Tree, shrub planting seeks to address erosion

Staff Report

CONWAY — The Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership is teaming up with the Open Space Committee and the Friends of the South River to plant about 70 trees and shrubs to address erosion at the South River Meadow.

Volunteers convened on May 26 to start planting. According to Lisa Hayden, administrative agent for the Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership, the site on the South River (across from 59 Shelburne Falls Road) was identified as a high priority for riparian restoration and planting of native and climate-adapted trees by a student team from the Conway School of Landscape Design, funded through a U.S. Forest Service grant. A matching grant from the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs funded the purchase of trees for this first location as part of a region-wide project focusing on key sites in the Deerfield River and Hoosic River watersheds through 2024.

The Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership, which formed in 2013, is a grassroots program focused on conserving forests and supporting sustainable management with relation to economic development in rural communities. According to the organization’s website, the partnership is a collaboration between the Franklin Regional Council of Governments, Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, Franklin Land Trust, Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, a U.S. Forest Service liaison and an advisory committee. There are 17 member towns in the partnership, including the Franklin County towns of Ashfield, Charlemont, Conway, Heath, Leyden, Monroe, Rowe and Shelburne.

For more information, visit bit.ly/3NU4wwg.

Colin Mettey of Baystate Forestry Service lends his expertise as he stakes and puts a deer shield around a shrub planted at the South River Meadow along the South River in Conway.

STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

Many hands get the work done planting trees and shrubs at the South River Meadow along the South River in Conway that will help stabilize the riverbank and shade the water.

STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ