June 2008 Highlight:

Bennington County Sustainable Forest Consortium

The Bennington County Sustainable Forest Consortium (BCSFC), new in 2007, is a collaborative between forest landowners, consulting foresters, loggers, the Bennington County Conservation District (BCCD), and the Bennington County Forester’s office (where forester Nate Fice resides). The consortium hopes to promote dialogue and learning between forest landowners, resources professionals, and the general public, and encourage landowners to think of their forests in a sustainable manner.

To that end, the Steering Committee has organized a series of workshops designed to appeal to a diverse audience. Past presentations have focused on the Use Value program, water quality and forest access, managing forests with carbon in mind, and an edible woodland plants walk with the Equinox Preservation Trust and leader Russ Cohen (professional environmentalist and wild foods enthusiast). Other workshops in the planning stages include high grading/diameter-limit cutting, focus species management, wood identification, forest biomass and new marketing initiatives, and more.

For more information on BCSFC or to sign up for workshops, contact Shelly Stiles, Bennington County Conservation District, at 802-442-2275 or shelly.stiles@bccd.sover.net.

For forestry related assistance, contact Nate Fice, Bennington County Forester, at 802-375-1217 or Nate.Fice@state.vt.us.