Join master storyteller, woodsman, and author Bill Torrey as he weaves together true, hilarious, heartwarming, and sometimes heart-wrenching stories of his life.
Forestry Students Immerse in VFF Forest Ecosystem Conservation
The Eastern ratsnake’s gleaming body curved along the beech branch overhead, to the amazement and delight of the 35 University of Vermont (UVM) students gathered below. The unexpected encounter with this state-listed threatened species at the Lands of the Watershed Center perfectly illustrated VFF Executive Director David Brynn’s core message to them—that careful forest ecosystem conservation is essential to conserving …
Welcoming the Commoners’ Return
By David Brynn In late March of 2025, Vermont Family Forests purchased 132 acres of land—126 of it in the northwest corner of Bristol and 6 acres in Monkton. We are thrilled to own this land and have many ideas for interacting with it in the future. We’ve named it The Commoners’ Return Forest for reasons that I’ll aim to explain …
Fall 2025 Chainsaw Training Courses
Game of Logging Chainsaw Training Courses, to learn safe and efficient chainsaw handling.
New Ticketing Platform Supports Community-Based Values
When Vermont Family Forests offers a workshop, course, or public event, an online ticketing platform is immensely helpful in managing registrations and—if the event involves a fee—processing payments. We recently switched to a ticketing company that is both socially responsible and lower cost than what we’ve been using for the past several years, and we’re excited to tell you about it. Back …
Beating the Bounds
Maintaining your forest property boundaries In bygone days, before property maps and written titles, it was customary in England to “beat the bounds” of the parish every seven years to establish a mutual understanding of property boundaries—a process in which participants literally swatted the property perimeter with sticks. Nowadays, licensed surveyors are tasked with defining property boundaries, and they use …
Changing the World—Bird by Bird, Waterbar by Waterbar
By Sandra Murphy At Vermont Family Forests, each new year starts with a look back at the previous one, as we pull together our annual report. And each year, certain books rise to the surface as inspirations to the work we do. One literary highlight of 2024 was Birding to Change the World, by Trish O’Kane. Echoing the title of the …
When Rewilding Isn’t Enough–Lessons from Seth Hill
Old logging roads and present-day phosphorus pollution This past summer, Vermont Family Forests oversaw installation of erosion control structures on forest roads at the Seth Hill Waterworks, a parcel of land in Lincoln that’s owned by the Town of Bristol. We paid for this work with grant funds from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation’s Clean Water Service Provider (CWSP) …
Game of Logging Chainsaw Training, Spring 2025
REGISTER VIA EVENTBRITE BASIC CHAINSAW USE & SAFETY: Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 8AM – 4PMCOST: $260 per level, plus Eventbrite processing fees LEVEL 1: Thursday, May 1, 2025, 8AM – 4PMCOST: $260 per level, plus Eventbrite processing fees LEVEL 1: Tuesday, May 6, 2025, 8AM – 4PMCOST: $260 per level, plus Eventbrite processing fees LEVEL 2: Thursday, May 8, 2025, 8AM – 4PMCOST: $260 per level, plus Eventbrite …
Wildlife and Roads—VTrans Training Comes to TWC
There are right ways and wrong ways to pick up a snapping turtle. Standing in hip waders in a beaver wetland below the Norton Brook Dam at the Lands of The Watershed Center, herpetologist Jim Andrews demonstrates a right way that keeps both turtle and holder safe. Around him, workshop participants lean in for a close look at the snapper …
