PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release – February 22, 2024
Contact:
Danielle Fitzko, Commissioner
Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation
danielle.fitzko@vermont.gov, 802-598-9992
The Vermont Forest Future Strategic Roadmap Released:
Growing a strong forest products sector and a prosperous forest economy
Montpelier, VT - The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR) announces the release of the Vermont Forest Future Strategic Roadmap. A forward-looking plan, the Roadmap evaluates how the forest products sector and greater forest economy can thrive in Vermont.
Created by FPR at the request of the General Assembly, the Roadmap assesses the current state of the forest products sector in Vermont, and identifies ways to strengthen, modernize, promote, and protect its long-term viability. The plan also emphasizes the importance of intact, healthy, and sustainably managed working forests to enhance forest benefits and support a diverse array of climate-smart, high-quality products for the future.
Development of the Roadmap began in November 2022, led by FPR Commissioner Danielle Fitzko, and an advisory panel representing a wide range of perspectives. The planning process identified a preferred future, and the plan provides the framework of objectives, strategies, and thirty actions for bringing that future into reality.
Fitzko stated, "the roadmap addresses pressing challenges facing Vermont, including rising costs, workforce shortages, climate-related disruptions, and uncertainty across the sector. In response, it outlines a vision and an exciting path forward and celebrates the dynamic role our forests play in shaping Vermont’s well-being, livelihoods, and cultural identity.”
The following key themes emerged through the process:
- Focusing on forest health
- Maintaining forests as working forests
- Investing in future readiness
- Celebrating the importance of forest products
- Taking responsibility for social license
- Recognizing the multiple forest users and stakeholders
- Creating a ‘whole-of-government’ approach
Today’s launch will kickstart the Roadmap implementation, which will require a multi-stakeholder approach that will build on the collaborative process used to date, including the formation of an implementation steering committee in which industry and other stakeholders can support the actions and contribute their expertise.
Learn more about the Roadmap: lab2.future-iq.com/vermont-forest-future/.
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