State releases long-range plan for Camel’s Hump Management Unit
Dec. 2, 2021 | By Jason Nerenberg
MONTPELIER – The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources has completed the long-range management plan for the Camel’s Hump Management Unit, some 26,000 acres that include Camel’s Hump State Park, Camel’s Hump State Forest, and Robbins Mountain and Huntington Gap Wildlife Management Areas.
Long-range management plans include resource assessments, identifying broad management goals and strategies, and presenting management actions to achieve those goals. The top priorities of management for the Camel’s Hump unit are to protect and conserve the natural, cultural and scenic resources present, to provide a range of recreational opportunities, to continue to harvest forest products sustainably, and to maintain and enhance diverse wildlife habitats.
The plan authorizes a 15-year schedule of sustainable forest management on approximately 3,750 acres. Forest management in the unit will emulate natural disturbance patterns and will diversify forest structure to make the area more resilient to climate change. The plan also identifies an area approximately the size of Waitsfield (17,000 acres) that is unavailable for timber management due to terrain or legal constraints.
Included in the plan are proposals to enhance recreation, including new opportunities for cross-country skiing, mountain biking, and the management of backcountry skiing terrain, as well as enhanced parking facilities. The plan also designates areas that are off-limits to new recreation development, thereby underscoring the importance of remote experiences and areas without trails.
“This plan exemplifies our decades of experience managing public lands for many uses and values,” said Michael Snyder, commissioner of Vermont Forests, Parks, and Recreation. “I am proud of our team for their talents, work, and dedication to this process and their integration of ecology and people, and we are excited for Vermonters to see the results.”
A draft of the plan was released in late 2017 after which public meetings were held along with a 16-week public comment period. The plan includes a summary addressing the public comments.
View the plan and learn more about the Camel’s Hump Management Unit online here.
Jason Nerenberg is a stewardship forester with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation.