The superintendent of the Northeast Metro Tech School, David DiBarri, has repeatedly belittled the forest as a ledge and very few trees.
Video of NEMT Whole Forest Ecosystem on Youtube
This forest, the NEMT Forest, is actually a unique and intact complex ecosystem with over 2000 trees and is home to a great diversity of wildlife and unique plants. What you see in this video is only a small sampling of the breadth and beauty of life in NEMT Forest.
Unless we take action NOW, 14 acres of this forest with over 2000 trees will be destroyed in a “mass tree-clearing and blasting operation”, decimating the biodiversity that thrives there: the hibernating frogs, toads and salamanders, the mammals living under the rocks and fallen leaves - chipmunks, foxes, and fishers - and ALL the butterflies, moths, bees, spiders, and other arthropods making the forest their home. DiBarri and the rest of the school district plan to construct the new Northeast Metro Tech school building IN this forest starting Feb 2023.
This NEMT Forest is a pristine pine-oak woodland and rock outcrop forest filled with tall, mature trees and with rich biodiversity. It is teeming with wildlife; vernal pools support populations of toads, frogs, salamanders, and many aquatic insects. Over 100 species of birds have been seen from the forest. The forest and the shrubby forest edge habitat host 17 species of warblers migrating through in spring and fall, and over 30 species of nesting birds. Two state-listed species have been documented here: the Eastern Whip-poor-will is known for its resounding song heard through the summer months, and the Hentz's Red-bellied Tiger Beetle is a rock outcrop specialist. Scientists think that the larvae of these beetles overwinter in these outcrops. The mat of leaves on the forest floor shelters a complex world of organisms that live in the soil and the network of mycorrhizal fungi between the roots of the most grand trees and the saplings just coming up from the ground.
When this forest is blasted and clear-cut, some regions will be blasted over 30 feet down, and 14 acres of habitat will be destroyed. Wakefield will lose most of its only core forested habitat, as recognized by the state of Massachusetts (see BioMap 3). No tree farm or tree planting can even remotely compensate for the destruction of this irreplaceable forest. A beautiful forest will be destroyed forever.
There IS an alternative site for this school - on the playing fields next to the current school, that is not environmentally destructive like the current plan is. It will be safer and more accessible for children, more cost-effective, and will give a better educational experience. It does not in any way compromise the needs of our future generations.
The education of our future generations cannot possibly involve the destruction of a forest at a time that habitats are being lost around the globe, climate change is coming upon us at an increasingly rapid rate, and overall, the destruction is making the natural resilience of the Earth come to its limits. Solving this problem requires us to cherish every forest remaining, and gain an appreciation for the natural world. We absolutely cannot let easily avoidable forest destruction projects happen.Save the NEMT Forest, and let this forest remain as a gem for the future.
For more information, visit nemtforest.org
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