After forming a steering committee, evaluating the forest's condition and potential, and completing an initial public engagement process, you may be ready to create or revise a town forest management plan. These plans:

• establish the purposes of the town forest
• provide processes for evaluation of its uses
• designate specific use type areas, and
• broadly identify management objectives including timber goals, recreation uses, ecosystem restoration, or any other suite of land-based uses. 

A forest management activity plan further establishes detailed management objectives in specific portions of the forest and a reasonable timeline.

Today, town forest committees must navigate the compatibility of many interests and pressures on these parcels of land. Long-time local residents, relative newcomers, local businesses, and municipal select boards and school boards may advocate for a mix of land preservation, hunting and fishing access, recreational trail networks, commercial or non-commercial logging, landscape aesthetics, and the ability of a forest to contribute to local businesses and economies through tourism. 

For town forest committees that are looking to expand recreational opportunities, the Recreational Trails Program offers competitive annual grants funded through the Federal Highway Administration.  Eligible projects include trail maintenance, new trail construction, and development or rehabilitation of trail parking areas and trail amenities such as signage, kiosks, composting toilets, recycle receptacles, or structures along the trail directly associated with the trail.  Learn more about the Recreational Trails Program in Vermont or contact anr.fprrecreationgrants@vermont.gov with specific questions about funding for town forest trails

To learn more about the nuts and bolts of town forest management plans approved by local select boards, read the sample forest management plan below. If town forest recreation planning is your special interest, visit some of the Town Forest Recreation Stories, part of the Vermont Town Forest Recreation Toolkit.

Resources: Forest Management Plans in Town Forests

• Active Forest Management in Town Forests by Ethan Tapper, Chittenden County Forester
• Cut with Confidence: Landowner Guides to Successful Timber Harvests
• The Vermont Town Forest Stewardship Guide. Chapter 3: Town Forest Management Planning and Implementation.

• Vermont Coverts Stewardship Training