Forest management work has begun at Guild Park

A forest management plan has begun at Guild Park in Ocean Park, with tree removal that officials say will help sustain the forest’s health.

Guild Park has about 17.5 forested acres located on Temple Avenue and Free Streets in Ocean Park, a community in the town of Old Orchard Beach. The park is owned by the Ocean Park Association, and is known for its tall pine trees and flat, wide walking trails.

The Ocean Park Association received a $7,500 Project Canopy grant from the State of Maine Forest Service to use toward a forest management plan.Project Canopy grants require a 50 percent match from the grant recipientin cash or in-kind services

The Guild Park property was likely cleared for potential development in the late 1800s, and then left to revert back to forest. A conservation easement on the property protects it from commercial development. There has been very little active forest management to the park in its more than 100 years, according to Forest Management Plan documents prepared by Jesse Duplin of Northwest Forest Management in Sebago.

An invasive insect called the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid has begun slowly killing many of the mature hemlocks in the park, according to Duplin.He said predatory insects have been released to try to combat the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, but it is unknown if the effort helped control the infestation.

To help with “forest health,” Duplin’s plan calls for “selective harvesting” - removing trees that are injured due to disease or storm damage, prone to windfall, have large knots created by dead or dying limbs, or have poor or inferior crowns as a result of competing for light. These trees, said Duplin, are the least likely to survive the next 5-10 years until the next harvest.

Removal of the dying and diseased trees as well as trees in poor form would give room for healthy trees to grow and thrive, said Duplin.

Work has recently begun on removing selected trees from the park. About 30 percent of the trees will be removed, according to the Ocean Park Association.

A sign at Guild Park in Ocean Park tells visitors about the forest management plan. PHOTO BY LIZ GOTTHELF

“Due to the size of most trees to be thinned from the park, rather than use a fully mechanized logging crew, a logger will be hired who will use a chainsaw, grapple skidder and a log loader with a pull-through delimber on a designated landing area. With this type of logging, a smaller landing area will be used and the job will go at a slower, but steady pace, with end results being the top priority,” according to the Ocean Park Association.

The Ocean Park Association is seeking volunteers to plant seedlings in Guild Park in the spring.

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.