Project Area
Enosburgh Group: 15 parcels encompassing 1,725 acres of forest
Montgomery Group: 19 parcels with 4,544 forest acres
Richford Group: 11 parcels with 1,899 forest acres
Fletcher/Bakersfield: 14 parcels with 5,118 forest acres
Belvidere/Waterville: 13 parcels with 3,357 forest acres
Other key partners in our efforts include North Woods Forestry Consulting, Vermont Audubon, the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department, and some generous funders, including the US Forest Service and the High Meadows/Daybreak Fund.
Management Goals
Landowners enrolled in the Cold Hollow Woodlots Program all receive climate change analyses of their land and management plans. The group then visits one parcel at a time, discussing (among other topics) climate resilience strategies and adaptation actions. Cold Hollow to Canada also connects landowners in the group to resources and opportunities to implement new strategies—which can then be seen and discussed by the full group!
While each landowner has their own forest management plan and specific management goals, the landowners generally share similar management goals focusing on:
- Privacy and Beauty
- Recreation
- Wildlife/Biodiversity (not focused on specific species)
- Stewardship (an interest in “making it better”)
Climate Change Impacts
Challenges and Opportunities
Challenges
Opportunities
Adaptation Actions
As a first step to understanding how the Cold Hollow Woodlots could be affected by climate change, a landscape analysis was conducted to identify actions that are already identified in the landowners’ management plans that are beneficial in light of climate change. Each of the landowner management plans was reviewed and to identify current management practives that were related to the Adaptation Strategies and Approaches from Forest Adaptation Resources: Climate Change Tools and Approaches for Land Managers. This is important because it acknowledges the benefits of sustainable forest management in creating healthy forests, which are expected to be more resilient to climate change. Climate change was not explicitly considered in the development in the existing management plans, but many good forest stewardship activities help to increase the ability of the forest to cope with and adapt to changing conditions.
The table below contains some examples of strategies, approaches, and adaptation tactics from the 45 analyses that have been performed for Cold Hollow to Canada Woodlots Program Participants (see the document below entitled 'Cold Hollow to Canada: Strategies & Approaches' for a full list of tactics and the town areas they are being implemented in):
1.1 Reduce impacts to soils and nutrient cycling.
Forest Strategy 2: Reduce the impact of biological stressors.
9.7. Introduce species that are expected to be adapted to future conditions.