Consulting Forestry Services
Bear Island Forestry provides a wide range of ecologically-focused forest stewardship services, including drafting Forest Management Plans, implementing responsible forest management, and advising landowners on the responsible stewardship of their forests.
See details, below!
Forest Management Plans
The basis of any responsible forest stewardship is a good plan. Bear Island Forestry’s Forest Management Plans (FMPs) are designed to be both a learning tool for landowners — helping you better understand the history and the ecology of your forest — and a roadmap for how your forest will be managed over the next 10 years in accordance with your goals, objectives and values, and best practices. While each Forest Management Plan is customized to each landowner and forest, all of Bear Island Forestry’s FMPs take an ecological forestry approach: using forest management as a tool to improve the health and resilience of your forest and to enrich the habitat that it offers to our native biodiversity.
Every Bear Island Forest Management Plan includes:
A detailed “Forest Stand Map” of the parcel, dividing it into “stands” based on shared history, ecology and more;
Field and desktop analyses of habitat connectivity; forest bird habitat; land use history; natural communities and habitats of significance; rare, threatened and endangered species; forest health concerns and more.
Forest inventory data, collected in the field, detailing tree species composition, size/age, and health/condition by stand;
Detailed narratives on the history, ecology, structure, condition and health of each stand;
Detailed forest management prescriptions (if management is warranted), describing what forest management techniques may be used to improve the health, habitat, resilience and vibrance of each stand.
Ethan Tapper is a Vermont-Licensed Forester, Audubon-Endorsed Forester and NRCS TSP, and can provide Forest Management Plans compliant with Vermont’s Use Value Appraisal (“Current Use”) program, NRCS cost-share programs and more.
Forest Management
Forest management is one of the most powerful ways that landowners can help their forests recover from the wounds of the past, respond the to the threats and stressors of the future, and build resilience and adaptability for an uncertain future.
Bear Island Forestry can guide landowners through the process of managing their forest — marking the trees to be cut, laying out roads and trails, drafting a contract with a reputable logger, and supervising the project from start to finish.
Consultation and Mentorship
What does it mean to love a forest? Being the steward of a forest can be challenging, confusing, and intimidating. Every forest, and every landowner, is different, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to forest stewardship.
Bear Island Forestry provides several services to forest landowners and stewards: a one-time woods walk and/or consultation (in person or remote), an ongoing mentorship program that includes regular meetings, and regular educational events and trainings.
Learn More About Consultation and Mentorship, or Request a Quote!