Please speak up regarding forest health and habitat diversity on the Green Mountain National Forest before March 13, 2023. Click HERE.
The Green Mountain National Forest is inviting public comments for the Telephone Gap Integrated Resource Project located on the Green Mountain National Forest, Rochester and Middlebury Ranger Districts, and we need your support. The 72,250-acre project area is within Rutland, Windsor and Addison Counties, Vermont and includes the towns of Brandon, Chittenden, Goshen, Killington, Mendon, Pittsfield, Pittsford and Stockbridge.
The Telephone Gap project includes various proposed forest and habitat management activities to achieve multiple resource goals, objectives and desired future conditions as provided by direction in the 2006 Green Mountain National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan. These include science-based silvicultural treatments on 11,801 acres located within designated suitable areas. Ruffed Grouse Society & American Woodcock Society supports science-based forest management and silvicultural activities like those incorporated into the Telephone Gap Integrated Resource Project proposal, and we’re asking you to consider submitting online comments to the Forest Service before March 13 through the online portal found HERE.
Here are some talking points:
As a bird hunter/birder/conservationist/outdoor enthusiast, I support Telephone Gap Integrated Resource Project and thank the Green Mountain National Forest for promoting healthy forests and diverse habitat conditions for birds and wildlife. The forest management recommendations proposed in the Telephone Gap Integrated Resource Plan are aligned and consistent with the forest-wide goals and objectives of the 2006 Green Mountain National Forest Plan. However, theTelephone Gap Integrated Resource Project Landscape Assessment document indicates serious gaps between the existing habitat and forest diversity conditions found within the Telephone Gap IRP area and the desired habitat objectives and targets established by the Forest Plan.
Vermont’s State Wildlife Action Plan on page 14 reports: “Wildlife is very important to the people of Vermont. This love of wildlife is more than anecdotal. The 2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife Associated Recreation conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service documented that 62 percent of Vermonters went fishing, hunting, or wildlife watching. Vermont ranked second, only two points behind Alaska in participation (U.S. Dept of Interior 2011). When it comes to wildlife watching, however, Vermont was first in the nation with an impressive 53 percent of residents enjoying this activity. This same survey estimates more than $704 million was spent on fish-and wildlife-based recreation in Vermont.”
Thank you for supporting healthy forests and abundant wildlife habitat. Please contact Northeast Forest Conservation Director Todd Waldron at ToddW@RuffedGrouseSociety.org if you have any questions. If you’re not currently a member of the Ruffed Grouse Society & American Woodcock Society, you can sign up at www.ruffedgrousesociety.org
