Problems in paradise?

Yes, we have problems. But in Echo Hill South, for every problem there is a committee! Each committee needs help! We invite all community members to help in solving our problems. Visitors are welcome to share their wisdom.

And what are our problems? We will outline and annotate the list below as our website develops. Feel free to leave a message at our guestbook or Email us directly at echohill@geocities.com.

• Tree Problems
  • The Woolly Adelgid is here in Echo Hill!
    A scale insect that attacks hemlocks. It has entered Massachusetts and has reached our community. We have many young and old hemlocks on common land as well as on member private property. Is there a natural enemy we can enlist? Bio-control?
    Local solutions?
  • Storm Damage.
    The 96-97 winter season was very hard on trees all over the North East. We sustained damage to many trees which produced a large one-time expenditure for the extra cleanup that was involved with the season's damage. How should we order these critical problems?
  • Aesthetics and time.
  • Threats to property.
  • Threats to safety!
• Animal Problems
  1. Bears can be a problem if they rip down your bird feeder. In wonderful ecologically correct Amherst no one wants to harm the poor bears! The Western Massachusetts Environmental Police [(800)632-8075] recommend that, if we want to avoid the bears frequenting our properties, we need to keep our bird feeders down from April through November. Sadly, our bears (mother and 3 cubs) after being moved several times by the Massachusetts Environmental Police to hopefully safe territory, had to be euthanized! Please do not feed the bears! Your kindness may end their lives if they become too dependent on humans for food. Read a tribute to "The Bear" by one of our members.
• Common Land
  1. The tragedy of the commons.
     Browse a search. Just viewing the diversity of situations that Tragedy of the Commons has been applied to is reassuring that our "tragedy" is more melodrama than tragic. Our problems resolve to "since it belongs to everyone, who should pick that log out of the pond?" The answer of course is You! Whoever sees the log floating where it might cause a dam should roll up their pant legs and step into the muck! And, call a neighbor over to help if necessary.
  2. Nature vs Nurture
     To intercede or not in our common land's development is a question that has both philosophical as well as practical consequences. The U. S. Forest Service has found that their efforts to suppress forest fires in our National Forests have led to the accumulation of brush that may have led to greater catastrophes than they hoped to avoid. When we intercede in nature we can cause unplanned damage. Removing the rotten log may cause the woodpecker and newt to lose valued resources for food and home.
     However, with such a small amount of wooded land to oversee how can we avoid trying to defend our trees from fires or the Woolly Adelgid? We walk a fuzzy line in our attempts to wisely manage our common lands.
  3. Save our Pond!
     Ponds all over our country are changing. Ours is no exception. That is the natural order of things. BUT, can we stop the 'bad' phenomena and stabilize our pond? What will stop us?
     • Our pond may be a perfect home for some endangered species and if that is so then the species takes preference and any changes must pass an Amherst Town Conservation Committee's review.
       
       Spotted Salamander, Ambystoma maculatum No confirmed sighting of a Spotted Salamander has been made associated with our pond. Most salamanders in and around our pond are
       
       the Red Eft or Red Spotted Salamander Notopthalmus viridescens.
     • Any substantial change in our pond may be expensive. Is our membership willing to pick up the tab?
     • For a vehicle to contribute, visit our pond_committee page