Vermont Wilderness Act of 2006 Introduced

On April 6, 2006, Vermont’s Congressional delegation introduced the Vermont Wilderness Act of 2006 to permanently protect 48,161 acres as new Wilderness on the Green Mountain National Forest (GMNF). The bill closely tracks the Forest Service’s recommendations for areas to be managed in a wilderness-like condition in the final forest plan released earlier this year. Read more about that plan here. This important step reflects the strong desire of Vermonters to protect wild, remote places for future generations. New Wilderness designations were strongly supported by over 90 percent of the 10,000 comments received by the Forest Service during the forest planning process.

The delegation is to be commended for following through with new Wilderness designations for important areas on the GMNF like the Glastenbury Mountain and the Romance/Monastery Mountain area, which will be called the Joseph Battell Wilderness in honor of the man who previously owned and intended land within the GMNF to be managed as a wild forest. The bill also adds additional acreage to several existing Wilderness areas on the GMNF and designates a new Moosalamoo National Recreational Area.

The bill, however, falls short in protecting several ecologically important areas.

The Forest Service found that 124,321 acres on the GMNF were available to be considered for Wilderness designation, where nature primarily runs its course. VNRC had advocated for 79,200 of these acres to be designated as Wilderness as part of a proposal from the Vermont Wilderness Association. The Vermont Wilderness Act should now be strengthened to include:

• A 40,000 acre Glastenbury Mountain Wilderness which protects the Deer Lick Brook watershed.
• A larger Lye Brook Wilderness expansion which includes more of the headwaters south of Stratton Pond.
• The Lamb Brook basin which includes important black bear habitat.

These additions to Wilderness can be accomplished while still supporting a strong timber program and diverse management activities on the GMNF. Wilderness is part of a balanced plan to ensure a healthy forest. Read more about how wilderness serves as a vital complement to other important forest uses here.

Please contact members of the Vermont delegation and thank them for introducing the Vermont Wilderness Act of 2006. Ask them to strengthen it with the recommendations above. Read more about ways - and reasons - to take action on this important issue here.

The bill, floor statements and maps can be found on the Senators' Web sites http://leahy.senate.gov and http://jeffords.senate.gov.

Read the official Vermont Wilderness Association's statement on the bill's release here.