There’ll be a big Wilderness Celebration on Sunday September 28 at the beautiful Breadloaf Campus in Ripton in the heart of the Green Mountains. Join VNRC for a family-friendly day to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act – the landmark environmental law that designated wilderness areas for all to enjoy. The free event will include live bluegrass music, food and drink concessions, conservation exhibits, nature hikes and tours.
At the event, the late Mollie Beattie and Sen. James Jeffords will be honored for their roles in wilderness protection. Beattie served as Vermont’s commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation as well as deputy secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources, and was the first woman to direct the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She chaired the VNRC board of directors in the mid 1980s, and VNRC has a dedicated internship in her name. Jeffords served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, retiring in 2007. He was a strong advocate for wilderness protection, sponsoring the Vermont Wilderness Act of 1984 and the New England Wilderness Act of 2006 in Congress.
The Forest Service manages eight wilderness areas in Vermont, covering nearly 100,000 acres.
Two additional events next weekend include:
Town Forest Summit, Saturday, September 27: Connect with people interested in town forests at the Barre Town Middle/Elementary School. Learn about the important role town forests play, get resources to help your town make the most of this community asset, and if your town does not have a town forest, learn how you can help establish one! The event is open to all.
Forest Festival, Saturday September 27 and 28: See a portable sawmill in action, learn how furniture is made, and take a walk with a forester at the Forest Festival Weekend at the Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Park in Woodstock. There will be horse drawn wagon rides, woodcrafts for kids, and more. (Park admission and activities are free.) Also, you can visit the Vermont Fine Furniture & Woodworking Festival nearby with more than 50 furniture makers and wood artisans at the Woodstock Union Arena (entrance fee).