A proposal to log thousands of acres of national forest in Vermont was supposed to show how the Forest Service can reduce carbon emissions and harvest timber at the same time.
But the project in the Green Mountain National Forest is sparking some of the same fights with environmentalists that have dogged the agency for years -– and an incoming Trump administration seen as friendlier to timber interests will have the final say.
At issue is the Telephone Gap Integrated Resource Project, covering 35,489 acres of the national forest, plus nearly 40,000 acres of adjoining state and private lands. The federal portion would target 7,279 acres for harvest over a seven- to 10-year period, along with trail and other recreational improvements, plus about 3,500 acres of new tree plantings.
What sets the project apart is that the Forest Service has calculated its greenhouse gas emissions and implications for mature and old-growth forests, to align with President Joe Biden’s 2022 executive order on conserving such areas.
