• Introduction
• Desired Condition I
• Desired Condition II
• Desired Condition III
• Desired Condition IV

• Desired Condition V
• Desired Condition VI
• Desired Condition VII
• Desired Condition VIII
• Key Forest Indicators

Forest Stewardship

Overview

Privately owned forest land in the State of Vermont currently accounts for 83 percent (3,721,600 acres) of the total amount of forest land base¹. The forest products industry owns only 4.9 percent (or 226,800 acres) of the total amount of privately owned land, but its ownership is very significant in that it accounts for some of Vermont's largest contiguous blocks of forest land. In addition to the numbers of individual sawmills and paper companies owning forest land, it is currently estimated that there are approximately 80,000 nonindustrial private forest land owners in Vermont. Past surveys have determined that most of these nonindustrial owners have indicated that they plan to harvest timber on their land at some time in the future, but they have also given reasons other than timber production as their primary reason for owning the land². Non-tangible benefits such as aesthetics, wildlife habitat, and recreation continue to be the reasons most often given by these owners for owning forest land. The remaining acreage of forest land is held by Federal, state, and municipal governments, and private land conservation organizations like the Vermont Land Trust and The Nature Conservancy.

During the past few years, there has been a decrease in the acreage of forest land owned by the paper companies. During this period, a number of private non profit conservation organizations, private timber investment groups and the state have successfully negotiated with those companies to purchase some or all their forest holdings³.

A variety of programs and initiatives were created or re-examined during the last 20 years which support a continuation of long-term private land ownership and sustainable forest management in Vermont. These programs were created and supported by a coalition of groups including state and Federal government, the forest products industry, and conservation and landowner groups concerned about the future of Vermont's privately held forests. Some were the result of the previous Forest Resource Plan, some were a re-examination of programs that have been in existence for many years, and others came about because of new information and emerging concerns about forest stewardship issues and forest sustainability.

Use Value Appraisal Program

The Use Value Appraisal (UVA) Program was passed by the state legislature to provide greater tax equity for forest landowners, as well as to encourage long-term productive use of Vermont's agricultural and forest land. With more than 1 million acres enrolled in the program, it is currently the strongest incentive for maintaining contiguous blocks of private forest land in long-term forest management in the state. There is a management plan requirement for all forest land (at least 25 acres) enrolled in the program. The standards for these plans are established by the Commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation and administered in the field by the county foresters. The period of the plan must cover at least 10 years. An annual conformance report and a 5-year inspection is required. Figure 18 illustrates the enrollments in the program since it was created by the legislature in 1980⁴.

Forest Stewardship Program

The Forest Stewardship Program was created by the U.S. Congress through the 1990 Federal Farm Bill. It is Federally funded but administered in Vermont by the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation and the USDA Farm Service Agency. The goal of the program is to assist private landowners to manage their property for a wide range of forest values, including wildlife habitat, recreation, timber management, and watershed protection through non-regulatory means.

This program is particularly important to Vermont where more than 83 percent of the forest land base is privately owned. The program specifically offers education and technical assistance to private landowners to help them develop a variety of management objectives for their land. It also provides financial assistance to encourage landowners to carry out their silviculture objectives through application of "Best Management Practices²(BMPs). BMPs have no legal authorization, but instead are currently accepted standards for forest management. Although the program is administered by the county foresters, it has been designed to encourage participation by private consulting foresters in areas of management plan development and implementation. Many, but not all, stewardship enrollees can be enrolled in the Use Value Appraisal Program.

The Forest Stewardship Program has also provided financial assistance to the forest products industry, landowner groups, conservation groups, and others to create innovative projects that promote conservation education, sustainable forest management, and healthy forest ecosystems. The program was augmented in 1998 to assist enrolled landowners in the restoration of their land following the ice storm in January of that year.

Table 7 illustrates yearly enrollments in the program since its inception.

Forest Stewardship Council

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization. It was founded in 1993 by a diverse group of representatives from environmental and conservation groups, the timber industry, the forestry profession, community forestry groups, and forest products certification organizations from 25 countries.

The Forest Stewardship Council supports environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests. FSC promotes responsible forest management by evaluating and accrediting certifiers, by encouraging the development of national and regional forest management standards, and by providing public education and information about independent, third-party certification as a tool for ensuring that the world's forests are protected for future generations. Vermont currently has 31 landowners involved in the Vermont Family Forests program certified through the FSC certification process. FSC and other sustainable forestry initiatives have the potential to instill public confidence in the stewardship of Vermont's forest land base.

American Tree Farm Program

The American Tree Farm Program is a nationwide community of nearly 70,000 private forest landowners and is considered to be the nation's oldest and largest certifier of sustainable forests. To become a Tree Farmer, landowners must have 10 contiguous acres of forest land and must actively follow a written forest management plan that addresses how they will provide for wildlife, recreation, water, and soil conservation while growing a sustainable forest. This program is a non-regulatory way of educating participating landowners in sustainable forest management techniques, educating the public about the value of forests, and rewarding landowners who practice good stewardship.

Vermont's Tree Farm Program is sponsored by the Vermont Woodlands Association and currently has 651 certified tree farms⁵. The program is supported by the forest products industry, the department, and many consulting foresters working in Vermont who donate time and services completing certifications and inspections.

Stewardship on Forest Industry Lands

There are an estimated 88,800 acres of land owned by sawmills and paper companies in Vermont. An additional 138,000 acres is presently owned by Champion International Corporation, mostly within Essex County. Ongoing negotiations between Champion and Federal, and state government, and several conservation organizations on the acquisition of these parcels will see a shift of this ownership in the near future.

Industrial lands have had a history of forest management, with foresters employed by many Vermont sawmills and paper companies to perform forest inventory, boundary maintenance, road construction, and timber sales administration on those lands. Both Champion International and International Paper Company, for example, regularly inventory and develop management prescriptions for their lands. A small portion of the industrial land base has been certified by the department for participation in Vermont's Use Value Appraisal Program. As a general rule, however, the industry has not entered land into the program in towns where property taxes were too low to make it economically worthwhile.

Within the last few years, the American Forest & Paper Association, which includes many companies owning land in Vermont, has made a commitment to sustainable forestry principles, implementation guidelines, and the measures by which the public can benchmark this commitment by adopting the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. Through the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, the industry is attempting to visibly improve industrial forestry practices and report results. New groups that promote independent assessment of forest land stewardship based upon ecologically balanced principles, such as the Forest Stewardship Council, are expanding into Vermont.

A significant amount of forest land previously owned by paper companies has recently been acquired and is now managed by timber investment groups. These groups invest the assets of institutional investors in timber real estate throughout Vermont and the rest of the United States, and most are committed to an environmentally sound timber management program. The land is carefully managed under long-term management plans that keep large tracts of timberland in production for the forest products industry while providing strong returns through solid stewardship practices.

Landowner Cooperatives and Associations

There are a number of very successful woodland owner associations and cooperatives in Vermont. Since the 1950s, the Woodland Owners Association in Windham County has been very successful in maintaining a following of landowners within the county by producing and distributing newsletters and offering a variety of workshops, tours, and training sessions for its membership. The Vermont Woodlands Association is a statewide organization that was created in the mid-1990s by combining the Vermont Timberland Owners Association and the Vermont Woodlands Resources Association. It currently sponsors the Vermont Tree Farm Program and the Logger Education to Advance Professionalism Program (LEAP), originally developed by the UVM Extension System. The Vermont Family Farms, a landowner group in Addison County, has received "green certification² for the sustainable forestry practices of its members.

The Coverts Program brought to Vermont by the UVM Extension System in the 1980s has led to the creation of landowner groups like the Wildlife Habitat Group in Windham County. Programs like Coverts have had much success at getting landowners communicating with one another about stewardship issues that cross traditional property boundaries like wildlife habitat, recreation, and protecting water quality. The Wildlife Habitat Group has stimulated interest in similar projects all across the state. Some of the most successful landowner initiatives in Vermont have been maintained by forest landowner groups acting independently from government.

Non-Program Private Land Stewardship

Many private landowners maintain forest management activities on their land without the assistance of state or Federal incentives like the Forest Stewardship Program or the Use Value Appraisal Program. These owners may not own enough land to be eligible for participation or they have chosen to provide protection, maintain their boundaries, or manage for timber, wildlife, or recreational uses without assistance from government or any other organization. This level of self-reliance and stewardship is to be commended.

There are hundreds of parcels of land in Vermont that have been subdivided into 10-acre lots to avoid the Act 250 permit process, negating opportunities for participation in the Forest Stewardship or Use Value Appraisal Programs because of small parcel size. There is no accurate record of the acreage or the number of landowners that manage their land in a sustainable manner other than for those enrolled in existing programs. Data from the Vermont Tax Department or land transferred records at town offices would be useful in this analysis, but are not readily available.

Forest fragmentation is an increasing problem in Vermont and the department should begin the process to collect information and continue programs that educate all landowners on the value of forest management.

A number of forest landowners are opting to choose not to harvest timber at all. According to the 1983 USFS Forest Inventory and Analysis, 10,800 landowners collectively owning 267,000 acres have chosen not to harvest timber for reasons other than lack of value or quality available on their property. These landowners often place non-commodity values on their land, while still maintaining a high level of forest stewardship. The department should continue to promote all values and uses of forest land in its educational programs.

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• Introduction
• Desired Condition I
• Desired Condition II
• Desired Condition III
• Desired Condition IV

• Desired Condition V
• Desired Condition VI
• Desired Condition VII
• Desired Condition VIII
• Key Forest Indicators