Woods Committee

The Committee’s Mission

The Woods Committee is charged with following the Forest Stewardship Plan which was approved and adopted by the Town of Washington Grove in December 2015. This plan takes an integrated approach to forest health restoration and management of the town’s Forest Preserve which encompasses both the East and West Woods. The plan is intended to prevent further degradation of the Forest Preserve, to offer a roadmap for restoring and preserving it as a healthy, self-sustaining forest ecosystem, and to help ensure that its benefits are available to future generations.

Goals supporting this mission include:

• minimizing over-browsing by deer;
• removing and controlling the spread of non-native invasive plants;
• planting native trees to fill holes in the canopy and reforest open areas;
• proactively protecting native trees at all stages of growth to rebuild the natural succession;
• re-establishing a healthy mid- and understory through regrowth and replanting;
• protecting existing tree canopy, reforested areas, sensitive plant and animal habitats and other high-priority areas through education, signage and, if necessary, physical barriers;
• protecting sensitive areas—federal and state-designated wetlands, streams and their buffers, 100-year flood plains, habitats of threatened and endangered species, and steep slopes—from the adverse effects of development and over-use; and
• preserving the natural quiet and unique forest auditory experience, which includes the presence of birdsong, movement in leaf litter, wind through trees and other woodland sounds as well as the absence of man-made noise pollution from motors and active recreation.

Benefits of a Healthy Town Forest Preserve

• Improves air quality and moderates temperature.
• Provides protected habitat for plants and wildlife in a region of diminishing habitat. Protection includes quiet for breeding and nesting, walkways that avoid nesting and breeding sites, and a healthy mid-story which many birds require.
• Prevents erosion and water quality degradation of the headwaters of three significant waterways.
• As a place of quiet, beauty, inspiration and sanctuary, it enhances the quality of life for residents and visitors and offers opportunities for passive recreation, exploration and discovery throughout the year.
• It is an important part of the town’s identity (A Town within a Forest), a contributing factor to the Washington Grove experience, and a setting that, in all likelihood, adds to the value of homes in town.
• Provides natural buffer from surrounding development.