Vermont Woodlands Association urges protections for family-forest stewardship as conservation plan advances

Allen Thompson, board president of the Vermont Woodlands Association, told lawmakers that the group’s priority is to preserve private landowners’ ability to use and steward family forests as state conservation plans and recent legislation are debated.

Thompson said the association focuses on education and outreach for private forest owners and on maintaining predictable programs that allow landowners to plan stewardship activities. “The Vermont Woodlands Association's mission is to educate and advocate for the practices of productive stewardship, use, and enjoyment of Vermont's forests,” he said, describing brochures and public workshops VWA offers to teach active timber-harvest and forest-management practices.

Thompson emphasized the central role of family forest owners in Vermont’s wood supply, saying that most timber in Vermont “comes from family forest owners” and that many programs and researchers use a 10-acre threshold when referring to family forest holdings. He and others noted that program definitions differ: the Current Use program’s thresholds and NRCS or Tree Farm definitions are not identical. “Current Use program uses 25 acres… NRCS uses and Tree Farm uses 10,” Thompson said.

On policy, Thompson raised concerns about the Vermont Conservation Plan under discussion to implement Act 59, saying: “If the conservation plan works to achieve Act 59 as written, that would have some pretty big impacts on forest stewardship, the ability for landowners to use and steward their forests.” He said VWA sits on the plan’s technical advisory committee and is advocating for landowner interests.

Thompson also criticized recent changes to Current Use that created a reserve-forest category. He called the change an example of how “it’s easy to change purpose” and said shifting program purposes can reduce predictability for landowners. “That part scares me,” he said, referring to the risk that changes could undermine the stability and predictability of Current Use.

Thompson described the broader forest economy as complex and geographically variable, with some regions exporting softwood to neighboring states or Canada and others lacking nearby sawmills. He said the industry has lost infrastructure, making it harder for landowners and loggers to capture local value.

Lawmakers and other participants responded with brief comments. Representative Lupkes thanked Thompson and noted ongoing collaboration; later, Representative Olsen asked about the reserve-forest or “no touch, no cut” provisions in Current Use and whether VWA supports those options. Thompson replied that he views Current Use as an instrument for working lands and expressed concern that policy changes could make the program less predictable for active stewardship.

Thompson said VWA runs several programs to support stewardship and professionalism in the industry, including Tree Farm certification, a LEAP logger-education program and Women in Our Woods (Vermont WOW), and promotes woodland legacy planning to help pass stewardship values between generations.

The presentation closed with organizers saying some of the issues may be taken up again in the spring and the meeting wrapped up for the moment.