On December 31, 2019

Support all forestry interests

Dear Editor,

Vermont’s forest-based economy generates roughly $3.8 billion annually. This figure varies from year to year. A little less than half of that revenue is associated with the timber and maple industry. More than half is generated by forest-based recreation. Vermont currently incentivizes the timber side of the equation while doing very little for the  recreation side.

Vermont depends upon her forests to produce clean water, sequester carbon and provide habitat for a rich array of wildlife species. The values of these commonly-held (i.e. we the people hold them) elements is more than enough to justify programs such as UVA (Use Value Appraisal – commonly known as “Current Use”) that help keep forests as forests.

To suggest, as the recent article in Seven Days does, that Vermont forestry is the best on the planet is a bit of a stretch. Also, to suggest that we need to manage forests for timber while receiving carbon credits might be possible, but making the case in a credible and moderately-bureaucratic way will present challenges

As Sen. Ruth Hardy correctly said, there is no “one-size fits all” solution. In any event, the good news is that self-willed forest ecosystems still know how to sock away carbon without being actively controlled and managed as resources.

Vermont needs to be open to the full range of ecologically sustainable relationships and opportunities beyond the “timber as default scenario” that is in place. More emphasis should be placed on encouraging family forest owners to do well by their forests while meeting their ownership objectives and those of Vermont without breaking our public and private bank accounts.

More emphasis should be placed on conserving clean water, maintaining native wildlife species and reducing atmospheric carbon. The ecological functions and values of healthy forests serve, better than any other land cover, the common-pool assets of water, wildlife and air that all Vermonters hold and for which the State of Vermont is serving as trustee. Wild forests and worked forests can help in their own ways.

Manifesting new and improved relationships with Vermont’s forests is no small task. However, doing so now is essential as we head into a rapidly heating planet and the grips of a deepening climate crisis.

David Brynn,

Bristol

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

If Vt wants a future of abundance, we must choose to build

April 23, 2025
By Miro Weinberger Editor’s note: Weinberger is currently the executive chair of Let’s Build Homes. He was raised in Hartland and served as mayor of Burlington from 2012-2024. If you’ve turned on a podcast, watched a late-night show, or scrolled social media in the past month, you’ve probably heard something about “Abundance,” the new book…

Vermont School Board Asso. supports H.454 ed plan

April 23, 2025
Dear Editor, VSBA supports the bill as a more thoughtful and phased approach than Governor Scott’s rushed, five district proposal. Grounded in a more realistic timeline: H.454 is the most grounded and actionable proposal developed during the 2025 session. It acknowledges the operational realities education leaders face every day. The implementation timeline is more manageable…

Vote Bill Vines for Killington Select Board

April 23, 2025
Dear Editor, At the special election on May 28, I am running for the 2-year seat on the Killington Select Board. An incredibly diverse group of people call Killington home; my partner Mary Furlong and I included. After years of renting a ski house, we purchased our first Killington home in 1995. In 1997 we…

The real enemy isn’t fear, it’s how we let it divide us

April 23, 2025
By Stanley McChrystal Editor’s Note: Stanley McChrystal, who is retired from the Army, is the former commander of U.S. and International Security Assistance Forces in Afghanistan and the former commander of Joint Special Operations Command. He is the author of the forthcoming book “On Character: Choices That Define a Life.” This commentary was first published…