A Woodland Marriage of Sustainability and Preservation: Seeing the Forest and the Trees ROLF DIAMANT

DRAFT

A Woodland Marriage of Sustainability and Preservation: 

Seeing the Forest and the Trees

ROLF DIAMANT 

Superintendent, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park,

National Park Service

Adjunct Faculty, Vermont Law School

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller 

National Historical Park

54 Elm Street 

Woodstock, Vermont 05091

Phone: (802) 457-3368 x15

Fax:    (802) 457-3405

rolf_diamant@nps.gov

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park’s 550-acre Mount Tom forest is one of the earliest surviving examples of planned and managed reforestation in the United States (Figure 1).  It is a living landscape exhibit that illustrates the evolution of forest stewardship in America, from the earliest scientific silvicultural practices borrowed from 19^th century Europe to contemporary practices of sustainable forest management.  The national park and the forest are a designated national historic landmark, the highest level of recognition in the Unites States for places that have national historic significance.  

Figure 1: Norway Spruce Plantation, Circa 1887 

The Park’s enabling legislation and General Management Plan provide clear direction to the National Park Service to actively managing the Mount Tom forest as a cultural landscape. In remarks appended to the legislation, then NPS Director James Ridenour underscored the importance of ongoing management of the forest: “… active forest management is an important part of not only preserving the resource but of interpreting the cultural importance of the landscape.”  

The overall character of the landscape – that carries the story of this significant forest history – is the result of years of forest stewardship. The remaining historic even-age, single-species (predominately) conifer plantations on Mount Tom provide an example of pioneering reforestation techniques in the 19^th century, and illustrate a continuum of forest management that followed in the 20^th century. These mature plantations have a distinctive, cathedral character that represents a moment in time, along an almost irreversible trajectory of forest succession. Today, all of these stands face strong competition from the natural re-growth of native hardwood trees.

In developing a management strategy for the Mount Tom Forest four key questions arose:

• Is it possible to transcend traditional perspectives where natural and cultural systems are not viewed as parallel, distinct resource sets that co-exist but rather imagine landscapes where the historic preservation perspective incorporates the role and influence of natural succession and ecological processes, and the natural resource conservation perspective is informed and shaped by a sense of history and stewardship?

• Can the forest’s historic character and its “readable history” be perpetuated in an environment of dynamic forest growth and change? 

• In what ways can public lands provide a vital and thoughtful venue for facilitating civil dialogue on paths to sustainability and stewardship?

Recognizing that the forest on Mount Tom is a dynamic resource with underlying ecological processes at work – as well as a significant historic resource – was a necessary step. It was decided that the park would adopt a framework that addresses preservation that includes both the broad landscape character influenced by some key features and the processes that shaped that character. Preservation in a living forested cultural landscape, by its nature, has to transcend the traditional concentration on “material integrity” and the focus on perpetuation of individual features. As the forest plantations eventually age and decline over time, management emphasis will shift to renewing broad distinctive historic patterns and characteristics of the forest as a whole, and retain the tradition of forward-thinking forest stewardship. 

Re-establishment of plantations in their existing locations with their even-aged structure would require management techniques such as over-story removal by clear cutting and removal of the existing natural hardwood regeneration through aggressive hand cutting or the use of herbicides. These management options run counter to the natural direction of forest succession, and therefore would be extremely costly and labor intensive and could have adverse ecological impacts.  This approach to preservation could also be considered at variance with a long legacy of progressive forest management. 

As an alternative, a program of selective thinning and harvesting will provide continuity of a traditional activity and be used as a tool to retain the historic character of the forest.  Most importantly, demonstrating sustainable practices creates an opening to forge closer ties between the national park and the forestry and woodworking community.  In particular, two new program initiatives are strengthening this important relationship: 

(1) Third Party Certification: The Forest will remain part of the American

Tree Farm system, continuing a certification tradition started when it was enrolled as Vermont’s first Tree Farm in 1956.  In addition, the park’s forest management will now be third-party certified through the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).  Third party certification is one of the fastest growing new developments in sustainable forestry.  

The purpose of certification programs is to provide market recognition of good forest management through credible, independent verification of best forest practices. Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NHP is the first U.S. national park or national forest to be certified and the very first public or private woodland certification based on preserving cultural as well as natural heritage values. All wood products from the park now carry the FSC label (Figure 2). 

Figure 2: FSC Brand

Continuing assessment of the park’s forest management through these two systems will publicly demonstrate the value of certification in encouraging sustainable management, value-added conservation, and public accountability. With accountability inevitably comes a heightened level of credibility and relevancy.  When it comes to making the often difficult choices associated with sustainability - the park claims no special exemption. The national park is subject to the same high standards of stewardship and transparency as are other certified forest land owners. 

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(2) Value-Added Products:  The park will also pursue management activities that

promote “value-added” products that will carry the certification label. These products have added economic value because of their association with place, heritage, sustainable management, local production, and craftsmanship. Management activities that support the creation of value-added products include sustainable timber harvesting, on-site milling and drying of lumber (see figure 3), and supplying local craftspeople and manufacturers with wood. 

Figure 3: Portable Mill

To interpret these important connections, the park is working to commission artist products made from wood harvested in the park including, bowls and pens which are for sale at the visitor center. Value added products produced by regional artisans, such as custom furniture and bowls, will be labeled twice – with a National Park label and with the “SmartWood” trademark of the Forest Stewardship Council (certifying the origin and chain of custody of every product.)  Wood from Mount Tom has already been used for furniture for the visitor center, rehabilitating historic buildings, and other park maintenance projects. Lumber may also be supplied to other NPS sites, state and local government agencies, and nonprofit organizations for unique preservation projects where work on historic structures requires large-dimension beams that are not commercially available.

Sustaining the places like the Mount Tom forest requires a careful balance between continuity and change. Many of the landscapes we cherish most were shaped by 19^th and early 20^th century use practices, which today in many places are no longer economically or socially viable. Landscapes like communities cannot be easily preserved as static artifacts. Consequently, the challenge for sustainability may lie not in recreating the past, but building on that past to craft a future for these important places.