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Old growth forests can be loosely defined as forested ecosystems which have developed somewhat independently over a long time, usually at least several centuries.
In addition to being beautiful demonstrations of how forests naturally grow and develop, old growth forests are incredibly valuable for our landscape. they are diverse and resilient, feature amazing habitat opportunities for wildlife, provide clean air and clean water and store more carbon that the relatively young forests that dominate Vermont's landscape today. Vermont contains very little old growth forest today, although ecologists have placed an ideal target of at least 6.7% of Vermont's landscape (9% of our forests) to be maintained as "old forest".
This coming Friday, June 26th, join Sue Morse, founder and science director of Keeping Track, and Ethan Tapper, the Chittenden County Forester, for a free, livesteamed discussion of old growth forests. Sue will discuss the role of permanently conserved wildlands and their contribution to wildlife habitat.
In addition to allowing forests to grow and develop into old growth on their own, new research has highlighted opportunities to manage forests actively to become more like old growth forests sooner than they would naturally. Combined with an ecological forestry approach, this presents an opportunity to manage forests while increasing biodiversity, resiliency and overall health. Ethan will discuss opportunities for employing this approach across Vermont's landscape.
This event will begin with brief presentations but reserve most of the hour for Question and Answer. Please come with your questions about old growth, wildlife, forests and foresty for Sue and Ethan!
Registration must be done in advance for this meeting. To register, click on the link below. After registering you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.