POSTPONED TO JULY 24 -
A public meeting to review a draft Forest Management Proposal for the Y Woods will be held on June 26, at 6:00 pm, at the Multi Purpose room at the Bennington Firehouse located at 130 River Street in Bennington.
On the south end of town adjacent to the Park Lawn Cemetery is a 30 acre municipal forest called the "Y Woods." The Town director of the Department of Public Works, RJ Joly, along with partners including the Bennington County Forester Cory Creagan and SW Tech Forestry teacher Eric Bishop, put out a call last March for comment and suggestions from the community on its future. Input from that meeting was used to inform the creation of the draft forest management plan.
Creagan and Bishop worked with students from the Forestry program to do a "timber cruise" over the past school year to provide data on the current condition of the forest. This included using a grid of random sample points to get unbiased data on the species composition of trees, presence of invasive species, wildlife habitat, numbers of seedlings and saplings, and the amount of woody material on the ground.
In addition to telling us about the health and composition of the forest, the data also tells us about the current structure of the forest, the dynamics of development and change, and provide insight into the impacts of past management.
Use of the Y woods for educational purposes by the Forestry program has been ongoing for some time. Having students work on a formal forest management plan is a next step in both education as well as incorporating the ideas and input of the community in a way that will ensure the health of the forest and how it is used in the future.
Work on creating a draft forest management plan for the Y Woods has now been completed. The public is encourage to join us on June 26, at 6:00 pm for a presentation of the draft plan. A If you have thoughts or comments on the Y woods that you would like to share in advance, you may view all the materials about this project, watch the video of the prior public meetings, and provide your own comments on the town website at: https://benningtonvt.org/services/parks___recreation/y_woods.php