By Christine McGowan, Forest Program Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund Forest and recreation industries align on East Burke’s Kingdom Trails Sawmills were East Burke’s first industry, bringing brave and adventurous souls to the northern reaches of Vermont to work, establish farms and, eventually, build the local school,...
By Christine McGowan, Forest Program Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund Luke Persons and Roger Pion wanted to start a business, preferably one that kept them connected to the forested working landscape in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. With backgrounds in logging, excavating and trucking, the friends had heard...
Neither Jared Williams nor Catherine Emil planned to stay in Vermont after graduation, but “felt it was impossible to leave...
By Christine McGowan, Forest Program Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund Skiing backcountry terrain in Vermont is hardly a new idea. Originally a mode of transportation for Vermonters stranded by unpassable, snow-covered roads, skiing in the woods dates back to the early 1900s when visitors from Norway...
By Christine McGowan, Forest Program Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund Meet Danielle Fitzko, the state’s new Director of Forests and the first woman to hold the position. Danielle, or Danny to her friends and colleagues, spent the last 15 years growing the Urban and Community Forestry Program,...
David Russell walks through 365 days on a Vermont choose-and-cut Christmas tree farm By Christine McGowan, Forest Program Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund Most of us think about a Christmas tree for a few weeks in December, but David Russell, owner of Russell Christmas Tree Farm in...
By Christine McGowan, Forest Program Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund Vermonters have a long history of heating with wood, and most of us know there is nothing like the warmth of a well-stoked wood stove on a cold winter night. It is only in recent years,...
By Christine McGowan, forest program director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund Like many trade occupations, woodworking was traditionally passed along from mentor to apprentice, one generation to the next. Young adults might have been introduced to the fundamentals of woodworking in high school shop class, producing the...
By Christine McGowan, Forest Program Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund People in the forest products industry find their way to wood in different ways. For some, it’s a part of their family DNA. For others, it’s a passion. For Lucas Jenson, owner of The Tree House...
By Christine McGowan In the hip city of Burlington, Creston Lea builds one of a kind electric guitars, while in southern Vermont, Douglas Cox turns out violins for classical musicians around the world. Creston Lea and Douglas Cox live about as far apart as two Vermonters can...
By Christine McGowan As development creeps into our rural landscapes and woodlot ownership changes hands, our forests face an uncertain future. Vermonters value working landscapes, but do they value the work it takes to keep these landscapes intact? Not unlike other Vermont business sectors, our forest...
By Christine McGowan, Forest Program Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund From urban forests to thousand-acre parcels, Vermonters own 80% of the state’s forested land. Vermont’s forests are one of our greatest natural resources, contributing to the economy through industry and recreation to the tune of $3.4 billion,...
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