October Mountain State Forest

October Mountain State Forest is a state forest in Lee, Massachusetts, U.S.A. The 16,500-acre (67 km2) forest, the largest state forest in Massachusetts, is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation with scenic trails leading to Schermerhorn Gorge.

Herman Melville is reputed as having anointed the area as "October Mountain". His home in Pittsfield overlooks some of the hills. The forest came to Federal ownership via the estate of William C. Whitney, President Grover Cleveland's Secretary of the Navy.[1] Berkshireweb.com describes this acquisition as[2]:

“ In 1915 a group of Berkshire men pledged $25,000.00 to enable the state to buy the 11,000 acre William C. Whitney estate. Together with State Funds this parcel cost $60,000. The same year the area was opened to the public. ”

Some critics have noticed that the State House is patrolled by more rangers than the State Forest leading to lax law enforcement.[1]

External links

References

  1. ^ a b Wangsness, Lisa (May 29, 2007). "Rangers flood State House instead of state parks.". Boston Globe. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-31271917_ITM. Retrieved 2008-09-14. 
  2. ^ "October Mountain State Forest". berkshireweb.com. berkshireweb.com. http://www.berkshireweb.com/sports/parks/october.html. Retrieved 2010-08-18.