Step into the woods with Vermont’s women landowners

Owning a piece of Vermont’s forest can be both inspiring and daunting. It is both a significant responsibility and an enormous opportunity to steward land and allow it to prosper. If you’re a new landowner, or just getting started on your forest management process, it’s helpful to know you’re not alone. Women across Vermont have met this challenge head-on. Vermont’s Women and Our Woods has compiled stories of women at various stages of their management journeys. By reading some of these stories, we hope you’ll feel connected to this broader network and understand the different paths you can take on your own journey.

Go to the Case Studies

Who are the women in these case studies?

These case studies feature women, like Alyssa in Bolton, who are the primary or sole managers of their land, and women, like Carolyn in Dummerston, who work in partnership with a spouse. Some of these women inherited land that had been in their families for generations, like Esther in Montgomery. Some bought land – recently or decades ago. For some women, their management journey has already been decades in the making, like Barbara in Pawlet. Some have just completed one or two projects. Some women wield chainsaws while some women prefer to be visionaries, directing contractors and consultants to complete projects.

No matter how their journeys started, many women landowners share common goals:

• Creating and enhancing wildlife habitat
• Encouraging recreation (either personal or public)
• Protecting soil and water quality
• Restoring forest ecosystem structure and function
• Keeping land undeveloped for years to come

What does forest management mean?

All of these women have enrolled their land in the Current Use program, a Vermont tax program that allows productively managed farm or forestland to be appraised at its use value (instead of its fair market value). This program incentivizes landowners to keep land undeveloped and actively managed. Participants are required to work with a licensed forester to develop a 10-year forest management plan. The plan lays out activities to keep the forest healthy and support the landowner’s goals (such as supporting wildlife, recreation, etc.).

In addition to Current Use, several of these women have also enrolled their properties in the Vermont Tree Farm Program, a third-party certification program sponsored by the Vermont Woodlands Association and recognized nationally by American Tree Farm System (ATFS). This program recognizes properties that meet stringent sustainability standards, promoting the health of the forest ecosystem while aligning with the landowner’s goals.

Common projects recommended by the management plans and implemented by the women in these case studies include:

Invasive species management. Unfortunately, invasive species have spread throughout Vermont. These species compete with native plants for resources and space. They also typically provide fewer resources to local wildlife for food or habitat than the native species. They can harm humans (some species cause painful rashes, some species support disease-carrying ticks). Preventing the spread of invasives and minimizing damage from existing invasives is a persistent theme across many of these case studies.

Mast or crop tree release. Mast trees and crop trees are trees in the forest that produce food for wildlife or humans. Local mast trees include oak and black cherry. Local crop trees include maple and birch. If these trees are over-crowded, they won’t be able to produce as much food. Harvesting trees surrounding mast or crop trees can support wildlife populations or timber production.

Patch cuts. Young forest is an underrepresented developmental stage in Vermont’s forests. There's a specialized suite of birds, including chestnut-sided warblers and white-throated sparrows, that require trees and shrubs less than 20’ high over an area at least 2 acres in size, to thrive. In a dense canopy, small trees and shrubs are sparse because of the lack of sunlight. Patch cuts clear a small area (less than 5 acres) to allow sunlight to reach the forest floor. Trees and shrubs, including raspberries, black cherry trees, and birch trees, provide food, protection, and nesting sites for these birds.

Tree planting. Our forests naturally regenerate, as witnessed by the reforestation of New England's forests following agricultural abandonment. Sometimes however, when there is excessive deer browse, drought conditions, or competing vegetation from invasive plants or hay-scented fern, it’s harder to get the next generation of trees established. Trees can be planted in patch cuts or can be planted in abandoned hayfields.

In their own words

We asked these women what they’d recommend to other women landowners who are early in their management journeys. Some, like Lina in Woodstock, said that the best way to build confidence was by doing hands-on projects. Barbara in Craftsbury, recommended spending time alone in the forest to better understand its needs. Many landowners, like Julie and Sheila in Wolcott, counseled moving slowly and recognizing that forests can’t be rushed. Some women, like Diana, have spent a lot of time thinking about the future and recommended that other landowners think beyond their own lifespans in terms of their goals for the land.

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WOW-VT Case Studies - (View all)

Read more about women landowners across Vermont who are actively managing their forests. Select a landowner in your area, with a similar sized parcel, or who has completed forest management practices that you’re interested in to learn more.

Alyssa Bennett, Bolton – 41 acres (View file here)

The Bennett property is an important wildlife resource that connects to almost 50,000 acres of unfragmented forest. Its variety of fruit-bearing trees are prime sources of forage for wildlife. The forest contains important habitat for bats and flying squirrels, along with warblers and other migratory songbirds.

Management Activities

• Crop tree release with canopy gap formation
• Woods road rehabilitation

Barbara Moore, Pawlet – 226 acres (View file here)

A valley woodland surrounds a historic farm. Nestled in the Mettawee River Valley, the Moore Farm features a diverse woodland surrounding rich farmland. The woodland sits just below Haystack Mountain and next to the North Pawlet Hills Natural Area.

Management Activities

• Mast tree release
• Patch cuts
• Irregular shelterwood harvest
• Timber stand improvement

Barbara Orlovsky, Craftsbury – 138 acres (View file here)

Barbara Orlovsky is slowly bringing her land back to wholeness again. Nicknamed The Ledges for its steep rocky cliffs, the property sustains patches of yew, hornbeam, basswood, and black cherry on its forested slopes. The nearby wetlands help create habitat for many songbirds, black bear, and moose.

Management Activities

• Patch cut
• Mast tree release
• Woods road rehabilitation

Caitlin Cusack, VLT (Button Farm), Colchester – 130 acres (View file here)

A fourth-generation family farm is now managed by the Vermont Land Trust to ensure the land will be conserved for generations to come. A portion of the land is still actively farmed, and VLT has worked to control invasives and improve the health of the forest and wetlands.

Management Activities

• Invasive species management

Caitlin Cusack, VLT (Folsom Brook), Waitsfield – 98 acres (View file here)

The Folsom Brook property is a valuable forest within a patchwork of agricultural land and residential developments. It provides forested and riparian habitats for wildlife to travel between two larger, high-priority forested areas to the east and west.

Management Activities

• Crop tree release with canopy gap formation
• Invasive species management

Carolyn Mayo-Brown, Dummerston – 228 acres (View file here)

An uncommon Oak-Black Birch Talus Woodland, the largest ash tree in the state, and a large Dry Transition Hemlock Forest set this woodland apart. It stands within a high-priority interior forest block and a priority connectivity block, meaning that it is critical for wildlife habitat and migration.

Management Activities

• Beech suppression
• Crop tree release

Diana Todd, Brattleboro – 108 acres (View file here)

Historic farmland has regrown into diverse woodland in Windham County. Trails crisscross the forest, along a stream, skirting wetlands as they meander across the property. Black bears have been known to stop through, enjoying the woodland alongside humans and other wildlife.

Management Activities

• Single tree selection
• Group selection
• 1^st stage shelterwood
• Progressive clearcut

Doreen Jones, Rochester – 258 acres (View file here)

Humans and wildlife have the chance to interact on this Rochester woodlot with a surprising family history. A VAST Trail and a Velomont mountain bike trail cross a small part of the land, passing alongside a bird-filled meadow. A farmer mows the meadow at the end of summer, allowing grassland birds to thrive. A small pond provides habitat for water birds and other local wildlife.

Management Activities

• Invasive species management
• Pre-commercial thinning
• Thinning
• Single tree selection

Esther Lichti, Montgomery – 72 acres (View file here)

Esther describes her property as a refuge for wildlife. She has spotted deer, wild turkeys, coyotes, foxes, bears, and bobcats throughout the forest, a mix of northern hardwoods, red pines, and mixed spruce and hemlock.

Management Activities

• Group selection
• Apple tree release
• Tree and shrub planting

Jessica Boone (Hi Vue Maples), Richford – 408 acres (View file here)

Tucked away in northern Vermont, the Hi Vue Maples property is a haven for wildlife. Snowshoe hares, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, bears, and lynx have been spotted roaming the land, which sits on a wildlife link between Vermont and the Sutton Mountains in Quebec.

Management Activities

• Patch cut

Julie Magoon & Sheila Halpin, Wolcott – 75 acres (View file here)

Old agricultural land has regrown into woodland dotted with apple trees in the hills of Wolcott. Trails meander across the land, passing by wetlands through hemlock and mixed hardwood forests.

Management Activities

• Patch cut
• Single tree selection
• Crop, mast, and apple tree release

Julie Messervy, Westminster – 270 acres (View file here)

Julie and her husband Steve call their land “grandchild paradise. “ A beaver pond and a swimming pond create havens for humans and wildlife amidst the 270 acres of mixed hardwood and softwood trees and forested wetlands.

Management Activities

• Invasive species management
• Single tree and group selection

Lina Hristova, Woodstock – 90 acres (View file here)

A gurgling stream runs through a gently sloping woodland. Once used for pasture, the rocky soils now support wildlife like deer, bear, turkey, grouse, and forest birds. The property is being managed to encourage new wildlife and other forest products, like timber and maple sap.

Management Activities

• Patch cut
• Overstory removal
• Single tree and group selection

Lynda Goldsmith, Fairfax – 341 acres (View file here)

Five vernal pools provide critical habitat for reptiles and amphibians, such as wood frogs and spotted salamanders. An established trail network crisscrosses the rolling terrain, much of which used to be pastureland.

Management Activities

• Expanded gap shelterwood
• Patch cut
• Mast tree release

Melita Bass, Shoreham – 106 acres (View file here)

Opening onto Lake Champlain, Melita’s property has been farmland, a productive apple orchard, and a summer camp throughout its history. Today it features sprawling old hardwoods and a re-growing example of a clayplain forest, the original forest in much of the Champlain Valley.

Management Activities

• Invasive species management
• Tree planting
• Patch cut