– Photos of the proposed Monkton Town Forest land, taken in 2022 and 2023.
Below on this page:
- Latest Updates!
- About The Land
- Story of the Project
- Community Engagement
- More Information
- Meetings, Members, and Contact Info
Latest Updates! (as of October 23rd, 2024)
- The community is on-track to establish our Monkton Town Forest by December 2024!
- The needed funds, $1.116 million, have been raised!! Thank you to everyone involved for your support. Click here for more on the campaign or to contribute.
Community engagement is now underway to build the long-term Management Plan for the land together.
Through conversations with community members and survey responses so far, the Town Forest Committee has identified 5 topic areas for special focus group discussions. These will be held in the Community Room of the Monkton Town Hall (ZOOM also available, although it may be challenging logistically to coordinate groups in-person and on Zoom – we’ll do our best!). We can add follow-up discussions or additional topics after these, if needed. Focus Group Topic Meetings – mark your calendar!
- Sunday October 13th, 2024, 1pm-3pm: Animals (Dog walking & Horseback riding)
- Wednesday October 23rd, 2024, 7pm-9pm: Hunting & Trapping
- Wednesday October 30th, 2024, 7pm-9pm: Mechanized recreation (mountain/fat biking, snowmobiling, and races/fitness events).
- Sunday November 10th, 2024, 1pm-3pm: Extraction (Timber harvests, Maple sugaring, Foraging)
- Saturday November 16th, 2024, 1pm-3pm: Visual/Aesthetic (Art/sculpture, Interpretive trails, Signage)
- Wednesday December 4th, 2024 7pm-9pm: Hunting & Trapping (follow-up)
As we move through this process, our goal is that we can all listen to one another’s thoughts and work together as a community to create a vision for enjoying and stewarding this piece of land for current and future generations to come. Thank you! Questions: townforest@monktonvt.com
Please participate through November 20th in the Community Outreach Survey at tinyurl.com/TownForestSurvey to gather input from residents on how the Town Forest should be enjoyed, protected, and managed within the context of the Conservation Easement. Paper copies of the survey are also available from the Town Clerk. The surveys will be a key input as we create our community forest’s Management Plan together. The survey results (de-identified) will be shared at the special topic meetings and after the survey closes.
About The Land
Monkton has the opportunity and intention to purchase a 450-acre parcel of forestland from the A. Johnson Co. LLC, to establish a Monkton Town Forest!
The property has significant conservation values and opportunities for access to nature, outdoor recreation, sustainable forestry practices, protection of a large block of intact wildlife habitat, water quality protection, and outdoor education. It is also adjacent to the nearly 1,000 conserved acres of the Watershed Center in Bristol. The parcel has uncommon natural communities and species, multiple beaver ponds, wetlands, vernal pools, and headwater streams for the Pond Brook and Little Otter Creek watersheds. There are existing woods roads and a variety of topography (map of the property).
On May 8th, 2024, a group of seven field naturalist graduate students with UVM’s 2024 Landscape Inventory and Assessment class presented the results of their semester of work at the future Monkton Town Forest, providing the community with a wealth of information about the human history of the parcel alongside the wildlife and plants that inhabit it today. Their recommendations and guidance on where the land can best sustain human activities will be very helpful as the community creates a Management Plan for the Town Forest in the fall and winter of 2024 and into 2025.
The land will be conserved through the Vermont Land Trust. For more on what that means and what human uses are protected, permitted or restricted by the Conservation Easement see the Vermont Land Trust Conservation Easement Summary.
Story of the Project
The Monkton Town Forest Committee (MTFC) was formed on March 11, 2019 when the Monkton Selectboard voted to “create a 5-member Town Forest Committee to explore creating a Town Forest in Monkton”. This was a few days after a new 2020-2028 Town Plan was approved by the voters that renewed the recommendation to “Create a town forest that can serve education and recreation needs of residents”.
The committee has been working toward this goal since then, including researching the steps involved in establishing a town forest, seeking community input on what we would collectively value about a town forest, and engaging with the landowner of a suitable forest parcel to initiate conversation about a potential sale. The committee has enjoyed a strong working relationship with the Vermont Land Trust (VLT) throughout the project and has been able to leverage their extensive experience and leadership working with towns to establish town forests.
By February 2023 VLT and Town of Monkton had entered into an Option To Purchase 450 acres of forestland from the A. Johnson Co. LLC. VLT and Monkton quickly moved to apply for federal and state grants to cover the bulk of the $1.116 million project. In May 2023 a $371,000 grant from the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board was awarded. In July the federal Community Forest and Open Space Program awarded us $400,000. The A. Johnson Co. had already reduced the purchase price $100,000 below the appraised value, to support the project. Taken together these made up 78% of the project budget!
What about the last 23% of the funds needed? With the goal of reaching as many voters as possible, the Town Forest Committee worked with VLT on a mailing and postcard survey that was sent to registered voters in June 2023 and held a number of events to engage with residents. The question was whether the community supported the project and the spending of some Monkton ARPA and ANAC funds to make it happen. The survey had a very strong 25% response with many written comments and the following results to the main question asked:
Do you support the Town acquisition of 445 acres from the A. Johnson Co. to create a Monkton Town Forest using $150,000 of existing Monkton ARPA funds, up to $45,000 of existing Monkton Agricultural and Natural Area Funds, and other grants? YES NO Unsure/Need to know more.
SURVEY RESULTS: Yes: 341 (75.1%) No: 93 (20.5%) Unsure: 17 (3.7%) Blank: 3 (0.7%) Total: 454
The full report on the survey, including the hundreds of comments (de-identified), are included in the committee’s progress report from July 7th, 2023. The committee also heard in other ways (in-person, email, a petition, and online) from a total of 32% of the voters and with an overall 71% of them in favor.
On the strength of this 3-to-1 overall support for the project and use of funds the Select Board approved the use of ARPA and ANAC funds to make up an additional 17% of the project budget, without drawing any new funds from taxpayers.
Later in 2023 a group of volunteers began outreach to raise the last 5% ($50k) of the $1.116 million dollar project through small grants and individual contributions. This effort was very successful, with many contributions received from individuals through Spring 2024, along with the award of a $12,000 Davis grant!
By this past spring the committee was delighted to announce that thanks to generous community members, federal, state, foundation, town, and local grants, we had indeed raised the full $1.116 million to enable the Town to acquire and permanently protect the 450-acre forestland and wetlands of the future Monkton Town Forest!
If you would like to help further strengthen the management fund for the long-term VLT can still accept contributions on behalf of the project: https://vlt.org/community-campaigns/monkton/
From Summer 2024 until closing (expected in early December) the Town, VLT, and the A. Johnson Co. are working hard to complete remaining steps to close on the purchase. The committee is also engaging with the community to develop the long-term Management Plan for our community’s forest.
Community Engagement
Save the dates! See the list of special topic meetings above in Latest Updates to participate directly in developing the Management Plan. Our goal is that we can all listen to one another’s thoughts and work together as a community to create a vision for enjoying and stewarding this piece of land for current and future generations to come.
The Management Plan describes the land, its ecology, and the community’s priorities for it in the context of what uses are protected, permitted, or restricted by the Conservation Easement. It is the guiding document for how the land will change (or not) as it becomes a community forest and how the uses the community values can be integrated and balanced.
This process of understanding what the community values and prioritizes for our new shared public resource has begun with a Community Outreach Survey (available now through October 25th) and a well-attended Management Plan Workshop on September 19th. There will be additional meetings (noted at the top of the page) during the Fall on uses that are protected by the conservation easement, but may be limited in certain ways, like hunting and on uses that are up to the community to decide on, such as snowmobiles, horses, dogs, and mountain bikes. This process is your opportunity to help shape your community forest.
The community has been very engaged in the project to-date and we are hoping for that to continue this Fall! The Town Forest Committee organized many community engagement opportunities in 2023, including speaking at Town Meeting, several site walks at the future Town Forest land (with about 43 residents participating), three informational sessions at Town Hall/Zoom, four tabling events (Recycling Center, Strawberry Festival, Town Meeting), an article and a mention in the Addison Independent, signs/posters around Town, maintaining a website with Frequently Asked Questions and other information, a display at Town Hall, numerous Front Porch Forum and Facebook posts, and last but not least…a mailing and return postcard survey (described above) to gauge support for the project that got a very strong 25% response rate. The Committee also heard from residents in-person, via email, and online. In all 32% of voters made their voices heard!
Now that funding is in place the committee is focused on two things as we approach fall 2024: preparing for the planned December closing (purchase) and engaging with the community about the long-term Management Plan.
We will also continue to provide updates in our committee meetings, on Front Porch Forum and Facebook as appropriate, on this page, at Town Meeting, and in the Monkton Annual Report.
We encourage residents to share your thoughts, questions, concerns, and support at any time with the Town Forest Committee (townforest@monktonvt.com) and/or the Selectboard (selectboard@monktonvt.com).
More information:
Project Overview (from 2023 – contains dated info on closing date and the total acreage)
Map of the proposed Monkton Town Forest parcel
Frequently Asked Questions (updated August 21st, 2024)
Annual Report update (2023) from the Monkton Town Forest Committee
Vermont Land Trust Conservation Easement Summary (more info on what would be permitted/protected/restricted by the conservation easement)
Interim Management Plan – this plan and the Interim Plan Map take effect when the purchase is completed by the Town and governs management and use of the town forest until the long-term Management Plan is finished (Spring/Summer 2025). This is a placeholder while more community input is gathered and the full long-term Plan is developed.
Meetings, Members, and Contact Info
Town Forest Committee meetings are held at Town Hall and via Zoom/phone. The date/times and Zoom info will be posted on the calendar at the Monkton Town website and on the bulletin boards at Town Hall and the Post Office.
Meeting agendas and minutes can be found at these links.
Members of the Monkton Town Forest Committee:
- Callie Brynn (Chair)
- Jaime Schulte (Vice-Chair)
- John McNerney
- Peter Dufault
- Molly Parren
- CJ Buzzy
- Jessica Demeritt
The Town Forest Committee can be reached via email: townforest@monktonvt.com
– The proposed Monkton Town Forest in October 2022.