Forest Management at The Catamount Community Forest

The Town of Williston acquired the land in 2019 with the help of the Trust for Public Land, the Vermont Land Trust and many others. The parcel is now a community forest, publicly-owned and protected by a conservation easement held by the Vermont Land Trust.

While most people know the CCF for the Catamount Outdoor Family Center's recreational offerings, the Catamount Community Forest is also a birding hotspot, with an active birding community led by  Green Mountain Audubon Society  and  Audubon Vermont .

In 2020,  Ethan Tapper, the Chittenden County Forester for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation , worked with the Town of Williston to develop a Forest Management Plan for the parcel.

The  Forest Management Plan  (FMP) expanded on the CCF's 2018  Management Plan  (MP), adding more data and specific information about the stewardship of forests and other ecosystems on the parcel.

The FMP prescribed some innovative and exciting forest management at the Catamount Community Forest over the following 10 years.

The first forest management project prescribed at Catamount was focused on creating habitat for the golden-winged warbler, a bird species of concern that breeds in mosaics of shrubland, young forest and meadow habitats.

This project was non-commercial, funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Partners program. It was completed in January, 2021.

 Check out this story map to learn more about this wildlife habitat improvement project! 

Since the wildlife habitat improvement project was completed, the areas managed in 2021 have vigorously regenerated. To users of the Catamount Community Forest, this has showcased how, over time, areas which initially look "messy" or "empty" regenerate into diverse, vibrant forest communities.

Golden-winged warblers (as well as the uncommon prairie warbler) were noted in this area in 2023!

The second project prescribed in Catamount's Forest Management Plan was a commercial forest management project on 25 acres in the northwestern corner of the parcel.

A primary goal of this project was to manage this forest stand for climate adaptation and resilience -- giving it the tools to respond to climate change. In partnership with researchers at the University of Vermont, the project area is being extensively studied as part of a project called  Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change , a nationwide network of research and demonstration forests dedicated to improving our understanding of how to care for forests in a changing climate.

In addition to providing opportunities for research, other important goals of the forest management were improving habitat for forest birds and other wildlife,  helping to restore "old growth characteristics,"  providing demonstration and education, and producing local, renewable resources -- among other benefits.

For such a high-visibility project, outreach and education was key. The extensive recreational trail system, used by thousands of people each month, in this area is an educational asset. The miles of trails that wind through the management area will allow many more people to see what modern, responsible, ecological forest management looks like in the coming years.

Trails and public use of this area may also be sources of friction. Forest management is often unintuitive, and so for people to appreciate the value of this work they needed to be given the tools to understand what happened and why it happened.

Between 2020 and 2023, the Chittenden County Forester worked with the Catamount Outdoor Family Center (COFC) to develop a plan to minimize disruptions to trails, trail use, and the COFC's operations and to educate the COFC's trail users.

In 2022, one year before the project was scheduled to begin, all the trees to be cut were marked by the Chittenden County Forester.

After the trees were marked (also one year before the project was scheduled to begin) aluminum interpretive signs were installed throughout the project area, highlighting different aspects of the project. QR codes on the signs provided links to videos and other resources.

Temporary signs were also installed throughout the project area. Besides providing more links and resources, these signs provided a "self-guided tour": these signs contained QR code links to download the free Avenza Maps app and a georeferenced PDF map of the project area.

Using Avenza and this map, people could navigate through the project area, see which trees had been marked to be cut, and visit the locations of each of the permanent interpretive signs on their own schedule.

Other signs were put up throughout the project area to show trail users what the different tree markings meant.

In-person outreach also began in 2022, with an in-person event focusing on managing forests for carbon and climate change covered by WCAX, a Vermont television station.

In early 2023, outreach and educational opportunities surrounding this project increased dramatically, with lots of  articles ,  press releases  and public events. Educational resources were collated into a  Catamount Community Forest LinkTree , a single link where people could access a variety of links and resources to learn more about the project.

18 public walks were held in spring and summer 2023, partnered with the Catamount Outdoor Family Center, Audubon Vermont, Green Mountain Audubon Society, the University of Vermont, the Vermont Land Trust, Vermont Coverts, Vermont Woodlands Association, the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Williston Library and City Market Co-op.

These events attracted just over 500 people.

Additional outreach was done via the  Chittenden County Forester's YouTube Channel , which features a  Catamount Community Forest playlist .

As of October, 2023, videos on this playlist had been watched over 5,000 times.

In July of 2023, the Catamount Community Forest project was also featured in a takeover of the  Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation's Instagram Channel  by the Chittenden County Forester.

Each day for a week, Ethan released a collaborative post with one of the project's partners: the University of Vermont, the Vermont Land Trust, Audubon Vermont, Vermont Coverts, Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, and City Market Co-op.

The goal of the Instagram takeover was to highlight the project to a diverse audience, as well as to highlight the partnership and collaboration on which this project was built.

The project was also featured again on WCAX in 2023.

The project began on September 4, 2023 and was completed on September 30, 2023.

In early October, three more public events were held and permanent interpretive signage was installed throughout the project area.

As with the pre-project signage, these signs highlighted different aspects of the project, featured links to articles, videos and other resources and provided a self-guided tour.

You can view the signs on Google Drive  here .

In the years ahead, this project will provide enduring benefits to biodiversity, climate resilience, and public understanding of responsible ecosystem stewardship. It will also serve and an example of what an open, transparent and inclusive forest management project can look like!

Revenue raised from the project will be used to benefit the biodiversity, ecological integrity and resilience of other areas of the Catamount Community Forest, especially controlling non-native invasive plants.

At the same time, research gleaned from this project will help us better understand how to care for our forests in a changing climate. The best is yet to come!