Conservation and historic restoration at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Park

I recently had a chance to visit Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Park in Woodstock, VT, to look at the first forest management / silvicultural operation ever on a National Park Service property. This 555 acre (476 forested) “national historical park is the only national park to tell the story of conservation history and the evolving nature of land stewardship in America.” It is also the only national park to have a forest management plan. The plan written by Redstart Forestry, with the help of the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, and public input, addresses the goals for the land in the next 100 years and has the next 20 years planned out with silvicultural treatments that are looked at conceptually as opposed to strict stand by stand prescriptions.

The first stand that Christina Marts of the National Park Service, Bob Cooke of State and Private Forestry Forest Service, Jon Bouton the Windsor County Forester, and myself visited was a 14 acre red pine stand. Part of the stand is being thinned to promote northern hardwood regeneration and the other part will be replanted to red pine in order to stay true to the cultural past. The freshly cut stumps are being treated with borax to prevent Fomes annosus, also known as root rot, from spreading throughout the remaining stand. There was a large population of invasive plants along the edge of the field, so prior to this harvest the invasives were controlled in order to minimize their spread into newly opened post harvest areas. Any culturally important areas (cellar holes, etc.) were marked with a special color flagging to let the logging crew know to stay clear of those areas.

The second stand we visited was a 7acre red pine stand in which Russell Barnes of Long View Forest Contracting was extracting the last load of wood with one of Long View’s forwarders. The skid roads being used will also serve as ski trails for the park’s many cross-country skiers.

The last stand we visited was a white pine stand that had been marked by Redstart Forestry in preparation for next years logging activities. Most of the white pine in the stand showed signs of potential red rot (Phellinus pini) exibiting the most obvious indicator which is a conk (basidiocarp) on the underside of the dead lower branches. The marking in the stand was done as a single tree / group treatment where the most diseased trees will be salvaged while trying to retain the historically significant pine component of the stand. Another issue in this treatment area will be the continued control of invasive plants like honeysuckle that have already become established.

The goals of this ongoing management are to provide educational opportunities relating to forest management, to keep the property true to its historical past of active management, and to provide a demonstration / tour potential for visitors with an interest in the necessary planning, implementing, and monitoring that result in sustainably managed healthy and productive forest land.

Sam Schneski

Assistant County Forester

VT Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation