Woodlands exhibit at the Expo

Learn about the work of foresters, woodland management & forest resources at the Slow Living Expo’s Woodlands Exhibit — Join us at the Expo, Saturday, June 8, 2013!

Forests are as much a part of New England’s working landscape as open farmland. In fact, many farmers also manage woodlands.

The Slow Living Expo’s Forestry Exhibit on the Brattleboro Common will offer educational exhibits and demonstrations about forestry, logging, conservation, invasive species and more. This is the third year we have had a major exhibit about forestry and woodlands management.

The exhibit was originally suggested and organized  by Willem van Loon, a consulting forester and logger based in Guilford. “Private landowners own roughly 80 percent of Vermont’s forestland,” van Loon said, “So it makes sense to have a presence at the Expo to connect with those people, and with anyone else who’d like to learn more about Vermont’s forest landscape. People can come to the forest management exhibit and learn about some of ways they can become more involved in sustainably managing their woodlands for the future. “

The exhibit features displays and demonstrations and logging machinery that is sure to be a hit with children. Participating organizations in recent years have included: Vermont Woodlands Association, Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks and Recreation, Woodland Owners Association, the American Chestnut Foundation, Vermont Coverts, the Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance, Southern Vermont Natural History Museum, Friends of the West River Trail, Biochar Northeast, East Mountain Forestry, Farm Bureau Nationwide Insurance and the Windham County Maple Association. (Check back for the complete 2013 lineup!)

Forestry is an important, and sustainable resource in Vermont. The state’s net growth of trees has exceeded removal since the first inventory in 1948. About twice as much wood has been grown than was cut or otherwise removed.

Visitors to the exhibit can get answers to questions like:

• How much are my trees worth?
• Is cutting trees bad for my forestland?
• Is there a tax incentive for owning forestland?
• How do I find a good logger?
• What is the difference between a forester and a logger?
• Can I manage for wildlife, timber and other values at the same time?
• What is timber stand improvement?
• Are there cost-share programs available to assist landowners with forest and wildlife management activities?
• What concerns should I have about invasive species in my forestland?
• What is a “Timber doodle??”

Consulting foresters assist private landowners in identifying and achieving goals for their woodlands, including managing for forest products, wildlife habitat, recreation, water resources, and aesthetics. Services provided by consulting foresters include forest resource planning, marking trees to be removed, preparing and negotiating contracts, administering sales of forest products, appraisals and inventories, and assisting in tax treatment of woodlands. Some consulting foresters specialize in particular areas, such as Christmas tree production or sugarbush management.

PRESENTING SPONSOR:

WOODLANDS EXHIBIT KEY SPONSORS

 

Riverledge Foundation

 

 

Vermont Division of Forests, Parks & Recreation

 

 

 

ADDITIONAL SPONSORSHIP FROM:

 

Dan Healey Forest Works

Green Mountain Division, Society of American Foresters

 

Farm Service Agency

 

 

 

 

Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets

 

Vermont Division of Forestry

 

Vermont Woodlands Association

 

 

 

The American Chestnut Foundation

 

 

Woodland Owners Association

 

 

 

Vermont Fish and Wildlife

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perkins Home Center

 

 

Vermont Coverts

 

 

 

 

 

WW Building Supply

Allard Lumber Company

 

 

Cersosimo Lumber Company

Vermont Audubon

 

Hogback Mountain Conservation Association

 

 

 

 

Gary’s Power Equipment

 

 

Everythingfarm.com

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VERMONT FORESTRY FACTS

Vermont is 78 percent forested with 4.46 million acres of forest. Caledonia and Essex Counties are 82 percent  and 94 percent forested with 751,500 acres of forestland.

Scientists estimate that there are between 24,000 and 43,000 species of higher plants, algae, fungi, lichens, invertebrates, and vertebrate animals in Vermont. Nearly half are invertebrates such as insects, crayfish, and mussels.

Private landowners control 80 percent of forestland in Vermont; business or industry owns 1 percent; and Local, State, and Federal government owns 19 percent.

Private landowners in Vermont own forestland for a variety of reasons. Based on a 2004 U.S. Forest Service survey in New England, the reasons given in order of priority are aesthetics, privacy, nature protection, family legacy, other recreation, land investment, hunting and fishing, and timber production.

The number of non-industrial private landowners in Vermont has increased from an estimated 61,900 in 1983 to approximately 80,000 in 1997, correlated with a decrease in the average size of a parcel of land.

In Vermont, the net growth of trees has exceeded removal since the first inventory in 1948. About twice as much wood has been grown than was cut or otherwise removed.

In 2005, the contribution of forest based manufacturing and forest related recreation and tourism to the Vermont economy was 1.5 billion dollars.

Vermont forests provide wood now for approximately 10% of electrical and heating use in Vermont.

Connecticut River Valley counties are 85% forested of which 85% is privately owned. The rest of Vermont counties are 73% forested of which 76% is privately owned.

FORESTRY RESOURCES

• Vermont Woodlands Association: Vermont Woodlands Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation whose mission is to advocate for the management, sustainability, perpetuation, and enjoyment of forests through the practice of excellent forestry that employs highly integrated management practices that protect and enhance both the tangible and intangible values of forests – including clean air and water, forest products, wildlife habitat, biodiversity, recreation, scenic beauty, and other resources — for this and future generations. VWA objectives are to communicate the benefits of working forests, recognize exemplary actions of woodland owners and managers, provide educational opportunities, and to represent its membership before governmental bodies.
• The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation (FPR) is responsible for the conservation, and management of Vermont’s forest resources, the operation and maintenance of the state park system, and the promotion and support of outdoor recreation for Vermonters and our visitors. In addition, FPR is responsible for the acquisition, planning, coordination and administration of all Agency of Natural Resources lands. Department employees are stationed throughout Vermont including offices in Waterbury and at five regional locations.
• Educational webinars through Cornell – ForestConnect
• Chainsaw safety training: Game of Logging
• Vermont County Foresters
• Woodland Owners Association: The WOA is a non-profit association of woodland owners and managers, members of the wood products industry, and other interested parties in the Windham County Region who advocate both sustainable management practices and the enjoyment of forests and their ecosystems. In support of these ends, the WOA offers educational opportunities for all age groups. Areas of interest include: biodiversity; clean air and water; cultural and historic resources; fair and equitable taxation of woodland; forest products; recreation; scenic beauty; and wildlife habitat. We recognize that these concepts are continually evolving and therefore will strive to consider the most current thinking and values regarding them.
• Vermont Coverts: Vermont Coverts is dedicated to educating landowners in sound forest management practices and the principles of stewardship for the enhancement of wildlife. The goal is to help woodland owners become aware that sound forest management includes much more than timber, pulp and firewood production. Over the years, Coverts management practices have benefited over 200,000 acres of Vermont forests demonstrating that well-planned forest management and the enhancement of wildlife habitat can go hand in hand.
  • Vermont Coverts pursues its mission by training Cooperators with 3-day workshops offering classroom and field studies, one day Forest Stewardship workshops targeted to forest management related topics, communications with its newsletter Woodlands for Wildlife, with this website, and by personal contacts with individual landowners, public agencies and private organizations in the conservation arena.
  • A large proportion of Vermont is forested and most of these woodlands are privately owned. Thus the individual land owners play a vital role in keeping Vermont forests healthy and a high quality habitat for Vermont wildlife for the present and into the future.”
• BEEC: The Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center (BEEC) is a member-based, nonprofit organization founded in 1991 to sustain an ecologically informed citizenry through education and action in order to enhance the vitality of southern Vermont’s bioregion. BEEC is southeastern Vermont’s leading outdoor education center. Programs include:
  • Environmental education initiatives, including science-based school programs;
  • Youth camps and after-school programs for children in grades pre-K through 8;
  • Natural history hikes and workshops.
  • BEEC also coordinates and leads important community-based environmental research and conservation programs, including watershed stewardship, reptile and amphibian conservation initiatives, and biodiversity planning and protection.
• Northern Woodlands Magazine
• The Place You Call Home
• Division of Property Valuation & Review/Current Use: In 1978 the legislature passed the Use Value Appraisal (Current Use) law.  The purpose of the law was to allow the valuation and taxation of farm and forest land based on its remaining in agricultural or forest use instead of its value in the market place.  The primary objectives of the program were to keep Vermont’s agricultural and forest land in production, help slow the development of these lands, and achieve greater equity in property taxation on undeveloped land.  Benefits for land enrolled in the program were first distributed in tax year 1980. Participation in the program has grown as it has evolved.  The two most significant changes have been the inclusion of conservation land owned by qualifying nonprofit organizations and the exemption from all property taxes of eligible farm buildings. When an application is approved and recorded in the municipal land records a lien is established on the enrolled land to recover a land use change tax should all or any portion of the enrolled land become developed. Currently there are over 15,000 properties enrolled totaling more than 2,000,000 acres.  This represents approximately 1/3 of Vermont’s total land area.
• US Forest Service Insect & Disease Leaflets (FIDLs): Each FIDL provides information about one — or several closely related — insect or disease affecting forest trees in the United States. FIDLs describe their subject’s distribution, appearance, life cycle, symptoms, and management. This series of over 170 leaflets has been produced under the auspicies of the US Forest Service’s Forest Health Protection staff. The early publications in this series (1955-late 1970′s) were called “Forest Pest Leaflets”. View online versions through the links in the “related topics” section at right. Contact the National FIDL Coordinator for more information.
• History of Forestry in Vermont
• Vermont Land Trust: We all have our own favorite places in Vermont—places we hope will stay as they are today. Whether these places are dairy or vegetable farms, forests or wetlands, sledding hills or swimming spots, the Vermont Land Trust is working to protect the land that gives Vermont its rural character and makes our state so special.
Since 1977, we have permanently conserved more than 1,650 parcels of land covering more than 500,000 acres, or about eight percent of the private, undeveloped land in the state. The conserved land includes more than 700 working farms, hundreds of thousands of acres of productive forestland, and numerous parcels of community land. 
In this time we have found that development pressures have only increased, threatening to make farms unaffordable and to fragment our state’s forests. If we don’t continue to strive to protect the places important to us all, Vermont could look very different, even in our lifetimes. Thanks to the commitment of our 5,000-plus members, the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, and the many foundations that support us, we feel optimistic about the future of our working landscape. As a member-supported, nonprofit 501(c)(3) land conservation organization operating five regional offices throughout the state, we provide technical and legal assistance to individuals, communities, and local land trusts to help them achieve their conservation objectives. We also have an ongoing stewardship relationship with landowners to ensure that conservation goals are upheld in perpetuity
The conservation work of the Vermont Land Trust changes the lives of families, invigorates farms, launches new businesses, maintains scenic vistas, encourages recreational opportunities, and fosters a renewed sense of community.
• VT Forest Inventory & Analysis, 1997 Statistical Tables
• Maple Information
• US Forest Service Pest Alerts
• Species Distribution Maps 
• Vermont Monitoring Cooperative
• Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP)