Logging on Snake Mountain
There's a major logging operation in progress on Snake Mountain in Addison County. For the time being at least, the operation is confined to the eastern portion of the Snake Mountain Wildlife Management Area. The state owns the land but I've been told they do not own the logging rights.
Hiking through the freshly logged area is a humbling experience. I can't describe it in words anyone would want to hear. You should go there and experience it for yourself (but if you do, do it on a Sunday when there's a lull in the activity).
Snake Mountain is a unique ecosystem, a remarkable island of biodiversity in the middle of the Champlain Valley. This special place should be conserved indefinitely.
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The logging rights in the Snake Mountain Wildlife Management Area are privately owned. For details, see the official brochure published by the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department.
Top observers on Snake Mountain: @charlie @deborah174 @myco_mama_vt @aalfie @beeboy @akburge @raffib128 @joshualincoln
I saw evidence of that logging firsthand recently. I've only been there once, but it is obviously quite a treasure for the state. There are some neat ecosystems there, and a lot of great plant and fungal diversity (I've never seen so many black trumpets or magic mushrooms on a single hike before).
I don't know much about conservation, but I'd imagine protecting as much of the wilderness as possible around such areas is the best approach. I did notice a ton of invasive shrubs around the area they were logging, and I imagine such disturbed environments will allow those invasives to spread.
There was some recent logging on or next to the Chickering Bog parcel , and seeing it this year was really jarring.
@raffib128 did you park on the east side or the west side of the mountain?
East side. I ended up getting lost because of the logging, which wasn't a terrible thing; there's some nice open woodland on that side with lots of herbaceous stuff on the forest floor.
I've never seen the biodiversity of Snake Mountain but feel the loss. I live on the opposite side of the country - Washington State. I have seen Tiger Mountain second growth forest (about 100 years old) get logged out in sections. It's also state owned land that but the land is in a trust to provide funds for state education. So every once in a while, another section of the mountain gets munched. I hope someday we can get the status of that land changed. Meanwhile, I hope you can save Snake Mountain for future generations. Thanks for making me think this morning.
The eastern side of Snake Mountain is one of my favorite places to observe fungi. My daughter and I were hiking there earlier in the summer and came upon some logging activity. The trail was damaged considerably from the equipment, and they were using an excavator to make the trail even wider. I'm dismayed to learn that the logging will be ongoing.
That same day, very close to the logging site, I found a new to me species https://inaturalist.ca/observations/172400846. There are only 6 iNaturalist observations of this species in Vermont, and only 171 iNaturalist observations worldwide. I wonder if the log it was growing from will even be there when I go back.
Fungi conservation efforts in Vermont are in their infancy. I am a member of the Fungal Scientific Advisory Group to the Endangered Species Committee for Vermont. At this time we are working to build a comprehensive list of fungi species in the state. Please consider joining (and spreading the word about) the Fungi Of Vermont project https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/fungi-of-vermont. It is a collection project, so all fungi observations in VT are automatically included in the project. I would also appreciate any help in reviewing and verifying observations!
FYI https://www.addisonindependent.com/2023/10/26/letter-to-the-editor-snake-mountain-trail-is-no-more/
Update. I received the following first-hand account from a friend who hunted on Snake Mountain last season (2023): "The logging was over during deer season on Snake Mountain. All of the equipment was gone and they put water bars and ditches where needed to control erosion."
That's good news! I wonder if this has anything to do with the recent announcement that the A. Johnson Company is closed?
I hope to visit Cranberry Bog on Snake Mountain this coming season. If you visit Snake Mountain this year, or hear of any news, please let me know.
I will be curious to see what kind of immediate impact the logging had on fungi populations. I'm glad to hear that perhaps operations have wrapped up and work has been done to restore the trail. Thanks for the update!
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