NORTH POWNAL — Pownal has expanded its town forest area and secured a new legal access to the landlocked community resource, replacing a woods road near the Hoosic River that washed out during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.
In a news release, the Vermont Land Trust announced that the Strobridge Recreation Area has grown by nearly 300 acres to more than 1,000 acres and that a trail easement from Dean Road has been secured.
The Land Trust, which is working with the town to preserve the forestland, said that Pownal, with help from grant funding, purchased 296 acres in the Halifax Hollow area along the Taconic Ridge, bordering New York state.
The acquisition was said to fill out the original 735-acre, jigsaw-piece shaped town forest.
The Land Trust had also worked with Pownal in 2002 to purchase and preserve the original forest section, which had been owned by the former Pownal Tanning Co.
The factory — dating to the 19th century as a textile mill on the Hoosic River — had acquired land along the eastern slope of the Taconic mountain ridge over the years. That was in part to protect a company-owned reservoir that once supplied water to the mill — since razed — and to homes in North Pownal village.
According to the Vermont Land Trust news release, “The resulting 1,000-acre recreation area boasts an intact network of logging roads, well-managed timber, nearly two miles of an important tributary to the Hoosic River and uncommon ecological features.”
COLLABORATION
“Finding a way to unlock access to the Strobridge Recreation Area has felt, at times, like an insurmountable challenge,” said town Recreation Committee Chairwoman Jennifer Boucher. “We are overflowing with excitement at the possibilities that this land acquisition presents. Not only will Pownal residents finally be able to take advantage of numerous outstanding recreational opportunities, but this land will now be conserved for future generations and enjoyed by all. We are appreciative of our partnership with the Vermont Land Trust and their efforts in making this dream finally a reality.”
“Over time,” said Pownal Select Board Chairman Michael Gardner, “this acquisition has the potential of having an economic impact on the entire town in a positive way, and we look forward to partnering with some outside groups and agencies to make this a potential destination point in Southern Vermont.”
Donald Campbell, regional project director with the Land Trust, said, “It’s gratifying to see this Pownal dream become a reality. This is an amazing outcome, thanks to the town’s hard work and long-term vision. The community will finally have good access to an expanded, 1,000-plus acre town forest that will boost biodiversity, wildlife habitat and flood resilience in the Taconic mountains.”
According to the Vermont Land Trust, the project was a collaboration involving the town, the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, Vermont Outdoor Recreation Collaborative and the Land Trust.
“It was enthusiastically supported by many town officials,” the Land Trust stated, singling out Gardner, Boucher and town executive assistant Tara Parks.
The project was funded by the town, the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative and “generous anonymous donations,” according to the Land Trust.
“VHCB is proud to support this remarkable conservation effort,” said Gus Seelig, the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board’s executive director. “Our board thanks and congratulates the Vermont Land Trust and the Town of Pownal for their collaboration in protecting this land that, together with the adjoining 735 acres they conserved in 2002, will provide enormous benefits to the community and the ecological vitality of the land.”
In January, the Housing and Conservation Board awarded the town a $265,000 grant to purchase and conserve the newly acquired forestland.
With a $295,000 conservation grant in 2002, the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board also helped the town acquire the original forestland parcels owned by the tannery, which went out of business in the 1980s.
MANAGEMENT PLANS
In the near future, the Land Trust said, “the town plans to acquire an adjacent four-acre parcel to provide a parking area with a kiosk, and a multi-purpose woods road to the town-owned forest. Once purchased, this will replace the trail easement.”
Secure legal access will unlock the land’s recreational opportunities, the Land Trust said, including hiking, birding, mountain biking and snow-shoeing.
The town is expected to invite public input while developing a management plan for the expanded recreation area over the next year. Possibilities include new trails, a gazebo for educational use and rustic shelters for recreation.
The town anticipates that the access route purchase and improvements will be funded by a $375,000 grant received in 2022 through the state’s Vermont Outdoor Recreation Collaborative Community Grant Program.
According to Jackie Dagger, the Vermont Outdoor Recreation Collaborative program manager, “The VOREC Community Grant Program is thrilled to be part of helping the Town of Pownal restore access to this town-owned forest. Recreational spaces like this are important because they offer opportunities for people to connect both with each other and the natural environment around them.”
The town forest land abuts New York’s 3,000-plus acre Taconic Ridge State Forest, which is home to the 37-mile Taconic Crest hiking trail along the New York, Vermont and Massachusetts border.
The expanded Strobridge Area will make possible legal access in Vermont to the trail, now accessible in the other two states.
The purchase also “brings the total number of conserved acres in Pownal to nearly 1,700, which includes three farms protected by VLT, and two natural area projects protected by The Nature Conservancy,” Seelig said.
Since the 1970s, the Land Trust has protected more than 620,000 acres of land and works to foster lifelong connections to farms and forests and community spaces in Vermont.