The forest surrounding the National Life campus is managed to achieve certain goals including, recreation, timber production, water quality protection and wildlife habitat.
To support the management of the forest, the land is enrolled in Vermont’s Current Use Program. This program assists working forests, requires science-based management, and involves oversight by the Vermont Department of Forests Parks and Recreation. This winter the forest to the north and east of the campus will be thinned to promote forest health and timber production. Low quality trees will be removed to provide more growing space for better quality trees, and the proportion of white ash in the forest will be reduced to minimize the risk posed by the emerald ash borer, a serious non-native forest pest. A small area of similar work will be completed to the north and west of the campus, to finish a project started last winter.
The timber will be harvested by an experienced and professional two-person logging team. The plan is to harvest just the stem of the trees, and therefore the branches and tops will be left in the woods. Leaving the branches and tops in the woods serves important ecological functions such as, returning nutrients to the soil and providing habitat for small mammals, amphibians and ground-nesting birds.
The operation will be supervised by F&W Forestry of Montpelier.
If you have questions concerning this operation please reach out to Craig Strachan in facilities.