Timeline

1998 

Harvard forest ecologists David Foster and Glenn Motzkin assess the validity of a state plan to clearcut and “reestablish” grassland in Manuel Correllus. Their findings undermine the state's assertion that this area was historically grassland. Harvard Forest Paper No. 23, 1999. 

2000 

Due to growing media attention and opposition from the Vineyard Conservation Society and PEER, the State Secretary of Environment brings the plan to clearcut to a halt. 

2001 

DCR illegally cuts fire lanes through the State Forest. Secretary of Environment Bob Durand formally requires an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) before further work proceeds. There is no record that this EIR was ever submitted or made subject to public comment. 

2020 

Sheriff's Meadow Foundation and DCR staff illegally clear bike trails in the State Forest, triggering NHESP to mandate trail closures and set restoration requirements. Separately, peer-reviewed research (Oswald, Foster et al., Nature Sustainability, 2020) concludes that the Island was dominated by diverse woodlands including old-growth forests for millennia, and that the “barrens,” “heathlands,” and “grasslands” being managed for by DCR were largely the product of Colonial deforestation and environmental degradation. 

2023 

The state's Climate Forestry Committee issues its report, recommending that tree cutting and ecological disturbance be minimized statewide. Its central finding: “The Committee unanimously agreed that maintaining forest cover is essential, recognizing that every acre of forest lost to conversion represents a loss of stored carbon to the atmosphere as well as a loss of future carbon sequestration.” 

2024 

The Healey administration formally adopts a plan to protect and expand forest conservation to mitigate climate change — in direct response to the Climate Forestry Committee's recommendations. DCR presses forward with the Correllus cutting plan regardless. At a public listening session in October, Islanders overwhelmingly ask DCR to prioritize bike path repairs, staff housing, and restoring a full-time presence in the forest. DCR makes no mention of its clearcut plan at this meeting. 

2025–26 

DCR moves forward with a plan created in 2001. As White Pine Friendly notes, “This plan is over 20 years old and in no way incorporates up-to-date research and management recommendations.” In January 2026, the MEPA Office issues an advisory opinion finding no Environmental Impact Report is required — despite the 2001 EIR mandate. Over 1,500 Islanders have signed the petition to stop the clearcut. Community members.

The ‘Native’ Question

A central argument in the debate over the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest is the belief that the trees in question are not "native." FVF believes is often applied too simply. 

The white pine is unambiguously native to New England. Its historical presence on Martha's Vineyard before widespread agricultural clearing is documented in the Harvard Forest pollen record. The trees at MCSF were planted but they are not exotic or invasive species. And they are thriving.

Oswald, Foster et al. (Nature Sustainability, 2020) found that the Island was dominated by diverse woodlands for millennia, and that the “barrens” and “grasslands” DCR is managing for were largely the product of Colonial land clearing — not the Island's natural historical baseline. 

Harvard Forest researchers have consistently emphasized that the question of nativeness, should not override a fuller ecological accounting of what a forest community is currently providing in terms of carbon, habitat, soil health and resilience. 

Source Note:  FVF's State Forest advocacy draws on the public timeline, talking points, and research archive compiled by White Pine Friendly / MVWhitePines. For the full petition, complete timeline, and supporting scientific documents, visit whitepinefriendly.weebly.com.