Press Release

MEDIA ADVISORY:

Local environmental advocates and archeological experts have raised concerns about a proposed loggin plan at two Millcreek Township parks.

Millcreek Township supervisors plan to dicuss the plan at their Tuesday Nov 29th meeting. Township Supervisors plan to dicuss the plan at their Tuesday, Nov 29 meeting. Township Supervisors are requesting that comments on the logging plan be e-mailed to the township prior to the meeting millcreektownship@millcreektownship.com The meeting is scheduled for Nov 29th 9:30 am, Millcreek Township Municipal Building Assembly Rooom.

The groups are calling for the supervisors to reject the plan and draw up another one, more responsible, one.

Representatives of the groups plans to meet with local nws reporters Friday at 1 p. at the first parking lot at Scott Park, the park that faces the most impact from the management plan. That plan calls for logging "deformed trees" and trees that pose a "safety hazard" to people using the park. The groups include the Erie County Environmental Coalition, Lake Erie Allegheny Earth Force, and the Gaia Defense League. (Gaia is the Greek goddess of the Earth.)

The groups point out that no criteria fo judging "deformed trees" or "safety hazard" trees is offered in the plan, which was drawn up by Ester & Laidlaw Forestry Inc. of Erie. It appears that the plan is geared mainly to harvesting large trees that reach nearly 100 feet into the air with saplings planted 10 feet apart. Replacing those large trees would take many decades; any profit from cutting them down would last a few months, the advocates said.

According to the contract between the township and that firm, Ester & Laidlaw will receive 10 percent of the proceeds from the timbersold through this plan.
What the groups call for is a responsible stewardship plan that will preserve the tall, majestic trees that highlight both parks, that hold to the original intent of the people who donated those lands for public enjoyment, and that provide for the best management of invasive species and potential safety hazards to people using the parks.
That can be done by including a more balanced group of planners that includes biologists, botanists, ecologists and forestry specialists in the planning process, the environmental groups say.

Both township parks offer visitors the opportunity to see mature forests just a few minutes from their homes. To log the biggest trees under the guise of removing potential “safety hazards” takes away the opportunity for many people living in and near Millcreek Township to see what a forest looks like.

In addition, logging work in Scott Park poses a threat to Native American archaeological sites and artifacts there. Scott Park is on the federal National Register District because of the prehistoric settlements known to have been located there. Previous archaeological digs on the park, mostly done in the 1970s, revealed them. They also revealed that the sites and artifacts at Scott Park are relatively shallow, lying just inches below the surface. Removing trees and operating heavy equipment, including logging skids, could damage those sites.
Before any cutting is done in the park, a cultural resource management plan should be done, local archaeologists say. The current plan does not do that.