Mind the Telephone Gap: Rally calls for preservation of state’s old growth forests

By James Kent

Below-freezing temperatures and icy snow conditions couldn’t deter 50 supporters from across New England from gathering at the Green Mountain National Forest Service building in Mendon on Jan. 11. Their goal: to halt the Telephone Gap Integrated Resources project, which proposes logging 11,000 acres, including 800 acres of rare old-growth forests, and constructing temporary roads and recreational trails in the region.

The Telephone Gap project spans parts of Brandon, Chittenden, Goshen, Killington, Mendon, Pittsfield, Pittsford, and Stockbridge. The U.S. Forest Service’s 149-page environmental assessment identifies ecological impacts, which Standing Trees Executive Director Zack Porter said amounts to releasing carbon emissions equivalent to 60,000 gas-powered vehicles annually. Porter emphasized, “National Forest logging supplies only 1% of Vermont’s annual timber harvest volume, making this project as unnecessary as it is destructive.”

The period for public comments on the project ends Jan. 17, and Porter encouraged Vermonters to contact local representatives and submit objections through the Forest Service website.

Voices from the rally

Earl Hatley, a citizen of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi, highlighted the region’s cultural and ecological significance: “Abenaki peoples have sacred sites throughout these mountains… burial sites and homesteads that go back thousands of years. We stayed here to protect our homeland and sacred sites.”

Hatley called for a shift toward preservation: “Allow our forests to repair and become old-growth again… When Mother Earth thrives, we thrive. This is for future generations.”

Environmental organizer Chris Gish recounted his experiences in the Telephone Gap area, describing it as “An extremely special place… stretches of big trees, mature forest, and open understory.” Gish expressed frustration with the project’s rationale: “The idea that mature forests need to be perpetually managed to reach some desired future condition…denies the fact that forests naturally balance themselves.”

State Representative Amy Sheldon, through a statement read by Sarah Stott, underscored the importance of preserving core forests. “Large roadless areas like Telephone Gap… are rare and necessary to support biodiversity and climate mitigation. We must protect these forests for future generations.”

Justin Lindholm of Vermonters for a Clean Environment recalled the origins of Vermont’s National Forests. “The Green Mountain National Forest was created because of horrible logging practices… We’re repeating history.” Lindholm argued for limiting logging to private lands in Vermont, which already generates the majority of timber activity in the state.

In the final speech of the morning, Porter criticized the outdated forest management framework: “The forest plan guiding this project is two decades old and doesn’t address climate change.”

Porter called for a visionary approach: “If New York can protect 3 million acres as forever wild, Vermont can do the same. Let’s honor that legacy and preserve these forests.” 

Neighboring New York state prohibits logging in public forests, while Vermont does not.

Beyond sustainability, what are the costs?

How much will the Telephone Gap project cost taxpayers? It is unclear how many resources have already gone into the environmental analysis and project planning to date. Still, as for cost estimates for the Telephone Gap project, Jay Strand, a forest planner and environmental coordinator with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture—Forest Service—said that his department did not track expenditures for project development or the environmental analysis. The project’s quantitative cost and benefit estimates were limited to timber harvest and other habitat treatments. 

When the Mountain Times asked Strand for further clarification, he indicated the cost of harvesting the trees, including construction and maintenance of temporary or system roads, would be reflected by timber sale bids at the time they were advertised, and additional project costs such as trail construction would be determined after they were fully designed and implemented only if funds were available as allocated by Congress. After confirming that these cost projections would come later in the project approval process, Strand said the Forest Service anticipated it may take up to 10 years to implement all project activities included in the proposal once it was approved in a final decision notice. The initial work could start as early as this coming spring, but pending available funding. 

The Telephone Gap Integration Resource project is by no means a done deal. For now, 11,000 acres of public land in Vermont get to grow a bit longer.