A vision for the forests of the White River Watershed

1. Future 1 Future 2 Future 3 Economic Indicators Economic Indicators Economic Indicators Social/Cultural Indicators Social/Cultural Indicators Social/Cultural Indicators Environmental Indicators Environmental Indicators Environmental Indicators A vision for the forests of the White River Watershed

2. In 30 years we hope for… • More local harvesting of high quality marketable wood products that are manufactured in the watershed with no waste. • A local marketing cooperative • Qualified, local forest practitioners and forest management that includes ecology as well as silviculture • All forests and forest products to be sustainably certified • No clear cutting or to have size limits for clear cuts • Incentives that lead to good stewardship • An emphasis on comprehensive, community based, management • Examine/manage previous logging issues – restoration? • Maintained or increased hunting access • Improved deer yards and herds • A youth population that appreciates and participates in hunting and fishing • Clean water • Recognition of the role the forest plays in water quality • Forests and logging roads that are managed to minimize soil erosion

3. A forest that is high in biodiversity – managed for biodiversity and sustainability • Regulation/monitoring of recreational use (ATV, snowmobile, mtn. bikes) • Large areas of pristine wilderness to be accessible for recreation (define “pristine”) • The same amount of private lands • Landowners to have the right to harvest trees on their own land • Maintain current balance between private and public land as well as current wilderness designations • An aesthetic watershed where no littering or dumping occurs • Multiple use • Forests to provide economic livelihood (pay taxes) • A plan for emergencies (ice storms, disease, etc.) • Management that takes into consideration possible residential development (i.e. subdivisions) in planning and incorporates forested areas (wilderness) into any development plans • A state that has addressed the inequities in the market • Increased quality/quantity of forestry education

4. Indicators of an economically, socially / culturally, and environmentally healthy forest.

5. What is the current status and trend of an indicator?

6. Indicators of aneconomically healthy forest • Number/amount of products manufactured in the watershed • Number/amount of products/logs exported (need clarification) • List of primary/secondary manufacturers • Impediments to new manufacturing (start-ups) -- legal/social/economic • Number of foresters living and working in the watershed • Number of acres of forests certified • Board feet harvested annually in the watershed • Number of visitor days to the area

7. Forest Inventory and Stumpage ValueKelsey Cornelius • Forest land covers 84% of the White River Basin (Vermont Agency of Natural Resources 2002) • Comparison of Size Class, Growing Stock Volume, Sawtimber Volume, Stumpage Value for two endpoints: • George D. Aiken Resource Conservation and Development Report, 1970. • Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Inventory & Analysis, 1997 (data for Orange, Rutland, Washington, Windsor and Addison counties).

8. SizeClass Sapling and seedling stands increased by 14 percent from 1948 to 1966

9. GrowingStock Sugar Maple accounted for 54% of N. Hardwood in 1966. 1997?

10. SawTimber Percent volume of sawtimber trees by species in 5 Counties, Vermont, 1997

11. Stumpage Price McEvoy, T. (2004). Stumpage Price Data from 1981. Extension Forestry in Vermont. Retrieved from http://stumpage.uvm.edu/19813.html

12. Forest Products Industry: Primary ProductionAdam Lucas • Sawmills, 2002 • Vermont = 185 (187 in 1995) • White River Watershed = 12 • Six with annual production > 100 Mbf • Six with annual production < 100 Mbf • Interviewed Gabriel Bolton of Wagner Forest Management on direct and indirect impacts of primary production, including excavating contractors, fuel purchase for equipment, purchase of parts for equipment, maintenance of equipment, some local housing when necessary, and use of local markets and stores, property taxes, recreation use. • Year 2000 employment in (1) Farming, Fishing, and Forestry (FFF), and (2) Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting, and Mining occupations (AFFM)

13. Occupation Center for Rural Studies: The U.S. Census Bureau’s VT State Data Center. 802-656-3021 or on-line < http://crs.uvm.edu/census/2000dps/ >

14. Forest Products Industry: Secondary ProductionPaula Zampieri • Economic Impact of the Value-Added Portion of the Forest and Wood Products Industry in Vermont, 2001: • $300 million in VT personal income • 6.2% of VT employment (down from 16.5% in 1987)

15. Selection of Manufactured State Watershed Forest Products Source: Agency of Commerce and Community Development, State of Vermont Secondary Wood Products Industry: Study and Strategic Plan, January 10, 2002.

16. Mills • Granville Manufacturing Co., Granville, VT • Vermont Wood Specialists, Granville, VT • Stanley Tools, Pittsfield, VT • Richard Holmquist, Cabinet Maker, White River Jct., VT • Hartford Woolen Co., Hartford, VT Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks and Recreation, Agency of Natural Resources, Vermont Wood Product Manufacturers and Crafters 2000, 1990, 1993, 1987, 1963, Vermont Wood Product Manufacturers and Craters Association, Waterbury, VT.

17. Forest Land ConservationKelly Hayes • Current Use Appraisal (CVA) program • In 2000, acres enrolled in Current Use Appraisal: • 1,628,404 acres covering 27.4% of the state’s land area. • 1,152,000 acres forested, compromising 70.8% of all acres in CVA • In 1983: 108,000 acres in CVA (2.4% of VT) • In 1998: 1,050,767 acres in CVA (23.4% of VT) • White River watershed: 25-35% of private forestland • Other forest conservation activities: Vermont Family Forests, Chateaugauy No Towns area, New England Forestry Foundation, Upper Valley Land Trust, Vermont Land Trust

19. Indicators of asocially/culturally healthy forest • Number of acres clearcut each year and size of those cuts • Presence of a single watershed wide forester • Number of acres of private land open to hunting and recreation • Deer hunting and habitat • Town recreation plans are coordinated • Number of recreational accesses • Acres of land that are roadless • Restrictions on right to harvest on own land • Number of acres in private/public ownership • State/federal land management plans (?) • Number of forestry programs in local high schools • Incentives available to encourage teachers to include forestry • Number of forestry education opportunities in the watershed

20. HuntingChris Wolff Source: Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, Waterbury & Pittsford Offices

21. FishingDave Rosa • Interviews with Mike Stidena (Fishing Guide), Ron Rhodes (WRP Board), Brad Yoder (Fishing Guide) • Past ten years has seen two 100-year floods • Main stem from Bethel to Rochester, only caught 2 brook trout in past 12 years • 99% mortality rate on stocked fish, due primarily to high temps • River is perhaps “too clean”, with not enough nutrients • Some evidence of overfishing • However, guiding business is strong • Stats. from Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department

22. Hiking Trail Access and UseChris Anderberg • 443.73 miles of hiking trails in the White River Watershed (Vermont Center for Geographic Information, 2002), including: • Randolph Town Forest Trails Clark Brook Trail • Ainsworth State Park Trails Middlebury Gap • Mount Cushman State Forest Trails Silent Cliff Trail • Hancock Branch Trail Brandon Gap • Mt. Horrid (Brandon gap N) Great Cliff Trail • Mount Horrid Overlook Chittenden Brook Trail • Liberty Hill Texas Gap Trail • Barnard Trail Long Trail (portion) • Appalachian Trail (portions)

23. Trail Use Source: Jeff Harvey, U.S. Forest Service Rochester Station

24. Snowmobile Access and UseTaylor Cameron • Vermont Association of Snow Travelers (VAST) • 140 clubs statewide • Over 45,000 members combined • Nearly eighty percent of the 4500 miles of trail in Vermont are on private lands • Expenditures: • Average of $511 million spent on snowmobiles, accessories, and trips in Vermont • A typical snowmobiler will spend close to $4,000 on snowmobile related expenses annually, will ride an average of 990 miles in a year, and will spend 7.2 nights in a hotel or resort while riding • ATV use on VAST trails has caused a great deal of conflict as ATV popularity grows

25. Forest EducationBrianna Parke • K-12 Programs in Vermont’s 285 public schools • 10 of 21 vocational technology centers list forestry or natural resources programs (1996) • The Great Northern Forest Curriculum, Fairbanks Museum/Planetarium, St. Johnsbury, VT • VT Fish & Wildlife programs: Fall Naturalist, Project Learning Tree, and Project Wild • VT Dept. of Forest, Parks, and Recreation programs • Forestry education: UVM Extension Forestry, technical workshops through Dept of Forest, Parks and Recreation, Consulting Foresters Assoc. of VT, VT Professional Loggers Assoc., Logger Education to Advance Professionalism (LEAP) • Land owners and general public: Center for Northern Studies, Sterling College, VT Youth Conservation Corp., UVM

26. Average yearly teacher participation in Forest Parks and Recreation and Fish and Wildlife programs: 1997 enrollment in natural resource curricula in post-secondary schools in Vermont: Landowner participation in the forest stewardship program, 1990-1997:

27. Private Property and ZoningCaitlin Fitzpatrick Zoning Windsor Co.Ordinance Barnard YES Bethel YES Pomfret YES Rochester YES Royalton NO Sharon NO Stockbridge YES Hartford YES Gaysville YES White River Jct. ? Addison Co. Hancock NO Granville NO Zoning Orange Co.Ordinance Braintree YES Brookfield YES Chelsea YES Randolph YES Tunbridge NO Washington YES Washington Co. Roxbury NO Rutland Co. Chittenden NO Rutland (city) YES Rutland(town) NO

28. Indicators of anenvironmentally healthy forest • Number of forest management plans that include ecology as well as tree production • Number of acres in land trust, easements, current use • Cost sharing programs – communities/federal/state (?) • All loggers in the watershed are trained in the application of BMP’s (?) • Healthy, sustainable deer herd • Develop list of habitat characteristics (?) • Monitoring water in all logging operations (not just clear cuts) • Pre- and post- monitoring of logging jobs (temperature/turbidity) • Miles of class IV roads managed by towns

29. Deer Yards and Biological DiversityDan Evans • An estimated 40,691 acres of deer yards in the White River Watershed • 15,554 acres (38 %) are located within 100 meters of major roads • 14,789 acres (36 %) located outside of high risk areas, not including those on public land • 3,681 acres (11 %) are located on public / conserved lands

31. Soil Protection and Water QualityCarla Fenner and Christina Twomey

32. Best Management PracticeKyle Clark • Acceptable Management Plan paper, effective as of August 15, 1987 • Practice #1: “Steep pitches (greater than 10%) on permanent truck roads shall not exceed 300 feet in length. • Practice #4: “Drainage ditches shall not terminate where they will feed water directly into streams or other surface waters” • Practice #10: “Logging activities, except for the necessary and proper construction of stream crossing structures, shall be kept out of stream channels.” • Use Value Appraisal (UVA) law, 1978 • To keep Vermont’s agricultural and forested land productive, • To slow development on these lands, and • To establish greater equity in property taxation on undeveloped land. Statutory changes: Act 220 (1984), Act 262 (1986), Act 57 (1987), Act 200 (1988), Act 178 (1996) and Act 60 (1998) • Forest Stewardship Program

33. Fish Habitat and StockingColin Kaferle

34. Forest FragmentationMichael Birkby