GOSHEN — Anyone out near the Tilton Town Farm on Tuesday afternoon likely heard the chainsaws buzzing.
Many of the trees being cut down on the town-owned property are for commercial lumber to be sold to a private company for revenue. But a portion of the wood is going toward the creation of a “community wood bank” to provide low-income Goshen residents with free heating assistance.
“It is kind of a new idea, sort of like a food bank, where you are able to procure wood, process it and have it so that needy folks can have access to some heat,” said Lincoln Fish, a forester with Bay State Forestry Service, which is serving as the project manager.
The endeavor is part of a forestry management plan drawn up by Bay State Forestry Service for the Tilton Town Farm, which was given to the town around a century ago and is meant to be financially self-sustaining.
Bob Goss, 69, is one of the town farm supervisors, and was out at the site Tuesday volunteering to pull out firewood for the wood bank. He said the largest source of revenue for the 140-acre site comes from a four-bedroom farmhouse the town rents out. Lumber provides another important financial stream.
With the forestry management plan in place, the town invited companies to bid on the standing timber at the site, with Hull Forest Products making the winning bid.
“Now it’s mostly a forest that they have there, so what we’re trying to do is find ways of contributing to the community value, wildlife habitat and interesting projects like the wood bank,” Fish said.
“Basically what we’re trying to do is manage the forest to make it a long-term, sustainable forest,” Goss added.
Similar wood banks exist in towns like Athol, though the idea seems to be a relatively new one in Hampshire County, where heating assistance can be a much-needed financial lifeline for low-income residents. This winter, a stretch of extreme cold meant swelling heating costs for New England residents, burdening some families.
“We’re just glad we have an opportunity to do it so that other people can have access to it,” Goss said while stockpiling wood for the wood bank.
“We’re hoping that the idea will catch on,” Fish said.
As part of Bay State Forestry Service’s plan, the company also took out what Fish described as a “modest” invasive plant infestation, planted native shrubs and thinned out what he called “less thrifty” trees that may have become crowded out by other trees.
“We are trying to anticipate that mortality and take out trees that are losing the battle, or are of lower quality, so that the trees we leave are better quality and will utilize that space more efficiently,” Fish said.
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.