Clear-cutting of trees in an area along Pepper Street left a large pile of stacked wood near the intersection of Cutlers Farm Road. The sight may raise the curiosity of residents driving by.
The trees were not removed to make way for new construction like a house, rather Aquarion Water Co., which owns the land, took down 60 white pines due to heavy storm damage from Hurricane Sandy.
Peter Fazekas, a spokesman for Aquarion, said the work was performed as part of the Centennial Watershed State Forest regeneration program.
"A crew was working on a tract in Shelton, that's why they went over to Monroe," he said Thursday. "Damaged trees pose a threat of fire with all of that wood drying, and it prevents new growth."
Fazekas said most of the trees were white pines, which snap easily during storms. Aquarion wants to replace the trees with more hardwoods that are native to the area, he explained.
The forest totals about 15,000 acres owned by Aquarion, the State of Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection and The Nature Conservancy. It is managed by Conservation Land Committee, which has representatives from Aquarion, DEEP and The Nature Conservancy, Fazekas said.
According to the Aquarion website, other areas of Monroe included in the forest regeneration program are on Judd Road and Velvet Street.
Fazekas said the damage in Monroe was small compared to places such as Easton and Redding. A total of 130 acres of the forest has been damaged and 20 of those acres are in Redding, which crews will work on next, Fazekas said.
What Happens to All That Wood?
A FAQ section on the forest regeneration project on the Aquarion website says agreements were made by the contractor to truck the piles of logs to sawmills in Canada and Maine, where they are cut into lumber and sold.
The proceeds help defray the costs for the Forest Regeneration Project.
For more information on the program, visit the Aquarion website.
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