Vermont Land Trust - Champion Lands Project

Champion Lands Project

Growing Back

Planning and Regeneration on the Former Champion Lands

This article appeared in VLT's 1999-2000 annual report

Now that Vermont's largest-ever conservation project is complete, what happens next on the former Champion lands?

In August 1999 the complex, multifaceted Champion Lands Project officially conserved 132,803 forested acres in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, with federal, state, and private entities dividing ownership of the lands that had been the property of the paper company Champion International, Inc. Much of the land has important ecological value – especially some 26,000 acres that have become part of the Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge and about 22,000 acres that are now in state hands.

Yet most of the Champion lands were harvested heavily prior to their sale by Champion – so much so that a great deal of the 84,000 acres now controlled by the Essex Timber Company of Ipswich, Mass., a group of private investors committed to sustainable forestry, will not produce a commercial harvest that exceeds carrying costs for a number of years. This land will, like the public acreage, remain open for the traditional public uses – hunting, fishing, snowmachining, and other recreation – on which much of the region's economy and way of life depend.

"That's in the easement," says Wilhelm Merck, who heads Essex Timber Company, of the guaranteed public access. In fact, he says, "that was really the principal intent of the easement, to formalize that relationship with the community."

What happens now in the former Champion properties centers on a two-year public planning process that will help develop management plans for the state- and federally-owned land, along with a long-term public access plan for the private holdings. A six-member steering committee comprised of representatives of the owners and easement co-holders meets monthly to oversee the planning process.

"One parcel is now three, with three different owners and three easement co-holders," says Carl Powden, forest projects director for Vermont Land Trust. "There will be differences from one owner to the next. At the same time, there's a commitment from everybody to try to coordinate what they're doing." Represented on the steering committee are Vermont's Agency of Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, Essex Timber Co., The Nature Conservancy, and VLT. The Champion lands were the largest single landholding in Vermont. The project conserved one-third of Essex County for public enjoyment, habitat protection, and sustainably managed timberland.

Advising on management of the state-owned lands (now called the West Mountain Wildlife Management Area) is the Champion Lands Advisory Council, which brings together people from the logging industry, private business, recreational communities, camp leaseholders, municipal governments, federal and state government, conservation interests, and Essex Timber.

This summer's first phase of the planning process was an ecological assessment. The intensive study mapped all the federal- and state-owned lands, looking at small mammals and birds, both day and night species; most plants, including rare and endangered species; and amphibians and certain insects, including dragonflies and butterflies.

"We designed a process which we hope has two functions," says John Roe, director of conservation programs for the Vermont chapter of The Nature Conservancy. "First, doing an assessment of what's there. And second, creating a methodology and data that are good enough to provide the baseline for future inventories to look at long-term trends."

With that assessment in hand, said VLT's Powden, "if there's a conversation about the location of a trail, or an area appropriate for establishing an ecological reserve, we have some data to support those decisions." To help make those decisions, the public planning process has begun a series of public meetings in the area.

The private investors of Essex Timber Company became involved in their ownership knowing the woodlands would need years of regrowth to become profitable again, says Wilhelm Merck. "You have to think long-term," he says.

That kind of thinking is what can make all the difference. According to VLT President Darby Bradley, “Our interest is not only to protect these working lands and make sure they’re being managed in a sustainable manner, but also to encourage investment by people who will see the importance of that land to the local economy and will have a long-term connection with the community.”

For residents of Essex County and the many people who travel there to enjoy these lands, the former Champion acres mean even more. They are a resource to enjoy and to watch as the land, woods, and wildlife regenerate.

In a few words, the largest conservation project Vermont will ever see is out there, growing back.