Meeting to Help Determine Prescribed Forest Burns in Marlborough

The will participate in an event Thursday called "Fire Dependent Forests" at the Visitors' Center at the Assabet River National Widlife Refuge at 7 p.m., and encourage the public to join them in this discussion about forest management. 

Tim Simmons, a restoration ecologist with Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, will talk about pitch pine-scrub oak barrens. This forest type, which provides habitat for some rare wildlife species including barren's buck moth, whip-poor-wills and New England cottontails, relies on fire to regenerate. While pitch pine-scrub oak forests are nationally endangered due to fire suppression, they are found in the Desert Natural Area in Marlborough and Sudbury. 

"The City of Marlborough Conservation Commission and the Sudbury Valley Trustees especially want to involve citizens from Marlborough, Sudbury and surrounding communities in discussions about these management plans for the Desert Natural Area," said Erin Snook, Community Outreach Coordinator for the Sudbury Valley Trustees. 

Sudbury Valley Trustees is interested in a carrying-out a forest management plan that promotes the existing pitch pine-scrub oak barrens in SVT's General Federation of Women's Clubs of Massachusetts Memorial Forest in the Desert Natural Area.

Simmons will also talk about his experiences managing forests for this unique habitat. The talk is co-hosted by Friends of the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Sudbury Valley Trustees.