ALIVE IN THE FOREST — Winter 2019 newsletter
IN THIS ISSUE: VFF wins the jackpot, commons and commoning, 2019 Conservation Congress, saving an exceptional view, light clay, and more!
Because Exceptional Views Matter
The view from Isham Hollow Road across Vermont Family Forests’ Anderson Fred Pierce Farm is breath-taking. People often stop here to photograph Mount Abraham in all her moods–whether ablaze in pink alpenglow or freshly whitened with snowfall or backlit with the hues of sunrise. We’re working with Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom and Green Mountain Power to locate new and existing telecommunications and power lines underground, which will remove poles and lines from this cherished vista. Read the Addison Independent article >
Calling All Commoners:
Caring for our Local Common Wealth
In this place we call home, land is parceled out and owned, privately or publicly. But key elements–air, water, and wildlife–are unenclosed and unowned. They are commons. Or at least they are if and when we, the people who live in and among them, step up as commoners, engaged in caring for them.
Caring for Our Home Grounds: A Commons Conservation Congress for Vermont’s Center-West Ecoregion
September 21, 2019
9:00am – 3:30pm
In this era of rapidly changing climate, our air, water, and wildlife commons are experiencing profound changes that ask us to look at how we are in the world and how to respond effectively to the environmental issues at hand. Join Vermont Family Forests, partner organizations, and fellow community members at our 2019 Conservation Congress. Together, we’ll take stock of existing efforts on behalf our water, wildlife, and atmospheric commons, and we’ll imagine next steps to cultivate mutually beneficial relationship with the commons. Learn more >
Six-ton Prize Builds Bridges for Water Quality
In January, we won the jackpot. Well, more specifically, our conservation forester, Kathleen Stutzman, did. The prize? A 12,000-pound portable logging bridge. Kathleen offered her weighty prize to Vermont Family Forests, and we, in turn, gave it to a local forest conservation contractor. He’ll use it for his log forwarding projects, helping conserve water quality in local forests.
Game of Logging Chainsaw Training,
Levels 1, 2, & 3
April, 2019
Whether you’ve never touched a chainsaw before or have years of experience, Game of Logging chainsaw training will make you safer and more efficient in the woods. Learn precision felling, effective bucking of fallen trees, and much more in a safe and supportive setting, taught by the exceptional instructors from Northeast Woodland Training.
Before and After. What changes can you see in our restoration of the Anderson Fred Pierce farmhouse, besides the fact that we’ve replaced carpenter-extraordinaire Jeremy Perfect with a bouquet of flowers? Next, we’ll insulate behind the lath with light clay insulation–a mix of local clay slip and fiber (wood shavings and straw). All part of caring well for the remarkable legacy of Lester and Monique Anderson.
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