On this Saturday, 1/19, Chittenden County Forester Ethan Tapper will lead a public walk at the Hinesburg Town Forest (HTF). The walk will highlight the active forest management that is ongoing at the HTF this winter, and aspires to create an open and transparent environment where the public can interact with and ask questions about forest management.
The forest management on the HTF this winter is designed to increase species and structural diversity in the forest, improve wildlife habitat, capture economic value in mature and declining trees, encourage the growth and development of a healthy forest, demonstrate responsible forest stewardship and to highlight Vermont's working landscape. This harvest will also seek to promote the resilience of the HTF to climate change, natural disturbances, and the invasion of exotic pests, such as the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB).
This forest management will be administered and marked by Chittenden County Forester Ethan Tapper in accordance with a forest management plan written by Harris Roen of Long Meadow Resource Management and adopted by the Town of Hinesburg's Select Board in 2018. Hinesburg logger Tim Brown will cut the trees marked by Tapper over the next two winters, shipping most of the forest products generated to local markets.
In addition to demonstrating responsible forest stewardship, this operation will showcase the production of local, renewable resources from this public forest, and give the public opportunities to engage with this important aspect of Vermont's working landscape.
The 2012 Management Plan for the HTF, with the 2017 Forest Management Plan attached, can be found on the Hinesburg Town Forest Committee's page of the Town of Hinesburg's website at http://www.hinesburg.org/townforestcomm.html
We will meet at the end of Economou Road in Hinesburg at 1:00 PM. Please come prepared to be outside for two hours in whatever weather we may find on trails that may be slick. While this is a woods "walk," most of the time will probably be spent standing and talking, so please dress appropriately. This walk is open to all, and RSVP's are encouraged but not required.
The goal of this outreach is to provide an opportunity for all who are interested to engage with this forest management --- if you are unable to participate for one reason or another, Ethan would love to hear from you so that he can plan future opportunities that are inclusive and open to all.
To RSVP, please email Ethan at ethan.tapper@vermont.gov, or give him a call at (802)-585-9099.
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