The Bedford Minuteman
June 28, 2001

Town forest still eyed by Massport
Agency gives Bedford time to evaluate situation

BY LAWRENCE PRUYNE
STAFF WRITER

Massport has put the breaks on its plan to clear trees in the Hartwell Town
Forest, but only for the moment.

Massport spokesman Richard Walsh has announced that the agency is delaying
its plan to go before the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission next month to
request that Massport be named MAC's agent in clearing trees that could
create a safety hazard for the airfield. The reason: to give Bedford more
time.

" I told [Massport Spokesman Richard Walsh]. the town needed more time to
analyze the situation, " Town Administrator Richard Reed told the Minuteman.

Federal regulations place height limits on vegetation around air fields. The
problem, said Walsh, is that some of the trees in the Hartwell Town Forest
are getting too big.

Walsh had requested Massport be placed on MAC's agenda in a letter to the
agency on June 7. Following communication with the town, however, Walshs
asked MAC to reschedule for August to give Bedford more time to review. At
that meeting, Massport will likely request that it be named MAC's agent to
cut trees in the Hartwell Town Forest. The process of identifying and
cutting trees, Massport representatives said, could take one to two years.

But Massport's authority to cut trees in the Town Forest is not going
unchallenged, say town officials.

" We really have to have a discussion with Massport about all these fine
points of the law, " Reed said.

According to Reed, Bedford's town counsel doesn't believe MAC has the
authority to delegate Massport as its agent.

Before looking at numbers and locations of trees, Reed said, the town needs
to take a closer look at whether Massport can affect changes on town-owned
land .

Although the town is currently investigating Massport's authority in the
matter, Barbara Patzner, director of Hanscom Field, did give an idea for the
number of trees that could go.

Patzner met with town officials earlier this year and showed pictures that
focused attention on swathes of forest at the ends of runways where trees
and brush potentially obstruct the flight paths. Other photos sported dots
on specific trees that would feel the ax under Hanscom Field's " right of
avigation, " its right to maintain flight paths and the safety of its
facilities for commercial air traffic.

" They said at that meeting that they wanted to cut trees over a certain
height, and my impression was that there was quite a few, " said Elizabeth
Bagdonis, conservation administrator for Bedford.

The law that would allow the cutting of trees for safety reasons is
Massachusetts Special Law 709, passed in 1967. Section 6 of Chapter 709
reads: " If any tree is allowed to grow in such a manner as to become an
airport hazard, the commission may request its owner to remove or trim it so
that it will no longer constitute a hazard, and, if he neglects or refuses
to comply with such request within 60 days, may enter upon his land and
remove or trim said trees without expense to him. "

Richard Walsh, spokesman for Massport, went even further. " The Special Law
of 1967 was written specifically to establish airport zones for the Laurence
G. Hanscom Field, " he said.

The move to cut trees has also raised alarm bells with members of the
Bedford Arbor Resources Committee, which considers the Hartwell Town Forest
one of the town's natural treasures.

Originally referred to as the Bacon Lot, it was transferred to the town in
1940. In 1977 the sixth session of Town Meeting voted unanimously to
transfer control of the 122-acre parcel to the Conservation Commission.

" They said they have an " avigation easement " . that people who own
airports and fly planes have the right to go into areas where they fly and
remove all obstacles. But we have the legal right to protect a forest. How
do you replicate a forest? " asked BARC member Jacqueline Edwards.

Selectman Sheldon Moll agreed that Massport officials are on shaky legal
ground where two legislative issues collide.

" The state legislature has said that airports have the right to maintain
their flight paths, but they've also said that conservation land is sacred,
" Moll said.

Moll said that Bedford was not interested in having its town forest "
ravaged. " He intimated that the reaction to a Massport move to encroach on
the land would meet with stiff opposition that may include civil
disobedience.

" You saw what happened at an HFAC meeting when more airlines wanted to come
in. I think people will react much more strongly to this, " Moll said.

A member of the School Committee, Michelle Matteo, recalled at a recent
Board of Selectmen's meeting the first cutting Massport did in 1980, which
was on private land.

" They went in and marked trees. cut them down and then had to clear (enough
space) to drag them out, " Matteo said.

Selectmen Chair Gordon Feltman also remembered the event and the hostile
atmosphere it generated. " It was the genesis of hard feelings toward
Massport and they've never acted any differently, " Feltman said.

Moll, however, confirmed that there will be no cutting in the Bedford Town
Forest in the near future.

" These are preliminary discussions of intent by Massport. If there is ever
anything that's going to happen in the town forest it will not happen this
year, " Moll said.

Reed recognized, however, that the town needs to consider all aspects of the
issue.

" We have to understand there are safety issues as well, " Reed said. " We
just don't have enough information or understanding yet. It's going to take
awhile to work through this. "


© Copyright 1995-2001 - Town Online - All Rights Reserved

==========
**NOTICE:  In accordance with 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.**
==========