Center Program Funds Trail Sustainability in Vermont

Five more organizations received grants to improve trail sustainability, thanks to a Northern Forest Center program funded by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Building on the success of a first round of grantmaking in 2023, the Center awarded grants to five Vermont organizations for trail improvements. The Center’s Sustainable Trails program supports projects focused on reducing erosion and enhancing trail systems’ abilities to withstand increasing use and increasingly severe weather events. The program is a partnership between the Center and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

“For more than 80 years, NRCS has been committed to ‘helping people, help the land,’” said Travis Thomason, in 2023 about the program. A Vermont State Conservationist at NRCS, Travis added, “We are proud to stand with the Northern Forest Center and the work they are doing to help Vermonters enjoy the beautiful landscapes of our state.”

“The projects funded through this program will improve the user experience for recreationists and also will help protect the resources that attract visitors to the outdoors in the first place,” said Center Outdoor Recreation Manager Joe Fox.

Three of the funded projects focus on improvements to existing trails, including:

The Town of Marshfield, VT

This grant funded numerous improvements to the historic Thompson Road (now a multi-use trail) in the Stranahan Town Forest. The trail passes by several old farmsteads and serves as the critical year-round connecting route to other trails on the property. It is also a key snowmobile trail during the winter. Funding supported cleaning out existing ditches, installing additional culverts, and adding water bars and crushed stone in places to improve drainage and prevent erosion.

While difficult to see, the white line running through the center of the map above is Thompson Rd. Its role as a key artery is evident.

Southern Vermont Trails Association (SoVTA )

This project concentrated on trails at the Crosstown zone, improving 11 areas of trails to limit erosion and increase accessibility and durability. “This past season, with a grant from the Northern Forest Center, we were able to rehab roughly 1.5 miles of legacy trail at the Crosstown Trail network,” said SoVTA Executive Director Steve Petrik. “These improvements resulted in improved access for adaptive and multi-use trail users, stabilized and re-vegetated heavily eroded sections of trail to reduce sediment transfer to sensitive habitats, and modified the trail tread where needed so that the trail tread is more weather resilient. Grants for maintenance of legacy trails are tough to come by and with the grant from Center, a wider range users can now enjoy the Trails at Crosstown more often, thanks to the improvement implemented by the SoVTA Trail Crew.”

Map featuring just some of the trail work planned by SoVTA.

Dog Mountain

Significant upgrades are being planned system-wide on the property’s trail system, including on one particularly steep, erosion-prone trail. These upgrades will improve accessibility, safety, and the visitor experience and also help mitigate environmental impacts.

View from the top of one of Dog Mountain’s trails. (Photo: Joe Fox)

Two of the funded projects will support trail planning and design efforts, including:

The Town of St. Johnsbury, VT

The town will use its grant toward hiring a consultant who will help develop a master plan for the new, 119-acre town-owned parcel known as the Observatory Knob. The property is within walking distance of several schools and was purchased with a conservation easement in 2021 following a successful public fundraising campaign.

Observatory Knob has been a well-loved community asset for nearly 150 years, however, no formally maintained trails, trailheads, trail signage, or parking exists, and existing trails are excessively steep and erosion prone. A volunteer management committee recommended hiring a professional consultant to guide a public input process and design a master plan for trail development, habitat protection, soil erosion prevention, and proactive planning. The Town’s goal is for various recreational user groups to be able to enjoy the property while minimizing erosion, protecting habitat, and respecting the nature of the surrounding neighborhood.

Knob Hill in St. Johnsbury. Photo by Kyle Gray, Vermont Land Trust.

South Hero Land Trust

This grant will support planning and permitting of a new, adaptive-friendly trail in the Robinson family farm parcel. The goal of the project is to create a 1.2-mile public, non-motorized trail connecting South Street and Tracy Road. The trail, which will run along the edge of active farm fields and near a large wetland complex, will form an important link between South Hero’s village center, the local school, local farms, and existing trails.

Jacob Clay, Archeologist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, conducting a cultural and historic artifacts dig last April on the Robinson Family Farm parcel. (Photo: Joe Fox)

Staff Contact

Joe Fox

Joe Fox

Outdoor Recreation Manager

Email

Cell: 802-751-9205