This commentary is by Isabella Lucarelli and Elliott Hungerford. Isabella hiked the Long Trail in 2020 and lives in Richmond, where she practices structural integration. Elliott hiked the Long Trail in 2020, worked for the Green Mountain Club for two seasons in 2021 and 2022, and now lives in Burlington, where he works in the field of community health/social work.
Most Long Trail hikers know the motto, “a footpath in the wilderness.” But how many hikers know that most of the landscapes the trail traverses still lack the wildland protections envisioned by the trail’s founders?
Right now, Vermonters have a chance to finally protect more of the treasured, public lands that the Long Trail passes through. The Vermont Climate Resilience and State Wildlands Act is a simple, incredibly important bill that would permanently protect about 268,000 acres of Vermont state lands as “wildlands” where forests can grow old, natural processes can play out, and people can make deep, lasting connections with the land and one another.
The legislation, introduced by Rep. Amy Sheldon, D-Middlebury, would protect many of the Green Mountains’ most beloved landscapes — Camel’s Hump State Park, Mount Mansfield State Forest, Jay State Forest and the high peaks near Killington, to name a few.
The Long Trail knits together many of Vermont’s wild landscapes as it runs 272 miles along the spine of the Green Mountains from Massachusetts to Canada. As we and hundreds of other thru-hikers each year can attest, a Long Trail experience is quietly transformative. Reconnecting with nature assists us in reconnecting with ourselves. It is an unparalleled resource.
Our “footpath in the wilderness,” however, remains unfinished. When the Long and Appalachian trails were begun roughly a century ago, they were envisioned as “wilderness ways” that would connect broad corridors of wild forest into a wilderness core that could serve not just people, but also the natural world.
As Benton Mackaye, the forester and labor advocate who first envisioned the Appalachian Trail from the summit of Vermont’s Stratton Mountain, wrote: “The Appalachian Trail is a wilderness trail, or it is nothing.”
Unfortunately, only a fraction of the landscapes the Long and Appalachian Trails pass through, and only 3.7% of Vermont in total, are currently managed as wildlands. The Vermont Wildlands Act would raise that figure to roughly 7%. State scientists recommend that at least 9% of Vermont’s forests be allowed to become old forest to protect ecological function. So it’s a small step, but an essential step towards Mackaye’s vision nonetheless.
The Wildlands Act is not just about protecting hikers’ experiences and the landscapes that most to people. It’s also one of the most cost-effective, practical steps we can take locally to stabilize the life systems of the planet and ensure a future for human and more-than-human life.
The Wildlands Act will let some of Vermont’s healthiest and most intact forests continue to grow old, which scientists tell us is one of the most important things we can do to mitigate the climate crisis. Letting old, natural forests recover also supports maximum native biodiversity over the long term, including many of our most imperiled birds, bats and other species — and, scientists estimate that protected areas like the ones that will be established under the Wildlands Act have over 4 times less invasive plant exposure than unprotected forests.
The Wildlands Act would also maximize flood protection and clean water. As forests age, they get better and better at absorbing heavy precipitation and provisioning a steady supply of clean, cool water to our lakes and streams.
A report commissioned by Vermont’s own Agency of Natural Resources notes that 90% of state-managed land is in critically important, forested headwaters, where any amount of roadbuilding or timber harvest has profound implications for downstream communities.
We hope Vermonters will join us in supporting the Vermont Wildlands Act — an essential opportunity to help make our “footpath in the wilderness” live up to its name, and to protect the public forests that are so critical for climate, clean water and biodiversity.
In a time of grave social and ecological crisis, it’s not enough just to enjoy beautiful wild places like the forests of the Long Trail — we also need to step up to protect them. We hope you’ll join us today in supporting the Vermont Wildlands Act.
