This month on Brave Little State, a question from listener Andrew Wild about Vermont鈥檚 most elderly woods.
Note: Our show is made for the ear! As always, we recommend listening, if you can.
is VPR鈥檚 people-powered journalism project, and every month we take on a question about Vermont that鈥檚 been and by you, our audience. Andrew Wild, of Burlington, is this month鈥檚 winner.
"Are there any patches of old growth forest in Vermont? And if so, how are they doing? How is their health, and how is the ecosystem in those places?"
Andrew is a science-teacher educator and an avid hiker 鈥� and yes, he has the perfect last name for this question.
鈥淚鈥檓 also wondering if there are social, political and environmental factors that led to those patches being preserved,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd just what the future might hold for those patches.鈥�
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The search begins
Our search for old growth begins in Killington, Vermont, near the intersection of Route 4 and Route 100. This is the home of .
It鈥檚 a warm, spring afternoon when Brave Little State arrives, and the park hasn鈥檛 opened for the season. So we park near the gate and walk into a little patch of woods across the road, sandwiched between Route 100 and Kent Pond. Our guide? Ecologist Bob Zaino, of the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife.
These woods look pretty unremarkable, like what you鈥檇 see off any trail (or road) in the Green Mountains. With one exception: Every couple hundred feet, there is a *really* big tree.
鈥淲e鈥檝e just walked a short distance into the woods 鈥� I mean, we haven鈥檛 even left sight of the road. But here we are standing next to one of these giant sugar maple trees,鈥� Zaino says.
Zaino has a special tape measure that shows not length, but diameter. He carefully wraps it around the giant maple: 鈥淟ook at that, exactly 40 inches.鈥�
For context, Zaino says, most trees in this region more like 6 to 15 inches in diameter. So this tree is no joke 鈥� and Zaino estimates that it could be more than 250 years old.
Gifford Woods State Park is one of the best-known patches of old growth in the state, even though it鈥檚 only about 20 acres spanning a busy state route. (Visitors who arrive at the main entrance, across the road, will find a trail through more old growth, with informational signs.)
On our tromp through these unmarked woods, we ask Bob Zaino if there鈥檚 a master list of other areas of old growth in the state. Surprisingly, there isn鈥檛.
鈥淚 know there鈥檚 some books that have tried to make those lists, but I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 any comprehensive list,鈥� Zaino says. 鈥淚 think most of the places that are old forest we may not even know about, because no one鈥檚 gone in there to count the tree rings and look for them.鈥�
We called up Michael Snyder, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation (key word: forests!), to see if his department keeps a list:
鈥淲ell, we, yes, and no, and more and more,鈥� Snyder said. 鈥淪ure, we know about the old forest at Gifford Woods State Park, and , for example, and a few others that we鈥檙e aware of. Less so on private land.鈥�
Snyder says 鈥渕ore and more鈥� because in some ways we鈥檙e still discovering what old growth is still here. (More on that later.)
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But then, what about federal land? What old growth do we know about in the Green Mountain National Forest? It is 400,000 acres, after all.
Jeff Tilley, a forester and silviculturist with the Green Mountain National Forest, says his colleagues have mapped and categorized about 737 acres of old growth, though most of it is in remote pockets scattered throughout the forest.
There is a more established area, referred to as , in Goshen and Chittenden 鈥� but it鈥檚 not set up for visitors.
鈥淚t鈥檚 public land. It鈥檚 open to the public,鈥� Tilley says. 鈥淏ut it is a sensitive area ... which is part of the reason that there鈥檚 not a lot of interpretive facilities or access there.
So the short answer to Andrew鈥檚 question is yes, there are patches of old growth in Vermont. But there鈥檚 no exhaustive, statewide list. So, over the course of our research, we compiled our own list. Let us know what we missed!
An Incomplete List of Vermont's Patches of Old Growth Forest, by Brave Little State
Some of these sites are better-suited to visitors than others. Please do your research before taking a field trip!
- Austin Brook Area, Bread Loaf Wilderness, Green Mountain National Forest
- , Button Bay State Park, Ferrisburgh*
- , Cambridge State Forest, Cambridge^
- , Camel's Hump State Park^
- , Green Mountain National Forest, Goshen/Chittenden
- , Arlington^
- , Killington
- , Granville Gulf Reservation, Granville^
- , Kingsland Bay State Park, Ferrisburgh*
- , Lake Carmi State Park, Franklin^
- , Groton State Forest, Marshfield^
- Mt. Equinox, Taconic Range, Manchester
- Mt. Mansfield & Bingham Falls, Mt. Mansfield State Forest*
- , Quechee State Park, Quechee*
- Roy Mountain Wildlife Area, Barnet^
- , Brighton State Park, Island Pond*
- , J. Maynard Miller Municipal Forest, Vernon*
- , Charlotte (The Nature Conservancy)*
- , Addison (The Nature Conservancy)*
*Source: The Sierra Club Guide to the Ancient Forests of the Northeast, by Bruce Kershner & Robert T. Leverett
^Source: Hands On the Land: A History of the Vermont Landscape, by Jan Albers
Disclaimer: There may be disagreement about whether some of these areas are technically "old forest." Why? Keep reading!
Now, to be clear, we鈥檙e not talking about a ton of acreage.
鈥淚n general, we have less than half a percent of the old growth that we once had remaining east of the Mississippi,鈥� says Bill Keeton, a professor of forest ecology and forestry at the University of Vermont. 鈥淪o, nowhere in the eastern United States is there more than 1% that鈥檚 in old growth.鈥�
Related:
Keeton, who recently co-edited , estimates that in sum, there are about 1,000 acres of old growth across the entire state.
鈥淗owever, New York has somewhere between 200,000 and 400,000 acres, mostly in the Adirondack [Park],鈥� Keeton says, 鈥渁lthough interestingly it鈥檚 never been accurately mapped.鈥�
Surprising things
Walking around Gifford Woods with ecologist Bob Zaino, we learn some surprising things about old growth.
#1: It doesn鈥檛 look the way you might think.
鈥淩ight, so there鈥檚 that classic image of the thick, dark, woods with big trees and nothing else,鈥� Zaino says. 鈥淎nd what really starts happening in old forests is that you get those big trees, but they鈥檙e constantly dying. They鈥檙e falling over, their tops are breaking off. And so there鈥檚 actually, in places, a fair bit of light coming into the canopy.鈥�
This is not some mythical Avatar forest 鈥� it鈥檚 not even a dramatic redwood forest, like what you鈥檇 find in California.
鈥淪o an old forest has big trees, but it also has young trees and middle-aged trees,鈥� Zaino says.
This is Surprising Thing #2: It鈥檚 not just about the big, old trees. In fact, Bob Zaino puts just as much emphasis on trees that are dead and decomposing. You鈥檒l notice he doesn鈥檛 even say 鈥渙ld growth forest鈥� 鈥� he just says 鈥渙ld forest.鈥�
鈥淲e can see standing here these, you know, one, two, three, four different downed logs that are in different stages of decay,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a real characteristic of old forests.鈥�
A tree that dies of old age or falls down in a windstorm turns into new habitat for animals and insects, and it can nurture new saplings. Zaino gets very excited about trees that have tipped over and exposed their giant root systems. These are called 鈥渢ip-up mounds,鈥� and they are a defining feature of old growth.
鈥淪o we can see here that on that tip-up, where that soil鈥檚 exposed, there鈥檚 new tree seedlings growing on it,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey get way up in the air so they already have that 10- or 12-foot advantage of light.鈥�
But tip-up mounds are just one beneficial feature of old growth. Left to their own devices, ecologists say forests can do a better job and storing carbon.
This brings us to Surprising Thing #3: For all its unique characteristics and functions, there isn鈥檛 actually a clear-cut definition of 鈥渙ld growth鈥� or 鈥渙ld forest.鈥� (And yes, that is a logging pun, in poor taste.)
鈥淭he threshold age kind of varies by species,鈥� says Michael Snyder, with the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.
Commissioner Snyder and others say the general starting point is an age of 150 years or more. Then there are other factors:
鈥淚t鈥檚 age, and what we call complex structure, which is the spatial arrangement and sizes of the trees in a forest,鈥� Snyder explains. 鈥淎nd then the third main component is minimal evidence of human disturbance.鈥�
Complexity is key. And minimal evidence of human disturbance. Not none.
鈥淪o, not many stumps or tap holes in trees,鈥� Snyder offers.
Bob Zaino says even the Gifford Woods may not have escaped the human hand.
鈥淵ou know, I look around this place here, and there鈥檚 an abundance of sugar maple. And I can鈥檛 help but think about, has someone done some maple sugaring in here? Have they cut a few sticks of firewood? Depending on how you look at it, that may or may not be old growth forest anymore,鈥� Zaino says. 鈥淏ut this is an old forest. And it鈥檚 a forest where nature is primarily driving what happens here.鈥�
You can see 鈥渙ld growth鈥� can become open to interpretation 鈥� and that鈥檚 probably why cataloging all of Vermont鈥檚 areas has been so tricky.
'They just hacked them down'
There鈥檚 a reason there鈥檚 so little old growth left on the Vermont landscape. You might be familiar with this history; if you鈥檙e not, here鈥檚 quick recap.
It鈥檚 a story that starts about 250 years ago. As settlers moved into Vermont in the late 1700s, they came pretty much for one reason: to farm. (And yes, at one point that .) From the get-go, farming meant cutting down a lot of trees.
鈥淚 mean, they just went to town with their axes!鈥� says Jan Albers, the author of Hands on the Land: A History of the Vermont Landscape. 鈥淚 mean, it鈥檚 kind of staggering to think of just the human labor involved 鈥� They used to girdle them ... or they just hacked them down.鈥�
This was an era of dramatic deforestation 鈥� a remarkable time when farmers cleared trees all the way up into the Green Mountains.
鈥淎nd they were clearing up, up, up,鈥� Albers explains, 鈥渟o that by the later 19th century, Vermont was 75% to 80% clear-cut.鈥�
Which of course is why there is so little old growth in Vermont鈥檚 forests today. But Albers reminds us that forests are dynamic 鈥� and even before humans, they were in a constant state of flux.
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鈥淭here were these climatic changes,鈥� Albers says. 鈥淭here are blow downs; there are forest fires; you know, different trees will start outcompeting other trees; animals can have an impact.鈥�
Then there鈥檚 the beginning of human influence. Albers says people tend to think that Native Americans had hardly any impact on Vermont鈥檚 forests 鈥� but they did.
鈥淭hey were cutting trees, they were making fires, they were making birch bark canoes,鈥� Albers says. 鈥淎nd then in the period before Europeans came, they were farming.鈥�
But Native Americans鈥� impact was nothing compared to what the settlers did. By the late 1800s, they鈥檇 cleared three-quarters of Vermont鈥檚 land.
鈥淎nd this makes the opposite of the landscape we have today,鈥� Albers points out, 鈥渨hich is 75 to 80% forested.鈥�
That brings us back to something our question-asker, Andrew, wondered about: How did the trees that were left standing manage to escape the axe?
鈥淚 would say it was an accident of history,鈥� Albers says. 鈥淎 very felicitous and happy accident.鈥�
The larger conservation movement of the 20th century certainly helped all Vermont鈥檚 forests, but Albers guesses that any patches of old growth that survived did so by luck.
鈥淚t's kind of an amazing thing that these little pockets have just escaped,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t probably has more to do with land patterns than anything, you know, somebody has a farm and they never got that back 40 completely cut down 鈥� they had their hands full with the front 40. [Or] maybe that was just some farmer鈥檚 favorite hunting spot 鈥� You know, 鈥楲et鈥檚 just keep that woods because that鈥檚 where I always see the deer.鈥� So that would be my guess.鈥�
A process of discovery
Let鈥檚 return to something that Bob Zaino said earlier: 鈥淚 think most of the places that are old forest we may not even know about, because no one鈥檚 gone in there to count the tree rings and look for them.鈥�
Even though the overall percentage of old growth is super low here, there are still pockets that haven鈥檛 been identified yet. This adds an element of mystery, and ongoing discovery.
Dan Wells was a graduate student at the University of Vermont in 2005 when he identified an area of old growth that people hadn鈥檛 known about.
鈥淪o I walk in and I go, 鈥極h wow, this is either old growth or it鈥檚 something very close to it,鈥欌€� he recalls of entering the area on the border between Warren and Granville, right along the Austin Brook. He鈥檇 found it by looking at an old Forest Service map that showed cut dates from logging.
鈥淎nd this little spot had an estimate that said 鈥�1820???鈥� And there were two things that intrigued me,鈥� Dan says. 鈥淥ne was that I rarely see them use multiple question-marks ... And then the second thing was 1820, even if it had been cleared in 1820, is extremely old.鈥�
Brave Little State is powered by your curiosity 鈥� and your financial support. If you value the spirit of exploration, . Thanks!
It was clearly a special experience for Dan.
鈥淚t had enormously mature 鈥� there鈥檚 some very large sugar maple in there, there鈥檚 some very large eastern hemlock, there鈥檚 the largest white ash I鈥檝e ever seen is in there,鈥� he says excitedly.
There鈥檚 more structured discovery happening, too, , which taxes farms and forestland for their 鈥渦se value鈥� rather than their fair market value. Back in 2008, the program added six categories of 鈥渆cologically significant鈥� areas.
鈥淎nd one of those categories was what we call old forest,鈥� says Forest Commissioner Michael Snyder. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 great, and some landowners have chosen to enroll their pieces.鈥�
Thanks to this program, Snyder says his department has started to learn about hitherto unknown fragments of old growth all over the state, from a couple acres in size to a couple hundred acres.
鈥淲e continue to stumble on, in some ways almost literally stumble into areas and say, 鈥楬ey, what鈥檚 going on here?鈥� Because as I like to say, you can feel the difference in a truly old forest,鈥� Snyder says.
Surprising stands
And then there are places of old growth sitting in plain sight.
On another spring afternoon (this time a very wet and muddy one), ecologist Bob Zaino shows Brave Little State a patch of old growth in the the natural area of Kingsland Bay State Park, in Ferrisburgh.
Down a short wooded path toward Lake Champlain, Zaino leads us out to a small cove that looks across to New York. There are rocky cliffs on each side of the cove, jutting out into the water.
Zaino points out a stand of northern white cedars that appear to be clinging to the edge of the cliff. They don鈥檛 look that special 鈥� they certainly don鈥檛 look that old. But looks are deceiving.
鈥淭hey have a harsh life out on the cliffs, and they're not going to grow big and tall and straight. They're stunted and twisted; their branches are broken off,鈥� Zaino says, 鈥渂ut these could easily be 200-, 250-year-old trees. Right here.鈥�
So we are looking at really old trees, right out in the open on the lake. Zaino says one reason for the longevity of the northern white cedar is that it loves the calcium-rich rock that鈥檚 here.
鈥淚t鈥檚 common here in Vermont, but uncommon elsewhere, so we have this unique setting compared to our neighboring states,鈥� Zaino says.
And this 鈥渦nique setting鈥� brings up another important point about old forests: They鈥檙e not all the same.
鈥淭his is quite a contrast to Gifford Woods where we were looking at a northern hardwood forest of beech, birch and maple,鈥� Zaino says.
And that means some of the species that live here are different, too 鈥� such as peregrine falcons nesting on the cliffs. Zaino says the diversity and complexity of well-established systems in old forests like this one make them more resilient to threats like invasive species. But that doesn鈥檛 make them immune.
鈥淛ust like Gifford Woods, the threats that these places face are the same threats that all of our natural areas, all of our forests face: It's things like invasive species, it's fragmentation and development,鈥� Zaino says.
And what especially worries Zaino is climate change:
鈥淚 think that climate change is a big threat to places like this, particularly when we think about changes in precipitation and temperature,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hese places are going to change and we're not going to be able to keep them what they are now. So what鈥檚 going to happen here? I think it鈥檚 a big question, and it鈥檚 what worries me.鈥�
The future of old forests
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to diminish the significance of those remaining fragments,鈥� says Bill Keeton, the UVM professor we met earlier. 鈥淭hose are important, and we need to conserve them, but from my standpoint I鈥檓 more interested in the prospects for the future.鈥�
With all due respect to our question-asker Andrew, Keeton says we should be asking a different question about old growth:
鈥淚 would ask: What is the future of old growth on the New England landscape, and in Vermont? And does it have a future? Are there places where we might try to restore and promote old growth forest?鈥�
Keeton takes Brave Little State on a tour of the UVM Jericho Research Forest. He鈥檚 been working on an experiment here for almost 20 years. And when he started out, the forest was, like, an adolescent forest.
鈥淵our very typical kind of young to mature secondary northern hardwood hemlock forest,鈥� Keeton recalls.
Most of the trees were 60 to 80 years old 鈥� 鈥渏ust very homogeneous,鈥� he says. And Keeton was wondering: Is it possible to help the forest age?
鈥淗ow do we take a structurally simple forest like this, that鈥檚 in this kind of mid-stage of development, and how do we push it along, faster, towards that more complex later stage of development?鈥� he asked.
You can鈥檛 speed up time, but can you help the woods develop some of the beneficial characteristics of old growth? It turns out the answer to that question is yes.
鈥淪o I鈥檓 about to show you this experiment where we鈥檙e testing something called Structural Complexity Enhancement鈥︹€� Keeton says, leading the way through the woods to a series of plots where he鈥檚 been testing methods to help promote the conditions of old growth.
鈥淪o, right here you鈥檝e crossed a boundary line 鈥� into what we鈥檝e created here, and I hope you鈥檒l notice the differences as we walk in,鈥� Keeton says.
There are more downed trees than elsewhere in the forest.
鈥淭hanks for noticing! And I鈥檓 particularly proud of this right here, this tip-up mound, as we call them, which we鈥檝e created all throughout here,鈥� Keeton says, gesturing to an uplifted root system.
Instead of waiting for the wind to blow this tree over, Keeton used a skidder to pull it down and tip up its root mass. And just like the tip-up mounds in Gifford Woods, this one is now sprouting little yellow birch and hemlock.
鈥淲hich is just incredibly gratifying to me to see how well this has worked,鈥� he says.
There are other downed trees in the area, and also standing dead trees. This is all Keeton鈥檚 handiwork. And frankly, it looks pretty messy.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 exactly what we鈥檙e going for!鈥� Keeton says. 鈥淭he minute you cross the boundary, it becomes messier. You see the downed wood, you see the big dead trees that we鈥檝e created there and there, you see the gap in the canopy, you see the tip-up mound, you see the multi-layered canopy with trees of all sizes and ages in different positions in the canopy.
鈥淭o some people that looks messy, it looks cluttered. And they don鈥檛 like that, it doesn鈥檛 fit the ideal that some people have of a forest. And yet that鈥檚 precisely what we鈥檙e going for here, because those are the characteristics of an old forest.鈥�
Keeton has been testing these methods for 16 years, but he鈥檚 run some models to figure out that he鈥檚 helped this plot 鈥渁ge鈥� 鈥� which is to say, develop characteristics associated with old growth 鈥� about twice as quickly as it would on its own. It鈥檚 also , a.k.a. logging. And Keeton firmly believes that anyone who owns forestland can promote old growth conditions, whether you鈥檙e logging or just tending to the woods behind your house.
鈥淟eave some of those brush piles on the ground. Leave the woody debris, leave the slash,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hink of all that stuff as habitat. Think of it as carbon, think of it as services that that forest has provided. We have to move away from this ideal of the clean forest. 鈥� That might be aesthetically pleasing, like a park, but it鈥檚 not nearly as good for a lot of wildlife and other things.鈥�
We learned earlier that Vermont鈥檚 old forests are facing the same threats as the rest of our woods. Keeton is particularly concerned about invasive species, and he says they may ultimately what Vermont鈥檚 old growth looks like.
鈥淗emlock woolly adelgid, Asian longhorn beetle, , beech bark disease 鈥� which of course has already decimated the large beech 鈥� all of these things are going to interact with climate change and they鈥檙e going to stress this ecosystem,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd so how all of that鈥檚 going to play out into the future is still uncertain, but I鈥檓 convinced that there is a role for old growth on the landscape in the future.鈥�
He鈥檚 convinced, Keeton says, because when it comes to climate change, forests with old growth conditions may be more resilient:
鈥淭he recent research has shown that old growth is highly resistant to climate, or at least more so than other kinds of forest.鈥�
Andrew's reaction
鈥淗mm. That鈥檚 really interesting, the idea that you can create characteristics in the ecosystem of the old growth forest. That鈥檚 really interesting.鈥�
We looped back to our question-asker Andrew to share our answers to his question. He was surprised.
鈥淚 was particularly surprised about how certain places became preserved, like this aspect of some of them being overlooked,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 also really interested and somewhat surprised by what they would just look like. It鈥檚 challenging some of my conceptions of what those those places are actually like.鈥�
And Andrew says that now that he鈥檚 learned a little, he wants to learn more:
鈥淎nd now I want to go to Gifford Woods and see what that鈥檚 like, and potentially some other places.鈥�
Update 5:31 p.m. 6/14/19 Our incomplete list of old growth areas has been updated to include a contribution from Bennington County Forester Kyle Mason. "There鈥檚 one you missed on [Mt.] Equinox," Kyle writes. "If you are at the top and you walk down the hiking trail, you start in a Spruce stand. As soon as those trees turn into hardwoods, you are in the old forest."
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Editing this month by Mark Davis. Our theme music is by Ty Gibbons; other music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions. Engineering support from Chris Albertine; digital support from Meg Malone.
