“Forests are always dynamic and always changing,” Jon Regan, consulting forester and owner of Future Forest Timber Management, LLC, said.

“It’s a sustainable, renewable resource,” Regan said in his presentation at the Salisbury Township Environmental Advisory Council Feb. 18 meeting in the township municipal building.

Regan was invited to address the EAC because the township is considering forestry management options. Township commissioners asked the EAC to advise them.

Regan, former forester at The Nature Conservancy, studied forest management at The Pennsylvania State University and forest technology at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

“Our state has been clear-cut numerous times. It wasn’t sustainable. We had heavy erosion issues,” Regan said.

“Pennsylvania is leading in hardwood lumber in the United States. Pennsylvania grows some of the best hardwood timber in the world,” Regan said, adding, “We have orders from China for cherrywood in Potter County.”

“We do have things we have to control,” Regan said, mentioning invasive plants, deer and herbicides.

“Deer are selective browsers. They love to browse baby oak,” Regan said.

“Most of Salisbury has more mature forest canopy,” Regan said.

“Most [lumber] mills don’t want anything over 30 inches in diameter. The 16-inch to 24-inch diameter is more desirable for production timber,” Regan said.

“A lot of the trees in Walking Purchase Park are mature or overmature,” Regan said, noting it’s a mix of oak and poplar. “Walking Purchase looks like it was clear-cut.

“The best parcel might be right across the street,” Regan said, referring to the township-owned 35-acre former McAuliffe property, 2937 S. Pike Ave., across from the municipal building, 2900 S. Pike Ave.

“We were wondering if doing something beneficial in logging would bring in some money,” township Commissioner Heather Lipkin, township commissioners’ EAC liaison, said at the Feb. 18 meeting.

“Our township ordinance doesn’t allow clear-cutting. It has to be selective,” Salisbury Township Director of Community Development Kerry Rabold said, who chaired the Feb. 18 EAC meeting.

“I think the Walking Purchase Park should be handed over as it is,” EAC member Maria Rodale said.

Walking Purchase Park, a 500-acre tract between Lehigh Mountain and the Lehigh River is jointly managed by the township, the City of Allentown and Lehigh County. Under consideration is having Wildlands Conservancy take it over.

The EAC voted 3-0 at the Feb. 18 meeting for a resolution that states: “To the current management of Walking Purchase Park, we would like it to remain in its current state. This would not be an appropriate use of timber harvesting.”

The EAC also voted 3-0 to approve a resolution that states: “As a general best-management practice for the township, the EAC would favorably consider timber harvesting for long-term forest health.”

Timbering options were discussed at the March 12 township commissioners’ meeting workshop. Rodale was among those who attended.

“Previously, commissioners asked about timbering options,” Salisbury Township Manager Cathy Gorman said at the workshop.

The 7 p.m. March 25 township planning commission meeting is canceled.

The board of commissioners will meet 7 p.m. March 26, in the municipal building.

The Salisbury Township Environmental Advisory Council next meets 7 p.m. April 15, in the municipal building.