Forest Futures roadmap aims to strengthen Northeast Kingdom forest economy, recreation and wood markets

Abby Long, executive director of the Kingdom Trail Association, and Molly Willard, wood energy and forest products specialist at the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, briefed the Senate Agriculture Committee on the Forest Futures strategic roadmap, a 10‑year plan required by H.183 that seeks to sustain and modernize Vermont’s forest economy.

Long said the Northeast Kingdom’s working forests — a mix of public and private holdings including West Mountain management areas, Willoughby and Groton state forests and commercial tracts — underpin local jobs, tourism and outdoor recreation. “Trails and forests operate in a complementary manner,” she told senators, citing Kingdom Trails and local sawmills that generate community activity.

Willard summarized five pillars in the roadmap: support for forest management and land use, business environment and conditions, research/innovation/technology, industry reputation and market profile, and the forest economy’s role in community development. She highlighted examples relevant to the NEK: firms using cellulose for insulation manufacturing, Ethan Allen’s combined heat‑and‑power use of wood chips, and the Ryegate power plant supporting logging and trucking jobs.

Speakers said the roadmap emphasizes community engagement, private landowner support (including current UVA programs), value‑added markets for wood products and a thermal‑energy goal from Vermont’s 2022 Comprehensive Energy Plan, which seeks to meet a portion of the state’s thermal demand with wood by 2030. Long and Willard urged legislators to support policies and investments that maintain the working‑forest landscape and help rural towns derive economic and cultural value from forest products and outdoor recreation.

The committee accepted the briefing as information; no committee votes were recorded during the presentation.