Ron Klemarczyk of Hopkinton is the city of Concord’s consulting forester.

There was a recent My Turn column claiming that the city’s ownership of the Beaver Meadow golf course and the city forests is akin to creating “red-lined” zoning districts.

My first thought was that comparing Beaver Meadow golf course to the Concord City Forests is like comparing apples to poodles. I know very little about the financing of the golf course, but assume that few, if any, of the city’s developed parks cover their maintenance and improvement costs.

However, as the city’s consulting forester, I do know a lot about the city forest costs. From what I understand, most of the city’s open space acquisitions are paid for by the change of use penalty tax, which occurs when land that is under the current use taxation program is developed and the city recovers 10% of the assessed value. The land that is developed is then taxed at its full assessment as is any structure built on that land.

After the city acquires the open space, it is usually enrolled in the city forest program where the land is managed under the multiple-use concept of timber production, recreation, wildlife habitat improvement and protection, education, watershed protection, and ecosystem preservation, though each forest tends to have different priorities.

The city started an active forest management program in 1987 and initial projects included locating the boundaries of the various city forests and setting up timber sales to build up the City Forest Fund to cover expenses. As time progressed, hiking trail systems were developed on most of the city forests in addition to the sustained timber harvest program.

So what are the benefits of the Concord City Forests to the public? First, it has been a continuous source of forest products for local markets including sawlogs for lumber, pulp for paper, firewood and woodchips for energy. Second, there are roughly 3,500 acres of wildlife habitat that will not be developed. Third, much of the watershed for the city’s drinking water supply at Penacook Lake is protected. And fourth, there are over 70 miles of very popular hiking trails within the city forests and because they get used year-round, I believe the number of people using the trails exceeds the number of people that play golf at Beaver Meadow.

What’s more is that the trail, bridge and parking lot construction as well as other improvements to the City Forest System are paid for out of the City Forest Fund, meaning that those projects do not cost the city’s taxpayers anything and are free for the public to use.

As the number of trail users continues to increase, so will the wear and tear on the infrastructure. This, plus added expenses of dealing with invasive species and weather-related issues brought on by climate change, there will still be a need for timber harvesting to cover the costs of the city’s Forest Management program.

Although every square acre of city forests will not be as intensively managed as some land under private ownership, the Conservation Commission has strived to create a balance between the various uses of public land that private landowners seldom have to deal with.

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