WOW Case Studies
Owning a piece of Vermont forest can be inspiring—and sometimes overwhelming. It’s both a responsibility and an opportunity to care for the land and let it thrive.
Whether you’re new to land ownership or starting your forest management journey, you’re not alone. Women across Vermont have met this challenge head-on.
Vermont’s Women and Our Woods has compiled stories of women at various stages of their management journeys. By reading some of these stories, we hope you’ll feel connected to this broader network and understand the different paths you can take on your own journey.
Who Are the Women in These Stories?
These stories reflect a wide range of experiences. Some women, like Alyssa in Bolton, manage their land independently. Others, like Carolyn in Dummerston, share that role with a partner. Some inherited family land, while others purchased theirs recently—or decades ago.
A few are seasoned landowners with years of forest management under their belts, like Barbara in Pawlet. Others are just getting started. Some take a hands-on approach with tools in hand, while others lead the work through consultants and contractors.
Each path is unique—but all share a commitment to caring for their land with intention and purpose.
No matter how their journeys started, many women landowners share common goals:
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Creating and enhancing wildlife habitat
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Encouraging recreation ( personal or public)
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Protecting soil and water quality
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Restoring forest ecosystem structure and function
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Keeping land undeveloped for years to come
What Does Forest Management Look Like?
All of the women featured in these case studies participate in Vermont’s Current Use Program, which allows land to be taxed based on its productive use rather than market value—making it more feasible to keep land undeveloped and actively managed. Enrollees work with a licensed forester to develop a 10-year management plan tailored to their forest’s health and their personal goals—whether that means enhancing wildlife habitat, supporting recreation or producing timber and maple sap.
Many have also joined the Vermont Tree Farm Program, a nationally recognized third-party certification that promotes sustainable forestry. It’s a way to demonstrate a strong stewardship ethic and meet sustainability standards while aligning with personal landowner goals.
The following activities vary from property to property, but they all aim to keep Vermont’s forests healthy, productive, and resilient—for today and for the future.
Common projects in these plans include:
In Their Own Words
We asked: What would you tell a woman just starting her journey as a landowner?
Here’s what they said:
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“Start with hands-on projects—you’ll learn as you go.” —Lina, Woodstock
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“Spend time alone in your forest. It’ll teach you what it needs.” —Barbara, Craftsbury
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“Move slowly. You don’t have to do everything at once.” —Julie & Sheila, Wolcott
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“Think long-term—beyond your own lifetime.” —Diana, Brattleboro
WOW-VT Featured Case Studies
Explore the Full Case Study Compilation (PDF)
You can view the full case study PDFs at the links below or browse by name, location, or property size:
Alyssa Bennett, Bolton – 41 acres
Read Alyssa’s Full Case Study (PDF)
The Bennett property is an important wildlife resource that connects to almost 50,000 acres of unfragmented forest. Its variety of fruit-bearing trees are prime sources of forage for wildlife. The forest contains important habitat for bats and flying squirrels, along with warblers and other migratory songbirds.
Management Activities
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Crop tree release with canopy gap formation
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Woods road rehabilitation
Barbara Moore, Pawlet – 226 acres
Read Barbara's Full Case Study (PDF)
A valley woodland surrounds a historic farm. Nestled in the Mettawee River Valley, the Moore Farm features a diverse woodland surrounding rich farmland. The woodland sits just below Haystack Mountain and next to the North Pawlet Hills Natural Area.
Management Activities
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Mast tree release
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Patch cuts
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Irregular shelterwood harvest
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Timber stand improvement
Barbara Orlovsky, Craftsbury – 138 acres
Read Barbara's Full Case Study (PDF)
Barbara Orlovsky is slowly bringing her land back to wholeness again. Nicknamed The Ledges for its steep rocky cliffs, the property sustains patches of yew, hornbeam, basswood, and black cherry on its forested slopes. The nearby wetlands help create habitat for many songbirds, black bear, and moose.
Management Activities
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Patch cut
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Mast tree release
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Woods road rehabilitation
Caitlin Cusack, VLT (Button Farm), Colchester – 130 acres
Read Caitlin's Full Case Study (PDF)
A fourth-generation family farm is now managed by the Vermont Land Trust to ensure the land will be conserved for generations to come. A portion of the land is still actively farmed, and VLT has worked to control invasives and improve the health of the forest and wetlands.
Management Activities
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Invasive species management
Caitlin Cusack, VLT (Folsom Brook), Waitsfield – 98 acres
Read Caitlin's Full Case Study (PDF)
The Folsom Brook property is a valuable forest within a patchwork of agricultural land and residential developments. It provides forested and riparian habitats for wildlife to travel between two larger, high-priority forested areas to the east and west.
Management Activities
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Crop tree release with canopy gap formation
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Invasive species management
Carolyn Mayo-Brown, Dummerston – 228 acres
Read Carolyn's Full Case Study (PDF)
An uncommon Oak-Black Birch Talus Woodland, the largest ash tree in the state, and a large Dry Transition Hemlock Forest set this woodland apart. It stands within a high-priority interior forest block and a priority connectivity block, meaning that it is critical for wildlife habitat and migration.
Management Activities
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Beech suppression
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Crop tree release
Diana Todd, Brattleboro – 108 acres
Read Diana's Full Case Study (PDF)
Historic farmland has regrown into diverse woodland in Windham County. Trails crisscross the forest, along a stream, skirting wetlands as they meander across the property. Black bears have been known to stop through, enjoying the woodland alongside humans and other wildlife.
Management Activities
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Single tree selection
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Group selection
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1st stage shelterwood
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Progressive clearcut
Doreen Jones, Rochester – 258 acres
Read Doreen's Full Case Study (PDF)
Humans and wildlife have the chance to interact on this Rochester woodlot with a surprising family history. A VAST Trail and a Velomont mountain bike trail cross a small part of the land, passing alongside a bird-filled meadow. A farmer mows the meadow at the end of summer, allowing grassland birds to thrive. A small pond provides habitat for water birds and other local wildlife.
Management Activities
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Invasive species management
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Pre-commercial thinning
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Thinning
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Single tree selection
Esther Lichti, Montgomery – 72 acres
View Esther's Full Case Study (PDF)
Esther describes her property as a refuge for wildlife. She has spotted deer, wild turkeys, coyotes, foxes, bears, and bobcats throughout the forest, a mix of northern hardwoods, red pines, and mixed spruce and hemlock.
Management Activities
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Group selection
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Apple tree release
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Tree and shrub planting
Jessica Boone (Hi Vue Maples), Richford – 408 acres
View Jessica's Full Case Study (PDF)
Tucked away in northern Vermont, the Hi Vue Maples property is a haven for wildlife. Snowshoe hares, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, bears, and lynx have been spotted roaming the land, which sits on a wildlife link between Vermont and the Sutton Mountains in Quebec.
Management Activities
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Patch cut
Julie Magoon & Sheila Halpin, Wolcott – 75 acres
View Julie's Full Case Study (PDF)
Old agricultural land has regrown into woodland dotted with apple trees in the hills of Wolcott. Trails meander across the land, passing by wetlands through hemlock and mixed hardwood forests.
Management Activities
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Patch cut
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Single tree selection
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Crop, mast, and apple tree release
Julie Messervy, Westminster – 270 acres
View Julie's Full Case Study (PDF)
Julie and her husband Steve call their land “grandchild paradise. “ A beaver pond and a swimming pond create havens for humans and wildlife amidst the 270 acres of mixed hardwood and softwood trees and forested wetlands.
Management Activities
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Invasive species management
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Single tree and group selection
Lina Hristova, Woodstock – 90 acres
View Lina's Full Case Study (PDF)
A gurgling stream runs through a gently sloping woodland. Once used for pasture, the rocky soils now support wildlife like deer, bear, turkey, grouse, and forest birds. The property is being managed to encourage new wildlife and other forest products, like timber and maple sap.
Management Activities
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Patch cut
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Overstory removal
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Single tree and group selection
Lynda Goldsmith, Fairfax – 341 acres
View Lynda's Full Case Study (PDF)
Five vernal pools provide critical habitat for reptiles and amphibians, such as wood frogs and spotted salamanders. An established trail network crisscrosses the rolling terrain, much of which used to be pastureland.
Management Activities
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Expanded gap shelterwood
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Patch cut
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Mast tree release
Melita Bass, Shoreham – 106 acres
View Melita's Full Case Study (PDF)
Opening onto Lake Champlain, Melita’s property has been farmland, a productive apple orchard, and a summer camp throughout its history. Today it features sprawling old hardwoods and a re-growing example of a clayplain forest, the original forest in much of the Champlain Valley.
Management Activities
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Invasive species management
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Tree planting
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Patch cut