SHEFFIELD, Vt. — Alan Robertson, the 2019 Tree Farmer of the Year, invites you to attend a Sept. 14 tour at his Tree Farm #922, a 60-acre parcel known as Pfälzerwald purchased in 1979 and under active management in the American Tree Farm System for the last 35 years.
Al’s stewardship ethic was born from his many years in Germany while serving in the Air Force, hence the name or its slang PFALZ emblazoned on his license plate. His management is consistent with Dauerwald, or “back to nature” concept for permanent, perpetual, and continuous forest. All harvesting is done from a permanent trail system and utilizes single and group tree selection. The result is an ongoing conversion to an un-even aged stand with annual harvesting of Spruce Fir and Cedar and hardwood firewood. An average harvest is approximately 5,000 bf of Spruce Fir and 10 cords of firewood. Al also plants trees – about 200 annually – to improve quality and resiliency in the face of climate change.
The morning tours will be led by foresters Dan Kilborn with Vermont Land Trust and David Paganelli, the Orange County Forester. The landowner and his consulting forester Beth Daut will be chiming in with impromptu comments as well. Topics for discussion will include how weather has influenced the work, trail design & construction, European forestry techniques, wildlife, resiliency plantings, Timber Stand Improvement (TSI), vernal pools, and harvesting. There will be a WoodMizer set up to mill cedar for Northwoods Stewardship Center and VT Association of Snow Travelers (VAST). Sam Perron from Northwoods will talk about their projects using Al’s harvested timber.
Anyone wishing to hike the roughly 3 miles of trails on their own will be welcome to do so and given a trail map. Lunch will be served followed by awards presentations. A short tour to the orchard and the cider operation will be the preamble for hard cider tasting at the barn.
The tour will begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue until 2:30 p.m. The cost to attend is $20 and preregistration is required by Sept. 9. Registration information can be found at https://www.vermontwoodlands.org/vwa-events-calendar/or call VT Woodlands at 802-747-7900.
— Vermont Woodlands Association
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