This commentary is by Charles W. Johnson of East Montpelier. He is former Vermont State Naturalist (1978-2000) and was involved in state lands acquisition, conservation and management, including within the Worcester Range. He is author of “The Nature of Vermont.”
Rapacious clearing of forests had been ravaging lands, silting waters and obliterating habitats of wild creatures, as settlement spread west across this country in the 1700s and 1800s. Concern over this widespread destruction eventually led to creation of the U.S. Forest Service in 1905.
Many states, Vermont included, followed suit in the early 1900s with their own forestry departments. A prime mission of these new agencies: to employ foresters — professionals educated and trained in the recently emerging field of forestry — to apply state- of-the-art principles and practices in harvesting trees and managing forests. But, most importantly, to do so in a manner that ensured their perpetuation and protected the land supporting them. Public forests were to be the places that demonstrated sound forestry, proven by the results.
Well over a century later, I’m grateful for that vision and its legacy. State-owned forests are a small component (6%) of Vermont’s forested landscape, yet for us they’re psychologically large. They’re our near neighbors. We work and play in them. We care for them and what happens to them. So, too, for their stewards, the state’s foresters. In my career as Vermont State Naturalist within the Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation, I gained utmost respect for them and the work they do.
I also saw forestry change dramatically over the decades, as it incorporated new technology, research findings, expanding demand for products and services, changing environmental conditions and shifts in public attitudes. No longer is forestry a science applied only to the growing and harvesting of trees, but to whole environments in which they live, including the people associated with them. Being a forester now is a balancing act, juggling science, art and even public relations.
Decades ago, our department, aware of this societal evolution, contemplated a new classification system for state lands under its jurisdiction. The traditional “use-based” designations of State Forest, State Park, and State Natural Area would be dropped, replaced by “ecologically based” ones that reflected their predominant natural values. Conserving biological diversity (biodiversity) would be a primary goal. The areas would be managed to maintain and enhance those values; timber extraction would occur as a “byproduct” of activities supporting that goal. As I remember, the general categories were:
State Recreation Area: limited areas of high-intensity public use for swimming, picnicking, camping, walking, etc. Examples: Sand Bar State Park, Silver Lake State Park.
State Ecological Reserve: limited or moderate areas containing rare species and/or unusual natural communities (certain forest types, bogs, etc.). Examples: Peacham Bog Natural Area, Lord’s Hill Natural Area.
State Wildland Area: More extensive tracts of unbroken forests, where wide-ranging top “keystone” species (bear, bobcat, etc.) can move and shift ranges freely. Ideally, such areas would occur in every physiographic region of the state and have connectivity. Examples: Camel’s Hump State Park, the Worcester Range.
Revolutionary, perhaps. But, for whatever reason, this scheme was never implemented. But perhaps it’s time to resurrect it. Climate change is bearing down on, and drastically impacting, natural systems and species. Biodiversity is diminishing. Demand for outdoor recreation is increasing, both in numbers of people and types of use. Development outside public lands puts more pressure on the plants and wildlife within.
Establishment of federal and state forests was an effort to remedy an earlier calamity of our making. Now, we have an opportunity to let those same areas take on another role, to forestall another — perhaps bigger — calamity.
For so many years, we’ve asked the forests to provide for us. Now, I think it’s time for us to provide for them.
