Weston Conservation Commission Approves College Pond Forest Stewardship Plan

WESTON -- December 16, 2025, Weston Conservation Commission unanimously backs a 77-page climate resiliency plan for College Pond, its first active forestry management since acquiring the 146-acre parcel in 1977. Licensed forester Gabrielle Hardin, whose work was fully funded through a state DCR Forest Stewardship Program grant, identified the property as highly vulnerable to climate change, citing a dominant white pine overstory threatened by drought, white pine needle disease, and the northward advance of southern pine beetle, compounded by widespread glossy buckthorn invasion and heavy deer herbivory. Her recommendations include group selection harvesting in Stand Three, invasive plant removal, climate-adapted replanting with deer protection, and wetland restoration, with funding to implement the work not yet secured but described as accessible through DCR, NRCS, and federal grant channels. The commission also issued certificates of compliance for 2 Sudbury Road, 31 Holly Circle, and 168 Beaver Road; closed an underlying enforcement order at Beaver Road; approved an order of conditions for a septic replacement at 76 Scotch Pine Road with a special condition requiring granite bounds and no-mow medallions along the pond buffer; continued a 44 Page Road riverfront hearing to January 20; and extended an aquatic vegetation management permit for Pollywog Pond through April 2031.