1 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:10,620 - Welcome to the third talk 2 00:00:10,620 --> 00:00:13,820 in the Forest as Natural Climate Solutions track. 3 00:00:13,820 --> 00:00:16,700 This is Jesse Pyles from the Smokey House Center, 4 00:00:16,700 --> 00:00:19,050 and I'm gonna let him introduce himself 5 00:00:19,050 --> 00:00:20,160 and his co-presenters 6 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:24,050 in the video format that I'm about to play. 7 00:00:24,050 --> 00:00:26,410 And then we'll have some questions, 8 00:00:26,410 --> 00:00:27,920 time for questions at the end. 9 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:28,753 - I'm Jesse Pyles. 10 00:00:28,753 --> 00:00:31,340 I'm the Executive Director at Smokey House Center. 11 00:00:31,340 --> 00:00:34,963 And I'm joined today by Blanca Begart and Seth Inman, 12 00:00:36,430 --> 00:00:40,470 who are recently finished 13 00:00:40,470 --> 00:00:43,350 Yale postgraduate Forestry Fellows at Smokey House. 14 00:00:43,350 --> 00:00:47,840 And we're gonna explain to you how we assessed our land, 15 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:51,190 our forest lands, and how we see the future unrolling 16 00:00:51,190 --> 00:00:53,620 for Smokey House Center forest land management. 17 00:00:53,620 --> 00:00:56,410 Smokey House Center is a 5,000 acre property 18 00:00:56,410 --> 00:00:58,230 at the north side of Dorset Mountain 19 00:00:58,230 --> 00:01:00,350 in Southern Rutland County. 20 00:01:00,350 --> 00:01:04,380 We're a nearly 50-year-old nonprofit organization 21 00:01:04,380 --> 00:01:08,180 focused on conservation, agriculture and education. 22 00:01:08,180 --> 00:01:11,690 We often use the tagline land, agriculture and learning. 23 00:01:11,690 --> 00:01:12,870 And for about 50 years, 24 00:01:12,870 --> 00:01:15,360 we've been using this incredible landscape 25 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,230 as a background for meaningful service and learning 26 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:23,513 primarily for young people here in the region. 27 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,030 Today, we want to talk with you about our efforts 28 00:01:29,030 --> 00:01:30,890 to tee up the next generation 29 00:01:30,890 --> 00:01:32,850 of forest land management in Smokey House. 30 00:01:32,850 --> 00:01:34,800 But we can't do that without thinking about the way 31 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:38,193 that this forest land has been managed previously. 32 00:01:39,060 --> 00:01:40,260 Smokey House Center 33 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,520 exists here in Southern Rutland County 34 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:48,773 on Abenaki and Mohican lands. 35 00:01:49,801 --> 00:01:52,660 The history of human influence on this landscape 36 00:01:52,660 --> 00:01:55,620 is much longer than Smokey House's ownership 37 00:01:55,620 --> 00:01:57,060 of this piece of property 38 00:01:57,060 --> 00:01:59,760 and stewardship of this piece of property. 39 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,700 But even beyond that human interaction, 40 00:02:02,700 --> 00:02:06,200 we recognize in the right-hand image here, 41 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,710 the connection of Smokey House's property 42 00:02:08,710 --> 00:02:13,710 to so much other forest lands in the Northeast. 43 00:02:14,670 --> 00:02:19,380 Smokey house Center is a large privately owned parcel 44 00:02:19,380 --> 00:02:20,580 for Northeast lands, 45 00:02:20,580 --> 00:02:24,380 but it's part of a much, much larger network 46 00:02:24,380 --> 00:02:26,390 of connected forest lands. 47 00:02:26,390 --> 00:02:29,340 And we'll talk a little bit more about that moving forward. 48 00:02:30,340 --> 00:02:33,740 Central to Smokey House's mission 49 00:02:34,670 --> 00:02:37,083 is sustainable natural resource management. 50 00:02:38,421 --> 00:02:39,771 And some of that management 51 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:44,770 really is an outgrowth 52 00:02:44,770 --> 00:02:47,420 of the agricultural influence 53 00:02:47,420 --> 00:02:49,910 and the human management of this land 54 00:02:49,910 --> 00:02:52,650 before Smokey House became its own entity. 55 00:02:52,650 --> 00:02:55,880 And Smokey House really gathered together this 5,000 acres 56 00:02:58,155 --> 00:02:59,680 in the '60s. 57 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:01,520 And so we've included a couple of images here 58 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:05,950 that show you aerial photos of how the land was used 59 00:03:05,950 --> 00:03:06,783 prior to that time 60 00:03:06,783 --> 00:03:09,483 that Smokey House amassed this incredible property. 61 00:03:10,980 --> 00:03:12,650 And it was largely pieced together 62 00:03:12,650 --> 00:03:16,500 from agricultural parcels, old family farmsteads 63 00:03:17,500 --> 00:03:18,770 that continue, some of them, 64 00:03:18,770 --> 00:03:21,230 to operate as farms at Smokey House. 65 00:03:21,230 --> 00:03:22,360 But we can see 66 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:26,460 that forest land management in this area 67 00:03:26,460 --> 00:03:29,820 is very much related to farmland management in this area. 68 00:03:29,820 --> 00:03:32,890 And so Smokey House has an interesting history 69 00:03:32,890 --> 00:03:36,300 and a role to play in imagining some of these connections 70 00:03:36,300 --> 00:03:39,253 between forest and farmland. 71 00:03:40,100 --> 00:03:43,200 In fact, Smokey House has used forest and farmland 72 00:03:44,950 --> 00:03:49,170 at times in order to create generate revenue 73 00:03:49,170 --> 00:03:51,630 that helps support our nonprofit functions. 74 00:03:51,630 --> 00:03:52,980 So as Smokey House Center 75 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:58,310 has managed our forest and farmlands these years 76 00:03:58,310 --> 00:04:00,330 with education in mind, 77 00:04:00,330 --> 00:04:04,280 we've also continued despite being a nonprofit 78 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:06,220 to pay property taxes. 79 00:04:06,220 --> 00:04:09,880 And in doing so, we determined that was in our interest 80 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:13,510 to enroll our land in Vermont's Current Use Program, 81 00:04:13,510 --> 00:04:15,350 as it has been established and developed 82 00:04:15,350 --> 00:04:17,380 and changed over time. 83 00:04:17,380 --> 00:04:21,860 So Smokey House Center has enrolled much of our acreage 84 00:04:21,860 --> 00:04:24,090 into the forestry category of current use. 85 00:04:24,090 --> 00:04:28,143 And so we get tax benefit of doing so. 86 00:04:29,110 --> 00:04:31,550 And we also have enrolled some of our lands 87 00:04:31,550 --> 00:04:33,810 in agricultural current use. 88 00:04:33,810 --> 00:04:36,500 So this image from 2012 tells you a little bit more 89 00:04:36,500 --> 00:04:38,810 about the current land coverage 90 00:04:38,810 --> 00:04:41,073 in terms of forest and agricultural uses. 91 00:04:42,300 --> 00:04:46,320 But it's important to recognize that since the '80s really, 92 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:49,090 Smokey House has relied on our enrollment 93 00:04:49,090 --> 00:04:50,720 in forest current use 94 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:54,500 to keep property taxes down, 95 00:04:54,500 --> 00:04:56,810 but also to help us create timber revenue, 96 00:04:56,810 --> 00:05:00,840 managed much of this forest land for timber revenue 97 00:05:00,840 --> 00:05:02,623 to support our nonprofit functions. 98 00:05:03,980 --> 00:05:06,220 About 10 years ago, we recognized 99 00:05:06,220 --> 00:05:09,200 a real shift in program markets. 100 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,490 Whereas we used to have a focused effort 101 00:05:12,490 --> 00:05:16,090 on working with high school kids from the local area 102 00:05:16,090 --> 00:05:17,930 in forest and farm work 103 00:05:17,930 --> 00:05:21,620 as a workforce youth education and development program, 104 00:05:21,620 --> 00:05:24,550 we saw that the funding for those programs, 105 00:05:24,550 --> 00:05:27,980 the demographics of students in that age category, 106 00:05:27,980 --> 00:05:30,950 the needs for the services we were offering 107 00:05:30,950 --> 00:05:33,910 really diminished about 10 years ago. 108 00:05:33,910 --> 00:05:37,880 And so as we approach 2022, 109 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:39,320 we're also looking at the need 110 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:41,080 to renew our forest management plan 111 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:42,930 under the current use program. 112 00:05:42,930 --> 00:05:46,400 We also see a need to attract a new education audience. 113 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:47,980 So we saw this as an opportunity, 114 00:05:47,980 --> 00:05:52,153 recognizing climate and ecology mandate of the times, 115 00:05:53,030 --> 00:05:55,070 we saw this as an opportunity to shift, 116 00:05:55,070 --> 00:05:59,620 not just from a focus on timber and timber revenue, 117 00:05:59,620 --> 00:06:04,620 but a focus on new conservation values 118 00:06:04,650 --> 00:06:06,430 at Smokey House Center. 119 00:06:06,430 --> 00:06:08,810 And so we thought we needed new thinking 120 00:06:08,810 --> 00:06:10,380 in order to do that. 121 00:06:10,380 --> 00:06:12,730 And relying on some connections that we had 122 00:06:12,730 --> 00:06:15,330 with folks at the Yale School of the Environment, 123 00:06:15,330 --> 00:06:19,760 we developed, with folks in a forestry program there, 124 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:24,180 a forestry fellowship that would help us think differently, 125 00:06:24,180 --> 00:06:29,100 think anew about how we might emphasize conservation values 126 00:06:29,100 --> 00:06:32,340 for Smokey House's forest land management moving forward. 127 00:06:32,340 --> 00:06:33,740 And so we were really happy 128 00:06:33,740 --> 00:06:35,880 after working with those folks at Yale 129 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:38,550 to land on Blanca and Seth, 130 00:06:38,550 --> 00:06:41,240 who were able to join us as Forestry Fellows. 131 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:43,370 And I'll let Blanca now tell you more 132 00:06:43,370 --> 00:06:46,000 about what brought them to Smokey House 133 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:47,683 and how their work started. 134 00:06:48,940 --> 00:06:51,290 - Thank you so much, Jesse. 135 00:06:51,290 --> 00:06:53,960 Yes, so Seth and I were both just graduating 136 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:57,750 our master's programs and in touch with professors 137 00:06:57,750 --> 00:07:00,870 in the Yale Forest School about this new fellowship. 138 00:07:00,870 --> 00:07:04,500 It was developed as an opportunity for those of us 139 00:07:04,500 --> 00:07:06,840 who had had some extensive forestry 140 00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:08,490 and land management coursework 141 00:07:08,490 --> 00:07:11,980 to get more applied land management experience, 142 00:07:11,980 --> 00:07:14,300 like right as we were graduating. 143 00:07:14,300 --> 00:07:17,480 Seth and I had both done private management plans 144 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:21,330 for individual landowners as part of our education. 145 00:07:21,330 --> 00:07:24,230 And for us, this was a really cool opportunity 146 00:07:24,230 --> 00:07:26,030 to work at a larger scale 147 00:07:26,030 --> 00:07:31,030 and work for a nonprofit that had different stakeholders, 148 00:07:31,030 --> 00:07:34,370 and an organization that might have different goals 149 00:07:34,370 --> 00:07:35,910 than those we've worked for in the past, 150 00:07:35,910 --> 00:07:37,130 you know, conservation goals, 151 00:07:37,130 --> 00:07:39,580 but also history of forest management 152 00:07:39,580 --> 00:07:42,313 and also an education mission. 153 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:47,353 And so when we started the fellowship, 154 00:07:49,860 --> 00:07:51,340 one of the first things we did was talk 155 00:07:51,340 --> 00:07:52,970 to Smokey House representatives, 156 00:07:52,970 --> 00:07:54,760 like the Board Chair, Curtis Rand, 157 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:56,250 and who's also a forester, 158 00:07:56,250 --> 00:07:59,440 and the longtime consulting forester, Steve Handfield. 159 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:03,900 And we also did a survey of all the board members. 160 00:08:03,900 --> 00:08:07,530 And so the aim was to sort of understand the vision 161 00:08:07,530 --> 00:08:09,450 that they had in bringing us on, 162 00:08:09,450 --> 00:08:11,870 and understand more broadly the value 163 00:08:11,870 --> 00:08:15,890 of forests and forest management to the organization 164 00:08:15,890 --> 00:08:17,970 and the people involved in it, 165 00:08:17,970 --> 00:08:20,620 and also understand some of the preliminary thinking 166 00:08:20,620 --> 00:08:24,360 for switching into the conservation category 167 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,413 under Vermont's Current Use Program that Jesse mentioned. 168 00:08:28,420 --> 00:08:32,560 The current use program taxes forest and agricultural land 169 00:08:32,560 --> 00:08:34,700 based on the type of use it's under. 170 00:08:34,700 --> 00:08:37,780 And the desire was to change Smokey House Center 171 00:08:37,780 --> 00:08:41,100 from the productive timberland category 172 00:08:41,100 --> 00:08:43,760 to the conservation category. 173 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:46,640 So in 2012, Smokey House was enrolled 174 00:08:47,837 --> 00:08:49,200 as productive forest land 175 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:52,070 under Vermont's Current Use Program, 176 00:08:52,070 --> 00:08:54,600 which requires that timber management 177 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:56,430 be one of the goals for the property. 178 00:08:56,430 --> 00:08:59,730 And while timber management has occurred here historically, 179 00:08:59,730 --> 00:09:03,470 and will continue to, the main focus of stewardship, 180 00:09:03,470 --> 00:09:06,540 especially in more recent years but even since the beginning 181 00:09:06,540 --> 00:09:09,560 has been and will continue to be 182 00:09:09,560 --> 00:09:12,760 ecosystem conservation and education. 183 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:16,000 So switching to the conservation status 184 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:19,050 would grant more flexibility, 185 00:09:19,050 --> 00:09:22,560 allow land to be managed in broader ecosystem units 186 00:09:22,560 --> 00:09:25,600 beyond just the stand level, if desired. 187 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:28,410 And it would allow Smokey House to still engage 188 00:09:28,410 --> 00:09:30,920 in sustainable timber management 189 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:34,970 for as long as they want to, but also to forego that 190 00:09:34,970 --> 00:09:38,460 if and when desired and to also receive some tax benefits 191 00:09:38,460 --> 00:09:41,623 from being in the program under this category. 192 00:09:46,653 --> 00:09:49,490 In terms of the new conservation plan, 193 00:09:49,490 --> 00:09:51,600 Seth and I based some of our work 194 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:55,420 off of the original 2012 forest management plan 195 00:09:55,420 --> 00:09:58,170 for productive timberland, where the forest 196 00:09:58,170 --> 00:10:00,550 had already sort of been assessed and described. 197 00:10:00,550 --> 00:10:02,090 But our work was to update that 198 00:10:02,090 --> 00:10:03,900 and to do a new site assessment, 199 00:10:03,900 --> 00:10:06,760 really with the conservation goals 200 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:10,440 and the conservation category in mind. 201 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:13,170 So there were other researchers and staff 202 00:10:13,170 --> 00:10:16,950 who had done some mapping of Smokey House forests, 203 00:10:16,950 --> 00:10:19,680 but we really had to go understand the land ourselves 204 00:10:19,680 --> 00:10:22,130 and ground-truth what had been done, 205 00:10:22,130 --> 00:10:25,460 and see how the landscape might be re-conceptualized 206 00:10:25,460 --> 00:10:27,960 in a new kind of broader conservation plan. 207 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:31,530 So we started by doing desk research 208 00:10:31,530 --> 00:10:34,980 through aerial imagery and an online soil survey, 209 00:10:34,980 --> 00:10:38,630 online hydrology maps, topography maps. 210 00:10:38,630 --> 00:10:41,100 There's a ton of digital resources out there, 211 00:10:41,100 --> 00:10:43,160 Vermont Natural Resources Atlas, 212 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:47,940 Vermont BioFinder, and other geospatial data resources. 213 00:10:47,940 --> 00:10:50,820 We also had a lot of informational conversations 214 00:10:50,820 --> 00:10:54,200 with local experts from organizations 215 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:57,270 such as Vermont Fish and Wildlife, Audubon, 216 00:10:57,270 --> 00:10:59,110 New England Forestry Foundation, 217 00:10:59,110 --> 00:11:00,560 to sort of better understand 218 00:11:00,560 --> 00:11:02,980 some of Smokey House's unique resources, 219 00:11:02,980 --> 00:11:06,260 and to prepare for two three-day field visits 220 00:11:06,260 --> 00:11:09,880 that we did to the site in April and May of 2021. 221 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:11,470 So during those visits, 222 00:11:11,470 --> 00:11:15,380 we walked through nearly every stand on the property, 223 00:11:15,380 --> 00:11:19,570 making qualitative observations on the state of the forest. 224 00:11:19,570 --> 00:11:22,200 And this was with help of course, from Jesse 225 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:25,650 and Steve, the consulting forester for Smokey House. 226 00:11:25,650 --> 00:11:28,470 And so we used all of these qualitative observations 227 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:32,430 about the vegetation and the health of the forest 228 00:11:32,430 --> 00:11:35,680 as well as geospatial data 229 00:11:35,680 --> 00:11:39,520 to categorize the landscape into units for management 230 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:41,110 based on natural communities, 231 00:11:41,110 --> 00:11:43,510 which Seth will shortly describe, 232 00:11:43,510 --> 00:11:46,870 and also based on some of the other site features 233 00:11:46,870 --> 00:11:50,483 like waterways, topography and land use history. 234 00:11:53,060 --> 00:11:54,460 - Thanks, Blanca. 235 00:11:54,460 --> 00:11:57,810 Yeah. So as Blanca mentioned, 236 00:11:57,810 --> 00:12:01,020 we did all this field work and also the background research, 237 00:12:01,020 --> 00:12:05,010 and used this book by Elizabeth Thompson 238 00:12:05,010 --> 00:12:08,200 and Eric Sorenson and Robert Zaino, 239 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:10,300 which is a really valuable resource 240 00:12:10,300 --> 00:12:13,120 for the natural communities of Vermont, 241 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:15,610 and was really applicable 242 00:12:15,610 --> 00:12:20,530 to Smokey House's just very large property 243 00:12:20,530 --> 00:12:23,220 in the context of the surrounding landscape, 244 00:12:23,220 --> 00:12:26,130 so that we could be documenting 245 00:12:26,130 --> 00:12:29,030 based on what we were seeing on the ground, 246 00:12:29,030 --> 00:12:31,130 the different flora like these flowers, 247 00:12:31,130 --> 00:12:33,530 some of which are indicators of rich sites, 248 00:12:33,530 --> 00:12:36,690 or, you know, certain moisture levels, 249 00:12:36,690 --> 00:12:41,600 and came up with a sort of delineation of the land 250 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:42,500 that was a little different 251 00:12:42,500 --> 00:12:45,470 from the very timber-based stand maps. 252 00:12:45,470 --> 00:12:48,020 And so these natural communities 253 00:12:48,020 --> 00:12:51,620 we think will help emphasize conservation values 254 00:12:51,620 --> 00:12:54,710 and sort of the more ecologically 255 00:12:54,710 --> 00:12:57,810 and conservation-focused management 256 00:12:57,810 --> 00:13:01,170 that Smokey House is trying to promote. 257 00:13:01,170 --> 00:13:02,360 And so here you can see side-by-side 258 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:04,600 the sort of old stand map 259 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:08,510 colored by just very basic forest type, 260 00:13:08,510 --> 00:13:12,690 and the newer delineations, which are very broad, 261 00:13:12,690 --> 00:13:17,350 and not the fixed lines necessarily that you see on the map, 262 00:13:17,350 --> 00:13:20,640 but typically more of a gradient. 263 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:23,910 But here you can see some of the really special areas 264 00:13:23,910 --> 00:13:28,910 like the Alder swamp created by beavers and on the river. 265 00:13:29,530 --> 00:13:32,190 And in the south up in the mountains, 266 00:13:32,190 --> 00:13:33,990 there's their montane spruce-fir forest, 267 00:13:33,990 --> 00:13:37,083 which is pretty unique for this part of Vermont. 268 00:13:39,928 --> 00:13:41,080 Up in the old sugar bush, 269 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:44,250 there's just some massive sugar maple trees 270 00:13:44,250 --> 00:13:46,300 that have been around for a really long time. 271 00:13:46,300 --> 00:13:50,060 And some of these special features are the types of places 272 00:13:50,060 --> 00:13:53,660 that would sort of get lost in just a stand map. 273 00:13:53,660 --> 00:13:56,840 And so we're trying to keep them relevant 274 00:13:56,840 --> 00:14:01,720 and mapped here in a slightly different way 275 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:04,560 that still needs a little work 276 00:14:04,560 --> 00:14:07,470 so that they're not quite as large in some places. 277 00:14:07,470 --> 00:14:09,490 And we're gonna be working with 278 00:14:09,490 --> 00:14:13,520 the Vermont state partners 279 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:18,520 to try to get those into manageable chunks going forward. 280 00:14:18,670 --> 00:14:20,853 So that's something still pending. 281 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:24,200 But as we've been drafting the plan, 282 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:27,890 we have been trying to keep conservation values 283 00:14:27,890 --> 00:14:29,513 sort of at the forefront. 284 00:14:30,420 --> 00:14:34,550 And to do that, we have been using 285 00:14:35,470 --> 00:14:37,350 sort of different layers of maps, 286 00:14:37,350 --> 00:14:40,053 like for example, these invasive species, 287 00:14:41,216 --> 00:14:46,216 some of which need some pretty active management to control. 288 00:14:46,770 --> 00:14:49,480 But there's other parts of the forest 289 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:52,970 that would need less active management to promote, 290 00:14:52,970 --> 00:14:56,540 like for example, old growth forest, 291 00:14:56,540 --> 00:15:00,363 which can sort of be left alone to do its thing. 292 00:15:01,758 --> 00:15:04,200 So now we're in the review process of this plan, 293 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:05,470 hoping in the next six months 294 00:15:05,470 --> 00:15:08,913 to have it ready for submission in April. 295 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:20,093 - Thanks so much, Seth. 296 00:15:20,093 --> 00:15:22,250 As Seth pointed out, 297 00:15:22,250 --> 00:15:25,720 we are looking ahead toward the submission of our plan. 298 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:26,910 And it's important to note 299 00:15:26,910 --> 00:15:28,880 because there are tax implications, 300 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:31,420 that the tax implications aren't tremendous for us. 301 00:15:31,420 --> 00:15:35,750 That is, the appraisal of our forest lands 302 00:15:35,750 --> 00:15:38,910 under the forest category and the conservation category 303 00:15:38,910 --> 00:15:42,760 won't amount to a significant amount of tax expense savings. 304 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:45,760 But it does say something about our intentions. 305 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:48,200 It tells us a little bit more 306 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:50,720 and tells the world, it aligns more our focus 307 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:54,060 on those ecosystem values and educational values 308 00:15:54,060 --> 00:15:57,420 than on simply the timber harvest values, 309 00:15:57,420 --> 00:16:01,080 and the management of a 5,000 acre property 310 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:05,260 on a timber harvest schedule 311 00:16:05,260 --> 00:16:07,110 that doesn't really fit our goals. 312 00:16:07,110 --> 00:16:11,160 And so we're excited to have had the assistance of the state 313 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:13,640 and these Fellows to help us draft a plan 314 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:17,800 that more fully aligns with our values as an organization. 315 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:20,240 We see that this means that there are gonna be opportunities 316 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:24,410 for us to really focus on active management 317 00:16:24,410 --> 00:16:25,740 in a lot of areas. 318 00:16:25,740 --> 00:16:26,810 And we're also excited 319 00:16:26,810 --> 00:16:28,900 about the places where it's appropriate 320 00:16:28,900 --> 00:16:32,100 for us to rewild or take a less hands-on approach 321 00:16:33,319 --> 00:16:35,310 to prescriptions for management 322 00:16:35,310 --> 00:16:37,960 on the land here at Smokey House Center. 323 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:40,690 We're most excited about the educational opportunities 324 00:16:40,690 --> 00:16:44,440 that this provides, that we were able to expand our audience 325 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:46,040 and our education market. 326 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:47,750 We want to continue work 327 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:52,880 with organizations that are a part of this cooperative 328 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:55,760 in the forest ecosystem monitoring work. 329 00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:58,790 We wanna do more monitoring, more research, more outreach 330 00:16:58,790 --> 00:17:01,500 related to forest land management moving forward, 331 00:17:01,500 --> 00:17:05,180 and really understand the place of this special landscape 332 00:17:05,180 --> 00:17:07,700 in the broader ecosystem of work that's happening 333 00:17:07,700 --> 00:17:11,720 in landscape management at the landscape level. 334 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:14,770 The adage goes, "You can't manage what you don't measure." 335 00:17:14,770 --> 00:17:16,130 And for the last several decades, 336 00:17:16,130 --> 00:17:18,830 we've been measuring these forest lands 337 00:17:19,900 --> 00:17:23,170 in stands, according to their timber value. 338 00:17:23,170 --> 00:17:25,163 We hope that by developing this plan, 339 00:17:26,170 --> 00:17:29,890 we were able to measure instead conservation values, 340 00:17:29,890 --> 00:17:32,900 and that our work of managing this land moving forward 341 00:17:32,900 --> 00:17:34,760 more in line with those values 342 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:36,710 that we have as an organization 343 00:17:36,710 --> 00:17:40,030 for more resilient climate future of forest lands 344 00:17:40,030 --> 00:17:42,000 in our own particular property, 345 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:44,450 but also as they connect to others in the region. 346 00:17:45,590 --> 00:17:48,546 And so we'd be remiss 347 00:17:48,546 --> 00:17:50,640 if I didn't thank Seth and Blanca 348 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:53,750 for all of their hard work and helping us with this plan. 349 00:17:53,750 --> 00:17:58,470 And also it's just been a joy to work with those two, 350 00:17:58,470 --> 00:18:02,020 but also our long serving board chair and forester, 351 00:18:02,020 --> 00:18:05,960 Curtis Rand, who connected us with the folks at Yale, 352 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:10,640 Blanca and Seth's advisor and mentor at Yale, Joe Orefice, 353 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:15,140 and also would like to tip our hat 354 00:18:15,140 --> 00:18:17,180 to Steve Handfield who's been our forester 355 00:18:17,180 --> 00:18:18,630 on the ground here at Smokey House 356 00:18:18,630 --> 00:18:21,690 for this last decade, and was instrumental, 357 00:18:21,690 --> 00:18:24,040 not just with his previous plan, 358 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:26,220 but with his excitement and his on-the-ground knowledge 359 00:18:26,220 --> 00:18:29,800 of these forest lands and helping us develop this new plan. 360 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:34,550 So as we continue to partner with our friends at the state, 361 00:18:34,550 --> 00:18:37,730 we recognize the work of these folks, 362 00:18:37,730 --> 00:18:42,730 and again, recognize that we are stewards of this landscape. 363 00:18:42,810 --> 00:18:44,110 And we hope that the way 364 00:18:44,110 --> 00:18:45,870 that we've developed this conservation plan 365 00:18:45,870 --> 00:18:47,650 sets up the next generation 366 00:18:47,650 --> 00:18:50,610 of forest management at Smokey House. 367 00:18:50,610 --> 00:18:53,230 - We have a question, about one minute for questions. 368 00:18:53,230 --> 00:18:55,307 So there's one in the chat. 369 00:18:55,307 --> 00:18:56,410 "Can you comment a bit more 370 00:18:56,410 --> 00:18:59,210 on your local community engagement slash education 371 00:18:59,210 --> 00:19:00,930 around your work? 372 00:19:00,930 --> 00:19:03,650 I can imagine there are plenty of producers with a back 40 373 00:19:03,650 --> 00:19:06,947 that would greatly benefit from examples like Smokey House." 374 00:19:07,850 --> 00:19:09,790 - That's great. Thank you. 375 00:19:09,790 --> 00:19:11,450 And thank you, Annika. 376 00:19:11,450 --> 00:19:12,810 I'm happy to connect with folks 377 00:19:12,810 --> 00:19:15,240 otherwise afterwards or offline, 378 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:19,070 but essentially, you know, our longstanding work 379 00:19:19,070 --> 00:19:20,970 has been with partner organizations, 380 00:19:20,970 --> 00:19:22,550 and we hope that we can understand more 381 00:19:22,550 --> 00:19:25,430 about what's happening in our forest land management 382 00:19:25,430 --> 00:19:27,050 so that we can do more outreach 383 00:19:27,050 --> 00:19:31,520 through, you know, cooperatives like FEMC, 384 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:33,800 but also with other partner agencies who have platform 385 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:35,970 to extend their audience. 386 00:19:35,970 --> 00:19:38,870 We do want to later engage 387 00:19:38,870 --> 00:19:40,750 local land owners and land managers. 388 00:19:40,750 --> 00:19:43,250 And I think that our friends at Merck Forest across the hill 389 00:19:43,250 --> 00:19:44,083 are doing that with this 390 00:19:44,083 --> 00:19:45,940 connected to Taconic initiative down here 391 00:19:45,940 --> 00:19:48,810 that we're engaged with in part. 392 00:19:48,810 --> 00:19:51,170 We see opportunities like that 393 00:19:52,340 --> 00:19:54,060 to not just connect 394 00:19:54,060 --> 00:19:56,300 with other landowners with large parcels, 395 00:19:56,300 --> 00:19:57,690 but as we understand more and more 396 00:19:57,690 --> 00:19:59,600 about how our management unfolds 397 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:01,336 under this conservation plan, 398 00:20:01,336 --> 00:20:03,920 how we can connect with individual landowners, 399 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:06,100 especially where land connectivity, 400 00:20:06,100 --> 00:20:09,160 our abutting property owners and others who connect 401 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:13,660 into these wildlife habitat corridors particularly 402 00:20:13,660 --> 00:20:15,820 or these resilience flows 403 00:20:15,820 --> 00:20:18,140 kind of mapped to Smokey House property. 404 00:20:18,140 --> 00:20:19,050 And I'll recognize 405 00:20:19,050 --> 00:20:21,920 that it's an admittedly broad presentation, 406 00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:24,480 but really draws on so much of the work 407 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:26,970 that so many folks in this community do. 408 00:20:26,970 --> 00:20:28,970 So I wanna recognize that 409 00:20:28,970 --> 00:20:31,080 and thank all of you for that work. 410 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:33,060 I think that we have more work, 411 00:20:33,060 --> 00:20:34,490 like so many of the good stuff 412 00:20:34,490 --> 00:20:36,280 that's been shown in these presentations, 413 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:38,210 ahead of us in the coming years, 414 00:20:38,210 --> 00:20:41,940 so really been grateful to see other people's presentations 415 00:20:41,940 --> 00:20:43,160 during this conference 416 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:46,590 and to recognize that some of that kind of work 417 00:20:46,590 --> 00:20:48,210 can happen anew at Smokey House 418 00:20:48,210 --> 00:20:50,713 because of our new conservation values focus. 419 00:20:51,930 --> 00:20:53,295 - Hey, Jesse. - Hey, Andy. 420 00:20:53,295 --> 00:20:55,910 - I've got a questions for you. 421 00:20:55,910 --> 00:20:57,880 So I work for Vermont Fish and Wildlife, 422 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:02,138 and just sort of curious if you have much engagement 423 00:21:02,138 --> 00:21:06,073 with the town that your organization resides in. 424 00:21:07,030 --> 00:21:11,610 - Yeah, we do, and partly through the planning commission 425 00:21:12,890 --> 00:21:14,640 and the work that they've done 426 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:16,523 in developing a new town plan, 427 00:21:17,470 --> 00:21:21,470 and partly just the occasional cause to be at select board 428 00:21:21,470 --> 00:21:24,350 in terms of municipal planning levels. 429 00:21:24,350 --> 00:21:26,800 We also have someone from your team 430 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:31,403 living next door here in Danby, who we met with, 431 00:21:33,009 --> 00:21:34,240 Luke Groff. - Luke Groff, right? 432 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:36,883 - Yep, yep, Luke is right around the corner here. 433 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:39,780 And, you know, that said, 434 00:21:39,780 --> 00:21:43,970 we also do a lot of public and community outreach. 435 00:21:43,970 --> 00:21:46,460 So we have a lot of education programs with local kids, 436 00:21:46,460 --> 00:21:49,190 volunteers, visitors, those kinds of things, 437 00:21:49,190 --> 00:21:51,840 largely through farm activity, 438 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:53,930 farm and food security work. 439 00:21:53,930 --> 00:21:56,000 But increasingly, you know, we wanna make sure 440 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:57,160 that people are connecting to this land 441 00:21:57,160 --> 00:21:58,700 in other interesting ways. 442 00:21:58,700 --> 00:21:59,640 Does that answer your question, 443 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:01,210 or are you looking more about planning kinds of? 444 00:22:01,210 --> 00:22:03,220 - Yeah, no, just sorta curious. 445 00:22:03,220 --> 00:22:06,960 You know, I work as a team of two, 446 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:09,800 primarily with towns across the state, 447 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:11,420 and we get a lot of engagement 448 00:22:11,420 --> 00:22:14,740 in specific areas where our program's known. 449 00:22:14,740 --> 00:22:18,300 One of the places where we'll occasionally come 450 00:22:18,300 --> 00:22:19,780 down into your neck of the woods, 451 00:22:19,780 --> 00:22:22,620 but I think we're just not as well known in that area, 452 00:22:22,620 --> 00:22:25,280 and so always looking to meet people 453 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:26,630 from different parts of the states 454 00:22:26,630 --> 00:22:30,150 who are already hubs in their communities. 455 00:22:30,150 --> 00:22:31,800 - [Jesse] Yeah. 456 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:32,633 - It sounds like you've been doing 457 00:22:32,633 --> 00:22:34,403 some great work down there. 458 00:22:35,290 --> 00:22:38,153 You know, we're also very community engagement-focused. 459 00:22:40,620 --> 00:22:43,890 I got sort of sparked by excitement 460 00:22:43,890 --> 00:22:46,290 hearing about some of the stuff you're doing. 461 00:22:46,290 --> 00:22:48,910 - Is there an opportunity to have you present 462 00:22:48,910 --> 00:22:50,650 down in this neck of the woods? 463 00:22:50,650 --> 00:22:54,770 - Yeah. So sometimes what we do is, you know, 464 00:22:54,770 --> 00:22:56,390 we present on all kinds of things, 465 00:22:56,390 --> 00:23:00,003 you know, habitat connectivity, wildlife. 466 00:23:01,030 --> 00:23:03,360 You know, sometimes we'll do like a broad presentation 467 00:23:03,360 --> 00:23:06,280 and then if a community wants to work with us 468 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:09,050 in greater detail, you know, maybe we'll come back in 469 00:23:09,050 --> 00:23:11,580 and focus in on what their needs are. 470 00:23:11,580 --> 00:23:13,840 But just wanted to reach out and say hi 471 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:15,770 and introduce myself. 472 00:23:15,770 --> 00:23:17,410 - That's great. I recognize your name, Andy. 473 00:23:17,410 --> 00:23:19,880 And yeah, I'll be in touch. 474 00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:23,160 Like I said, I see new opportunities 475 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:25,790 for doing this kind of outreach and public engagement 476 00:23:25,790 --> 00:23:29,350 because we're reorganizing under this conservation plan. 477 00:23:29,350 --> 00:23:33,500 So I think relying on folks like you to engage the community 478 00:23:33,500 --> 00:23:35,670 and connecting your work to this neighborhood 479 00:23:35,670 --> 00:23:36,780 would be really great. 480 00:23:36,780 --> 00:23:37,700 - Yeah. Great. 481 00:23:37,700 --> 00:23:38,580 Well, thanks for your talk, 482 00:23:38,580 --> 00:23:40,920 and looking forward to catching up another time. 483 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:42,220 - [Jesse] Thanks, Andy. 484 00:23:42,220 --> 00:23:43,443 - Bye. - Bye.