The health of Vermont’s forest resource is monitored by periodic measurements of tree condition and other ecosystem parameters like soils, indicator plants, and vegetation structure.
The Vermont Division of Forestry is a partner in the Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative (formerly the Vermont Monitoring Cooperative), along with other government, academic and private cooperators who pool information on Vermont’s forest ecosystem, and conduct studies at two intensive monitoring sites. Monitoring data available through FEMC’s Data Library includes results from Vermont’s North American Maple Project plots, which have been used to track the health of sugar maple and other tree species since 1988. We have also been monitoiring forest health monitoring plots at sites on state lands under license agreement for maple sugaring, since 2012. Data from these monitoring plots is summarized below.
Aerial surveys have been conducted since the 1960s to sketchmap forest health damage. Recent data are available through the US Forest Service Forest Health Program's GIS and Spatial Analysis webpage.
Vermont is also participating in a regional White Pine Health Monitoring Project.
Tree Condition in Maple Sugaring Sites on State Lands
Causes of Tree Decline
Investigating causes for tree mortality in Vermont (2016 poster describing trigger events and compounding stress factors that caused tree decline of various species.)