Standing-room-only crowd at Poland Municipal Forest meeting

POLAND — Village hall is packed to standing room only for a meeting tonight on the Poland Municipal Forest. 

The joint session of village council and the forest board will address a forest-management plan recently commissioned by the forest board. 

The forester who wrote the plan will speak tonight, and members of the public will have the opportunity to comment as well. 

The topic of forest management has proven to be somewhat controversial, with some community members calling for more active upkeep of the 262-acre property and others saying it should be left in its natural state. 

The great-granddaughter of the woman whose land donation helped establish the forest in the 1930s has spoken out against the plan. Dorothy Butler says her great-grandmother, Grace Heath Butler, wanted to forest to be left in its natural state. Tonight, Butler plans to read aloud a statement from her uncle and Grace's grandson, John G. Butler IV. Grace was the daughter-in-law of Butler Institute of Art founder Joseph G. Butler, Jr.

More than 50 people appear to be in the audience for tonight's meeting, which began at 7.

For the complete story, read Wednesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com