STOWE, Vt. – Stowe Land Trust and the Town of Stowe were presented with a Vermont Public Space Honor Award at a ceremony at the Statehouse on March 20, 2013 for the Cady Hill Forest conservation project. “Our collaboration with the Town, VHCB and a range of community partners and businesses is what made the conservation of Cady Hill Forest possible,” said Heather Furman, Executive Director of SLT at the ceremony. “We are honored to receive this award on behalf of the Stowe community!”
The Public Space Award is a biannual awards program sponsored by a collaborative group of design and planning organizations in the State of Vermont. The awards are given to projects that “encourage open space or other endeavors to create, preserve or enhance open space in Vermont that are accessible to the public, have been defined or enriched by design or planning, and recognize regulations which promote positive, public uses.”
“The Cady Hill Forest project was chosen because the forest offered a fantastic public space to residents and visitors to Stowe,” noted one of the jury members. “We like the way the management addresses recreational uses, conservation needs and long term management and funding via the limited logging operations.”
Located in the heart of Stowe Village, the 268 acre Cady Hill Forest provides public access for hiking, mountain biking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing. Now conserved by SLT and owned by the Town of Stowe, the property will be managed for recreational use, biodiversity, critical wildlife habitat and timber management. The trail system also contains critical linkages to trails on Macutchan Town Forest, trails extending south to Shaw Hill Road in Moscow and trails extending east to Stowe High School.
None of this would be possible without the support we receive from our community of donors. So, on behalf of the dedicated staff and Board of Directors of Stowe Land Trust, we offer our congratulations to you, our members, for this award.