Mount Wachusett Community College is hereby authorized to establish a Forest and Wood Products Education and Development Center and to establish experimental sites throughout the commonwealth for the purpose of achieving its mission. Said center shall be established for the purposes of (1) promoting the effective management of the private and public forests of the commonwealth and assisting private enterprise in the creation, maintenance, expansion and marketing of forest-related and wood-related products, and (2) promoting education in the skills, technologies and sciences relevant to the creation maintenance and improvement of both commercial wood products and a healthy and sustainable forest resource, in consultation and conjunction with the state extension service, the department of forest and wildlife management at the university of Massachusetts, the department of environmental management, the metropolitan district commission, the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, school systems within the north central Massachusetts region, students in secondary, post-secondary and graduate levels, timber harvesters, foresters, wood product industry owners, managers and employees, forest land owners, and municipal officials.
There shall be an advisory board constituted for the general purpose of oversight of said center. Said board shall consist of not more than eighteen members, including the president of Mount Wachusett community college, the chief forester of the department of environmental management, the chief forester of the metropolitan district commission, the extension forester at the university of Massachusetts; the forest industry specialist at the Massachusetts office of business development, and the forest products and processing specialist of the Northeastern division of the division of state and private forestry of the United States Forest Service. The president of Mount Wachusett Community College shall appoint three additional members, one from each of the following organizations: the Massachusetts Wood Products Manufacturers Association, the Massachusetts Wood Producers Association, and the Massachusetts Timber Harvesters Association, and may appoint one additional member at his discretion. Said board shall also include a member of the senate appointed by the senate president and a member of the house of representatives appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives. Upon his election, the advisory board chairman shall appoint two additional members concerned with the issues of private forest landowners, and four additional members from the general public who have an interest in furthering the goals and workings of the center. All members shall serve two-year terms.
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 132, § 51