HARDWICK – Informational meetings Thursday, Feb. 19, provided an overview of the timeline, necessary steps and prospective costs to the taxpayer for those interested in the proposed Buffalo Mountain Town Forest. Frequently asked questions such as taxpayer cost were also addressed.
A potential contribution of $25,000 from the town of Hardwick will come to a floor vote at town meeting, March 3, at 10 a.m.
The property being considered for acquisition to expand the existing town forest on Buffalo
Mountain is a 329-acre forest property south of Vermont Route 15, containing the summit of the mountain.
Presenting at the meeting was Rachel Kane, co-chair of the Hardwick Conservation Commission (HCC), Joe Nudell of the HCC, Hannah Redmon of Trust for Public Land (TPL) and Paul Cillo, board member of Northern Rivers Land Trust (NRLT).
Kane began with some background on the project, before addressing the usual concerns like cost. A steering committee working with the select board would recommend how much funding to allocate for future maintenance. Applying for grants and donations is another option.
“The town of Hardwick has proposed a contribution of $25,000. This financial commitment from the town is something that’s quite important in the process, where it shows the grantors, the town, is really interested . . . The town will actually receive the $25,000 back to pay for the initial management costs. So that’s pretty good, even trade there,” she said.
For 329 acres of land, the temporary $25,000 price tag is a “pretty good deal,” according to Kane.
In closing, she said, “For me, Buffalo Mountain, I consider it the heart of our town. It’s the background of the village, and it’s the view that tells you you’re home.”
Hannah Redmon of the TPL also spoke to the benefits of town forests. The TPL is an organization dedicated to creating and preserving lands for public use, and nationally has protected around 4-million acres of land. In short, the TPL finds grant money to create these public lands which are then given to a town in perpetuity.
“Decisions about what’s going to happen in the town forest, how it’s going to be managed, that’s informed by community members,” said Redmon. She also cited ecological benefits before moving onto economics.
“A really big economic impact that we’ve been seeing is the outdoor recreation and the tourism from outdoor recreation, stimulating local economies. In Vermont, we’re number two in the country for how much outdoor recreation contributes to our GDP, just after Hawaii.”
Redmon continued, outlining the process which the TPL generally follows for public land acquisitions, emphasizing that the TPL only works with willing landowners and communities.
Redmon also outlined how the proposed conservation easement with Northern Rivers Land Trust would work. For a detailed description, visit hardwickvt.gov.
Joe Nudell provided a tour of Buffalo Mountain, with photographs, maps, as well as a detailed description of the mountaintop landscape and its ecological features. He also addressed the tax question, in regards to the property leaving the tax base.
“Right now, it would be $5,000 of municipal tax revenue, and so that would be absorbed by the rest of the property tax payers, and so that works out to a median of about three dollars on other people’s tax bills. Along those same lines there’s the question of shrinking the grand list, this property wouldn’t be developable . . . it’s not really a practical place for development anyway.”
Paul Cillo of NRLT also spoke, providing a budget overview as well as a potential timeline for the land acquisition, pending the town meeting vote. Cillo addressed the potential cost related to maintaining the property, and emphasized the matter would be up to the select board and steering committee.
Cillo also made sure to mention Wright Farm Road, a commonly used ATV trail that runs through part of the proposed forest, as well as another on the east side.
“Both of those trails, there’s no reason why those trails would not continue. In other words, being a town forest doesn’t make that impossible.”
Raymonda Parchment is a Hardwick Gazette reporter. She recently graduated from Vermont State University - Castleton with a Bachelor’s Degree in English. She is a strong supporter of freedom of speech, and the right to publish information, opinions, and ideas without censorship or restraint. She is a lifelong lover of the written word, and is excited to join the team as a staff member.
