A plan to cut down 175-acres of pine trees in the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest is set to proceed after a state environmental agency determined the project does not need to go through another layer of environmental review.

A pair of Islanders earlier this year asked the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) office to weigh in on if the controversial tree cutting plan, sought by the state to restore the globally rare sandplain grassland habitat in the forest, was required to go through the office’s review process. 

In a six-page opinion released on Dec. 26, MEPA director Tori Kim wrote that an environmental impact review was not needed, though the Department of Conservation and Recreation, which manages the forest, would need to create a property-wide management plan for all of its activities for review by the end of 2026. 

The Department of Recreation and Conservation (DCR) says the ruling allows the department to move forward with the first phase of its cutting plan, which will remove about 52 acres of pine trees in the southeast corner of the 5,300-acre forest. 

“Based on the advisory ruling from MEPA, we plan to move forward with the work at Manuel Correllus State Forest,” a DCR spokesperson said in a statement. “We will be updating our timeline for implementing this work, which aims to restore native plant habitat and support rare species within the forest.”

DCR in July got approval to start its cutting plan, a requirement under a 2001 permit that allowed DCR to expand its fire breaks in the forest. The cuttings are marked for areas where white pines, which were planted in the 1900s in an attempt to start a lumber industry, have proliferated, choking out other plants and habitats. 

Proponents, including a Martha’s Vineyard Commission task force, said the cutting would help revive the sandplain habitat, while also tamping down the potential for an uncontrollable forest fire that has worried the Island’s fire departments for years.

Opponents, which have been numerous and vocal, say the state’s plans will get rid of strong trees that provide important carbon storage. They also argue that there isn’t ample evidence that the sandplain grassland was a natural feature of the New England landscape. 

One of the chief critics has been David Foster, a West Tisbury resident and longtime director of Harvard Forest. He, along with Megan Ottens-Sargent, raised the questions about further environmental review, arguing that the state had made it a requirement under the 2001 permit. 

MEPA determined that a retroactive review would not benefit the office and much of the review requirements had been filled in other filings. Ms. Kim also noted that the tree cutting plan was exempt from MEPA review.

Ms. Kim did order DCR to come up with a new management plan for the forest, which will describe the operation and maintenance plans for all of its facilities, including firebreaks, bike paths, field headquarters and the disc golf course. Proposed habitat management activities, including the plantation removal, would also have to be included in the plan. 

The plan needs to be submitted to the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program by Dec. 31, 2026, and be posted for public comment. 

DCR had originally hoped to put the work out to bid in the fall or early winter this year, and has said it will only conduct cutting in the off-season, between November and April. The bidding process has not happened yet though, according to the department, and DCR is working on a new updated timeline.