Mount Greylock State Reservation

Mount Greylock State Reservation
An October frost on Mount Greylock

Mount Greylock State Reservation is a Massachusetts state park that was created in 1898 as Massachusetts' first public land for the purpose of forest preservation. It is located on its namesake Mount Greylock.

Contents

History

By the winter of 1897, with the Greylock Park Association venture in debt, conservation interests in the state sought to protect the mountain through other means. Legislation was filed by William H. Chase, Editor of the Berkshire Sunday Democrat of North Adams, under the auspices of the Board of Trade of North Adams to transfer the GPA land holdings on the mountain to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for a state reservation. This included supporting testimony from Williams College Professor of Geology T. Nelson Dale, and a $25,000 appropriation bill filed through Judge Arthur M. Robinson.[1] Additional support came from the Massachusetts Forestry Association's initiative to advocate for the establishment of a state park system, and to make the case point, fight inappropriate development of the state's highest peak, Mount Greylock. The principal argument for making the mountain a public reservation was to protect the Hoosic and Housatonic River watersheds from erosion due to recent trends of deforestation (particularly noted on the Adams side). Another concern was to preserve it for the public rather than private/exclusive enjoyment. On June 20, 1898 (Mount) Greylock (State) Reservation was created, with the stipulation that the state add to the original land (to ultimately total 10,000 acres (40 km2)). With this acquisition the first public land in Massachusetts for the purpose of forest preservation was created, later to become the state park system. A three-person, governor-appointed Greylock (Reservation) Commission, a body of Berkshire County government, was entrusted with the care and maintenance of the reservation. The title Reservation refers to county management of state land, since there was only one state forester and a handful of state fire wardens in service at the time; similarly other early State Reservation properties in Massachusetts were previously managed and operated by county commissions for the state.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ Springfield Sunday Republican, 20 February 1898, and Springfield Republican 3 March 1898
  2. ^ Mount Greylock Reservation. Massachusetts DCR. Retrieved March 9, 2008.

External links

Coordinates: 42°36′08.41″N 73°10′34.55″W / 42.6023361°N 73.1762639°W / 42.6023361; -73.1762639


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