Letter: On Timberspeak in North Adams

To the Editor:

Like every other resident of North Adams, I was until very recently unaware of a sneaky logging plan for a patch of pristine public lands on the south side of Mount Greylock called Notch Woods.

Excuse me, it's not a logging plan, it's a forest management plan, or is it a forest stewardship plan? Whatever obfuscating rhetoric you choose, the timber industry is about to rip 70 acres of iconic public land to shreds, and on that razed ground build back what might be their crowning achievement in euphemism, wait for it, a "climate resilient forest."

You can almost hear the snickering timber industry executives. What we need instead is a forest seemingly impossible to come by, one resilient to human intervention.

Although the city of North Adams unfortunately fell for the "climate resilient forest" pitch over two years ago, our civic leadership withheld the cutting plan from its citizens so we now have almost no time to organize and disrupt the imminent sound of mechanical treatments, scheduled to begin in a couple of months. ("Mechanical treatment" is timberspeak for "sawblades gouging into wood," FYI.)

"So what's the big deal," you might ask? "70 acres doesn't sound so bad. Quit crying, lumber has to come from somewhere, why not North Adams?"

Here's why:

We're only the pilot program. Notch Woods is home to the Bellows Pipe trail, voted by Conde Nast Traveler as one of the top 25 hikes in the country on which to enjoy fall foliage, and in an obscene example of irony, the trail walked by perhaps nature's most eloquent advocate, Henry David Thoreau, as he summitted the tallest peak in Massachusetts. If the timber industry can pull off this swindle on a historically recognized piece of public land, the precedent will be set for its ability to target public land anywhere.

"Hello, are you concerned about climate change? You are?? So are we!!! I knew we'd have a lot in common. Good news is that we've got a fantastic solution for you and your community ... ."

Sound cool?

Maybe you'll be as lucky as we are in North Adams to enjoy the privilege of getting your very own brand-new "climate resilient forest" delivered at no cost by the benevolent hands of the timber industry.

The only catch is that they have to cut down all your trees before they can begin to rebuild.

Noah Haidle
North Adams, Mass. 

Clarksburg Students Write in Support of Rural School Aid

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
07:25AM / Sunday, March 15, 2026

Mason Langenback calculated that Clarksburg would get almost $1 million if the $60 million was allocated equally.

CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Eighth-graders at Clarksburg School took a lesson in civic advocacy this week, researching school funding and writing letters to Beacon Hill that call for fulling funding rural school aid. 

 

The students focused on the hardships for small rural schools and their importance to the community — that they struggle with limited funding and teacher shortages, but offer safe and supportive spaces for learning and are a hub for community connections.

 

"They all address the main issue, the funding for rural schools, and how there's a gap, and there's the $4 million gap this year, and then it's about the $40 million next year, and that rural schools need that equitable funding," said social studies teacher Mark Karhan.

 

A rural schools report in 2022 found smaller school districts cost from nearly 17 percent to 23 percent more to operate, and recommended "at least" $60 million be appropriated annually for rural school aid. 

 

Gov. Maura Healey has filed for more Chapter 70 school aid, but that often is little help to small rural schools with declining or static enrollment. For fiscal 2027, she's budgeted $20 million for rural schools, up from around $13 million this year but still far below the hoped for $60 million. 

 

Karhan said the class was broken into four groups and the students were provided a submission letter from Rural Schools Advocacy. The students used the first paragraph, which laid out the funding facts, and then did research and wrote their own letters. 

 

They will submit those with a school picture to the governor.