This commentary was written by RJ Thompson, co-founder and executive director of the Vermont Huts Association. He holds a master’s degree in environmental studies from Green Mountain College and is a board member of the Moosalamoo Association.
Founded in 2016, the Vermont Huts Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with the mission of creating an enriching and immersive outdoor experience for everyone. Over the past six years, we have hosted guests as young as three months and as old as 82 years.
Huts transcend generations, abilities and user groups to connect people with their natural environment as they share stories of their day’s adventures under a warm roof.
There have been several misleading and false claims made over the past few months regarding the construction of a year-round hut in the Moosalamoo National Recreation Area near Silver Lake.
It is disturbing to see these tactics deployed in a way that deliberately attempts to undermine the credibility of organizations working to help all Vermonters enjoy the outdoors, though that is today’s reality. We ask Vermonters to look at this project and the Vermont Huts Association mission through the lens of projects that serve the greater public good.
Let’s address the falsehoods and clarify the facts:
First, the proposed hut is in partnership with the Moosalamoo Association, a nonprofit that is a “friends of” organization that advocates and provides trail stewardship for the Moosalamoo National Recreation Area.
• The term “hut” has been distorted by opponents as a large “two-story house” for the use of club members. Fact: The hut design would be 1.5 stories tall (the upper level has a knee wall, much like a lofted space) and capable of hosting up to 10 guests. Its footprint is under 600 square feet. There is no plumbing. Guests would use an existing vaulted privy (outhouse) a few hundred yards from the hut site, which also serves campers at the 15 existing campsites. The proposed hut is more than 315 feet from Silver Lake’s shoreline, not “on” it, as some have claimed.
• The hut will be ADA-compliant and, because it would be located along an existing U.S. Forest Service maintenance road, adaptive cyclists or other folks with mobility challenges could access the hut — not by vehicle (as critics have falsely alleged), but via human power.
• Just like tent campers, hut guests must gather water and disperse gray water (from activities such as brushing teeth or washing camp dishes with provided biodegradable soap) away from any nearby streams or bodies of water, a standard practice in the backcountry.
• The hut would have two rooftop solar panels supplying power to interior low-wattage LED lights (for camper safety). To reduce the risk of fire, open flames are not permitted in Vermont Huts Association huts.
• The hut would host the Vermont Huts Association FOREST Program (Fostering Outdoor Recreation, Education, Sustainability and Teamwork). The FOREST Program brings underrepresented Vermonters into our huts for multinight stays complete with gear, food, transportation, and a field naturalist to lead educational workshops — free of charge. We strongly believe the more folks we can introduce to the outdoors, the more likely they’ll become stewards of the land.
• Regarding the hut’s permitting process, the Vermont Huts Association applied for a special use permit with Green Mountain National Forest for the proposed Silver Lake Hut. There was never an attempt to circumvent a more stringent review process such as an environmental assessment. The categorical exclusion method granted was simply how the Green Mountain National Forest’s administrators chose to classify this particular project due to the abundant existing impact and infrastructure surrounding Silver Lake, which resides in a national recreation area — a classification that prioritizes recreation as one of the area’s many uses.
• It’s important to emphasize the Moosalamoo National Recreation Area is a recreation area, not wilderness (as many critics deliberately, and falsely, suggest).
• Whether on private or public lands, every hut proposal goes through a natural resource inventory for the identification of sensitive flora and fauna. Should the proposed Silver Lake Hut site be found to contain anything ecologically or archaeologically sensitive, we will work with the Forest Service to either mitigate impacts, modify the hut’s design, and/or identify an alternative location.
• Like many nonprofit organizations, Vermont Huts Association has members. Anyone can become a Vermont Huts member for $35 a year or $65 per year for a family of four. Members receive a 15% discount on hut bookings and a short, one-week window in which they can make bookings prior to the general public reservation opening. These types of benefits are common among other hut operators on public lands across the U.S.
• Questions regarding the proposed Silver Lake Hut’s cost (estimated at $290,000) have been compared to the Chittenden Brook Hut’s actual cost of $110,000 (not $70,000, as critics claim). The two huts are like comparing apples and oranges. Chittenden Brook Hut was constructed by the Yestermorrow Design/Build School, which does not charge for labor. It was also built prior to the pandemic and the huge cost increases since.
In short, Vermont Huts Association has worked hard to create new points of access to the outdoors for all Vermonters and visitors alike. We have built our organization on strong partnerships with conservation organizations and public and private land managers at the local, state and federal levels who see the value in creating a more inclusive outdoor arena to foster a deeper appreciation of our natural environment.
