Community Organizing

The landscape of Vermont and much of New England is highly fragmented, with individual private landowners owning the vast majority of the land in relatively small parcels. Because of this pattern of land ownership, effecting changing at this landscape level is highly challenging – practicing good management on one 100 acre parcel is good, but does not necessarily impact the management on the adjoining parcel. Redstart is pleased to be providing forest management services for more and more contiguous blocks of forestland as our client base grows, but we have also begun to tackle larger projects in an effort to effect positive change at the landscape level.

The Orange County Headwaters Project is a good example of this approach. Through this effort, Redstart has assisted a local association of landowners who wished to conserve their lands through the use of conservation easements in order to create large contiguous blocks of land for future generations.

Another effort which Redstart has recently begun exploring will involve a group of landowners whose lands are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. By pooling together the green-certified wood harvested from these parcels and coordinating closely with mills, wood brokers, and local furniture makers, Redstart hopes to bring green certified wood to the marketplace. For more information about this cooperative effort please click here.

 

 

 

In all community projects, the goal is to both educate and learn from residents and landowners about what is valuable in their natural environment so that we can work with them to protect what they have and enhance it's value over time.