting trees, but would do it in sections so that the entire preserve wouldn’t be fully shut down. Rossi doesn’t think that makes a lot of sense.
“You make a sacrifice for a six-week period to have a great and vibrant forest,” Rossi said. “It’s one time and it’s done for a decade. Do it once.”
The village would also earn about $70,000 on the harvest as the forester would share any profits it reaps from the trees. He said the contract with forester Bob Rice and Lumac Company to do the work was unanimously accepted by the village
Board of Trustees.
Rossi said if a deal could be worked out, he would insist on deed restrictions ensuring it remains forever wild. The village, which sits mostly in Milton, protected the parcel in 2000.
“We are doing the right thing for the village and the forest,” Rossi said. “If we deem something is surplus, even land, the process is to sell it at a fair market value. We will do the right thing and be a good neighbor.”
Ostrander said he hopes that it the case.
“It’s a piece of woods that we think should be forever wild,” he said. “If they want to sit down at the negotiating table, we would be happy to meet with them.”