News Announcement From The Vermont Congressional Delegation: Vermont Receives $113,000 To Help Ice-Damaged Forests

March 4, 1998

The Vermont Congressional Delegation announced Wednesday that the U.S. Forest Service has approved their request for initial funding to help the recovery of forests damaged by the January ice storm.

In a joint announcement, Sen. Patrick Leahy, Sen. Jim Jeffords and Rep. Bernie Sanders said Vermont has received $113,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of State and Private Forestry, within the Forest Service. The Vermont delegation has worked with the agency to secure these and other federal funds to help the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources in the recovery effort.

The funds will cover technical and scientific work to analyze the extent and severity of damage to rural and urban forests and will help identify safety and recovery measures that must occur to avoid long-term harm to the region.

"Vermont's forests took a tremendous beating from the ice storm," said Leahy. "These funds will help our forests recover. Restoring the forests is a vital task and a high priority. Vermont jobs depend on it, and so does our state’s environment."

Jeffords said, "Our forests support jobs, tourism, recreation, and a clean, high quality environment. We need to restore severely damaged and critical areas as soon as possible. Once public safety needs are met, we must turn our immediate attention to restoring the natural resource values that we all depend on, and enjoy."

Sanders said, "This federal funding is the first step toward enabling us to assess the extent of the damage to our urban and rural forests, and to begin planning a full forest recovery project. We must all work together to retain the beauty of our state."

Vermont has almost 4.5 million acres of forest, nearly 3 million acres owned by state or local governments or by non-industrial private landowners. Forest-based earnings contribute more than $241 million to the state's economy and yield critical environmental benefits.

In Vermont, urban forests in eight towns and in several small communities suffered damage. The Forest Service estimates that 700,000 rural acres and 30,000 acres in the Green Mountain National Forest were injured. Across northern New England and New York, urban forests in 30 cities, and rural forests covering 17.5 million acres have been damaged. Damage is severe on more than 5 million acres in the region. With severe damage, trees may have either broken tops, broken trunks, or they could be bent over or split.

Michael T. Rains, director the Forest Service’s Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry office said, "The people of New England and New York can count on help and support from the Forest Service and the State Foresters. The concern and support from the Vermont delegation is greatly appreciated."

The State and Private Forestry office is a branch of the Forest Service that works in voluntary partnership with state officials, landowners, and local governments, offering technical and financial support to improve the health, productivity, and sustainability of state, municipal and non-industrial private forest lands.