Vermont state lands manager describes long-range forest planning, timber harvests and climate work

Jim Duncan, state lands manager with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, told the Agriculture, Food Resiliency & Forestry Committee that his 19-person program leads planning and implementation for the agency’s state-owned forests and supports forest work on state parks and wildlife management areas.

“The state lands staff is focused on fee ownership primarily,” Duncan said, noting the department manages about 239,000 acres in fee and that the agency’s work extends from acquisition and planning through implementation and post-project review. “We are a small but mighty team of about 19 people,” he added.

Duncan said the department uses long-range management plans (LRMPs) to allocate uses and management intensity across parcels, then develops annual stewardship plans and project-level reviews to develop prescriptions and permit work. He described an interdisciplinary review process that includes ecology, fisheries, wildlife, historic resources, wetlands and bat surveys before a timber sale or other project proceeds.

Why it matters: The presentation explains how state ownership, public-use expectations and multiple resource goals shape forestry decisions on Vermont’s public lands and the safeguards the department uses before allowing timber operations or other active management.

Duncan descri…