The Martha’s Vineyard Commission is ramping up its involvement with the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest, the 5,300-acre nature preserve at the center of the Island.

Staff planner Dan Doyle told commissioners last week that an MVC-led task group, whose members include state officials, local fire chiefs and Island conservation non-profits, has been meeting to develop improvement plans that take into account both the forest’s ecological health and the safety of human communities that surround and use it.

“While on some levels, the state forest is certainly a center of gravity [for] the Island, it’s also a source of concern [that’s] lurking for some people who are living in … densely populated neighborhoods and very close proximity to the state forest,” Mr. Doyle said at the commission’s Sept. 12 meeting.

The risk of wildfire is high throughout most of the forest, Mr. Doyle said, in large part because the porous, fast-draining soils of the former sandplain were planted heavily with highly flammable, non-native trees during the 20th century.

Controlled burns could be helpful, according to a task force.

Tim Johnson

Controlled burns could be helpful, according to a task force.

Tim Johnson

“That’s a legacy of trying to establish a timber industry here on the Island,” he said.

The lumber plantings make up a significant proportion of the forest, Mr. Doyle said. Estimates run between 600 and 1,700 acres for the plantations.

“They don’t belong there, and there is interest in removing them and restoring them to native habitat,” Mr. Doyle said.

Controlled burn-offs would help reinforce and sustain established native plantings around the forest. 

“Some of these are fire-dependent ecosystems, so these two goals really align well with one another and reinforce one another,” Mr. Doyle said.

The state forest has a reputation for having a lot of endangered species and they could thrive if efforts were made to restore the native habitat, he said.

Another of the task group’s goals is to get the state to finish repaving the network of shared-use paths through the forest. Six miles were resurfaced in late 2018, but the other eight miles are still waiting for new pavement, he said.

“The project has not advanced, and some stretches of that are in really abysmal condition,” Mr. Doyle said.

“I had a chance to drive it today with the [state] director of trails and greenways, [who] had only been out here for a wedding years ago, so this was really kind of eye opening for him.” Mr. Doyle said. 

“So that was something that is in their interest as well to get done,” he said.

Finally, Mr. Doyle said, the task force aims to find a way for the forest to once again have a resident manager. Current forest superintendent Conor Laffey lives in Falmouth, but there have been efforts to allow staff to live in a vacant home within the forest boundaries.

“Even though we see that house that used to be occupied by a previous state forest superintendent … now, state policy doesn’t allow for it,” Mr. Doyle said.

The task group hopes to convince Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation commissioner Brian Arrigo, who was appointed last year, to make an exception for the Vineyard.

“We’ve had conversations, working closely with Senator [Julian] Cyr to really get the new commissioner engaged, and we anticipate he’ll be out here for a visit in the fall for the first time,” Mr. Doyle said.