BOSTON -- Team 5 Investigates has uncovered how the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, an agency that's supposed to be protecting our forests and parks, is cashing in on cutting them down.

NewsCenter 5's Sean Kelly reported on Thursday that the state is turning its forests into acres of logging opportunities while using an eco-friendly program to justify the destruction.

The volume of Tannery Falls amplifies nature's strength and beauty. But it is not enough to drown out the destructive noise of chain saws that can be heard throughout many of our state forests and parks.

It's what is known by some as the "Massachusetts Chainsaw Massacre."

"It's heartbreaking. These are our forests. It's land that should be protected and it's being devastated and really, there's no excuse for it," said Chris Matera of Massachusetts Forest Watch, a citizens group that has formed in response to a groundswell of outrage over logging and clear-cutting in state forests.

Team 5 Investigates found threats of prosecution for tree cutting ignored.

In a historical cemetery near Savoy State Forest, tombstones were knocked over by the weight of falling timber and healthy trees were slashed into thousands of debris-covered acres.

All of the damage has been allowed to occur by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, an agency that claims its forestry management practices are among the best in the nation.

Forester Dave Gafney said the only benefit that came from clear-cutting Savoy State Forest went to the loggers themselves.

"How is this protecting the forest?" asked Kelly.

"It's not. They'll tell you that, but it's not," said Gafney.

Clear-cutting is allowed by the Forest Stewardship Council. FSC is an international organization that claims to promote the responsible management of forests. Taxpayers paid more than $2 million to qualify for that certification. But in the past two years, the Department of Conservation and Recreation has only made $1.2 million selling the wood.

"I think it's a waste of money. If you calculate the costs and subtract it from the revenues, I'd say it's break even at best," said Mike Leonard, a licensed forester from Petersham.

"It's proving to be basically a green washing program, a marketing tool that is a timber production program," said Matera. Matera detailed his findings in a report for Massachusetts Forest Watch.

"Basically, it's a program full of conflicts of interest. The certifiers only get paid if they certify the land, so they're not going to decertify anybody for breaking any rules," said Matera.

James McCaffrey at the Massachusetts chapter of the Sierra Club said it's clear that some of those rules have been broken. "It does not look good. It looks like there are some problematic cuts and it looks like DCR has a lot of work to do if they're going to set an example," said McCaffrey.

McCaffrey said the Forest Stewardship Council also has a lot of work to do if it wants to set an example. However, despite those concerns, the Sierra Club has not called for a halt on the cutting.

"Why haven't environmental groups thrown up a big red flag to what's been happening?" asked Kelly. "Because us having declared our support for FSC at this time makes it difficult for us to turn around and say you know we don't support it anymore," answered McCaffrey.

DCR Commissioner Richard Sullivan told Team 5 Investigates the cutting is necessary to keep the forests healthy and the public safe.

"Would you now agree that some of the cutting was overdone?" asked Kelly. "I don't know that it was overdone, but some of the procedures that were undertaken need to be more closely monitored and corrected," answered Sullivan.

"Why is the agency that's supposed to be protecting our forests and parks cutting them down?" asked Kelly. "Forest management is always controversial. At the end of the day you have to balance all of the competing interests, environmental protection, forest health, certainly economics is there," responded Sullivan.

But oversight of DCR's activities is apparently not. Dick Cross is the chairman of the DCR Stewardship Council, which is supposed to be looking into these concerns. "I'm not going to sit here and argue or sit here and defend what's happened in the past. Not because I don't believe it was done wrong, but because I don't have the facts to argue with," said Cross.

Nobody on the council appears to be interested in getting them. Team 5 Investigates has learned that the majority of the council members have not visited the sites in question and none of them has any education in forestry.

"Do you think the Stewardship Council should have experienced foresters on the council?" asked Kelly.

"No," answered Cross.

"Why not?" asked Kelly.

"None of us are deep in any particular expertise. We're generalists and I think it would be a mistake to have the Stewardship Council become a political body," responded Cross.

None of this sits well with Mary Ann Tamagni of Uxbridge. Tamagni went to the extra effort and expense of using FSC wood in her kitchen, believing she was doing a good thing for the environment.

"Do you feel like you've been misled?" asked Kelly.

"In some ways, yes, it's surprising and upsetting. I wouldn't have expected that a state forest would be FSC. Why are you touching what we're supposed to protect?" Tamagni said.

A spokesperson for FSC told Team 5 Investigates it's confident that the state is in compliance with its standards. DCR's commissioner has temporarily stopped 25 harvesting projects. Not because he's worried about mismanaged cutting, but because he said his staff is too busy cleaning up after the ice storm and eradicating the Asian long horned beetle problem.