Written By David Gomez, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
MIDDLESEX COUNTY – County Council received a detailed presentation on October 7 highlighting the environmental and economic value of the county’s forest tracts, now quantified at nearly half a billion dollars under the new Natural Asset Valuation to Support Asset Management and Forestry Planning project.
Woodlands Conservation Officer and Weed Inspector Mark Brown presented the findings, describing the initiative as “a very neat project we have been working on this summer.” He credited Council’s earlier funding approval for making the study possible, noting that hiring a forest technician allowed for the collection of detailed field data across the county’s 27 woodland tracts.
“We installed 92 permanent sample plots across all of the forests, including the ones in Parkhill and Dorchester,” Brown said. “We then uploaded that data to the U.S. Forest Service’s i-Tree Eco software, which calculated the quantifiable benefits of our forests.”
According to the study, Middlesex County’s forests collectively store 312,700 metric tonnes of carbon and sequester approximately 7,600 tonnes annually. Brown compared this carbon storage to “our gold bullion reserves” for climate action, saying it represents a stable, long-term environmental asset. “They [the trees] carry on photosynthesizing and converting greenhouse gases… They do this for free for us,” he told councillors.
CAO Paul Shipway added that the findings give the county a clearer picture of its environmental infrastructure. “Our forest has a replacement value of $446 million and provides an annual functional value of $1.46 million,” Shipway said. “It will inform our Asset Management Plan and the updated Forestry Management Plan.”
Councillors praised the report for quantifying the forests’ benefits. Councillor Sue Clarke called the data “extremely interesting,” adding, “I think Middlesex County should celebrate the statistics in this. We are close to covering our own oxygen usage here.”
Brown also responded to questions about land acquisition, saying the last county land purchase occurred “probably in the late 70s or early 80s” but noted interest in developing criteria to evaluate potential woodland donations.
The presentation concluded with Council voting unanimously to receive the report and incorporate its findings into the county’s Asset Management Plan. “It’s great information,” said Warden Brian Ropp. “We should be sharing it not just with local councils but also with schools.”
