State program honors Lotspeich as Waterbury’s tree champion
May 3, 2023 | By Waterbury Roundabout 
Former Waterbury Director of Planning and Zoning and Tree Warden, Steve Lotspeich. Courtesy photo
The Vermont Urban and Community Forestry Program is honoring Waterbury’s longtime community planner Steve Lotspeich for his years of dedication to protecting and preserving the community's forests and trees including his work with the town Tree Committee.
The annual Vermont Arbor Day Conference will be held May 19 in Randolph where Lotspeich is among several individuals who will be recognized with special awards. Lotspeich retired at the end of March after 30 years as Waterbury’s town planner. Among his roles were the position of tree warden and a leadership role on the town Tree Committee as either chair or co-chair over the years.
Lotspeich is this year’s recipient of the Hamilton Award which goes to “a tree warden who has significantly advanced the goals of urban and community forestry through sustainable forestry practices, effective conservation planning, increased citizen engagement and public education,” according to the award announcement. The Hamilton Award was created in 2017 in honor of former Charlotte Tree Warden Larry Hamilton who died in 2016. The award and Hamilton’s service were detailed by The Charlotte News where Hamilton wrote a regular Tree Warden column as well.
Waterbury’s Tree Committee under Lotspeich’s leadership has done a number of projects recently including a roadside ash tree inventory. It has secured grants to create an emerald ash borer management plan, removed unhealthy ash trees within the public rights of way, and planted trees in public spaces around town. It also is drafting a town tree care ordinance/shade tree preservation plan.
Emerald ash borer beetles are a top threat to forests today. The half-inch shiny green insect lays eggs under the bark of ash trees where larvae hatch and feed and ultimately destroy the tree. Tens of millions of trees across approximately 30 states have been lost to the insect’s damage. In Vermont, emerald ash borer was first detected in 2018 and it has since spread to most counties, according to the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets. State and local officials as well as volunteer town committees and organizations are working to slow its spread.
Also at the annual conference, the state group will bestow its annual Vermont Arbor Day Award posthumously to Gary Salmon of Shrewsbury, who passed away in January. For 36 years, Salmon was a forester with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation, serving as district state lands forester and urban and community forester, among other roles. Salmon was the Shrewsbury tree warden and organized volunteers to inventory ash trees to plan for the emerald ash borer. He was a champion of the Vermont Big Tree list and measured many species that remain on the list today.
The forestry program award announcement says that Salmon will be remembered as the “Shrewsbury Lorax” and “Vermont's Arbor Day Hero” for his love and appreciation of trees. He led the state's Arbor Day celebration for many years, including creating educational programming for schools and organizing efforts to obtain seedlings for distribution to students.
Other award recipients this year are:
Peter Hausermann of Richmond for the Leader Award, recognizing his 30 years as the groundskeeper at the Wake Robin retirement community in Shelburne where he oversaw the 136-acre property with wildlife and forest health being a top priority. This year, he and the center’s consulting forester are working with Audubon Vermont to develop habitat for the golden-winged warbler, a songbird in sharp decline.
Little Tree of West Hartford for the Unsung Hero Award for 12 years spent looking out for forest health in the community, particularly protecting trees from invasive insect pests. In his efforts with the Hartford Tree Board to prepare for the arrival of the emerald ash borer, he led a detailed ash-tree inventory and monitored the purple trap that captured the first confirmed emerald ash borer in Windsor County. In the past year, he also staffed several educational events including the Vermont Flower Show in Essex Junction and Insect Day at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science in Quechee.
The Old Stone House Museum and Historic Village in Brownington’s Buildings and Grounds Committee will receive the Volunteer Group Award. Under the leadership of Chair Jane Greenwood, the committee has worked to ensure the longevity of the tree stock on the 60-acre property. Run by the Orleans County Historical Society in Brownington, the museum celebrates Alexander Twilight, the nation’s first African American college graduate. A minister and principal of the Orleans County Grammar School, Twilight oversaw the construction of the Old Stone House initially used as a dormitory in the first half of the 19th century.
The Vermont Urban and Community Forestry program also coordinates national awards from the Arbor Day Foundation. Vermont awards this year are:
Tree City USA designations for Burlington, Essex, Essex Junction, Hartford, Middlebury, Montpelier, Rutland, South Burlington, Shelburne and Winooski. Middlebury also received a Growth Award this, recognizing exceptional work for tree care and community engagement during the past year.
Tree Campus USA designations to Middlebury College and Saint Michael's College.
Tree Line USA designation to Vermont Electric Power Company.
The Vermont Urban and Community Forestry program is a partnership between the University of Vermont Extension and the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. More information is online at vtcommunityforestry.org.