Alan Robertson has put countless amount of time and care into his sixty-acre property, which is in Sheffield. He believes that the most important thing that Vermonters have going for them is their potential forests. As a result, Robertson has made the decision to give his land to the town of Sheffield, in the form of a trust, to become the Sheffield Town Forest.
Alan Robertson is a professional engineer. Originally from New York, he went to Clarkson University. After college Robertson spent about 8 years in Germany as a military obligation. It was in Germany that he became very interested with forestry. When he came back to the states, Robertson wanted to try to replicate the beautiful forests in Germany. He chose Sheffield because in 1979 the property was cheap and available, along with having no poison ivy. From there, Roberson had multiple military jobs that landed him at Pease Air Force Base, in Portsmouth New Hampshire. He spent the last 20 years of his career as the chief engineer at Pease. From about 1983- 2001 Robertson would commute from Portsmouth to Sheffield about every other weekend, and work in the woods. He retired out of that job in 2001, built a house in Sheffield, and is now a full time resident.
Alan didn’t know a lot about forestry besides doing a lot of reading on the subject. When he first started working on the forest, there was nothing there, so for the first 20 years he was establishing a road and trail system. Robertson got some good advice from Jim Slayton, a retired county forester, and Jim Noyes, a forester who used to reside in Wheelock. Through their assistance and guidance, Robertsons forest is what it is today. His property has 3 miles worth of trials, and the quality of the trees and land has dramatically improved since Robertson bought the land.
Sheffield had a town forest that was in the middle of the King Gorge Farm. In the 50s, however, the select board needed money and sold it. Alan Roberson believes that Sheffield should have a town forest. The forest trust is set up so it’s related to Robertsons will, and when activated will run the property for the town. The forest will be maintained by the town, but the property will be owned by the trust. The trust will have a board of directors, which includes a member from the Vermont Land Trust, a member from the Vermont Woodland Association, and one member from the Sheffield board of selectmen. The trust will be funded with enough to cover everything, including the taxes. The trust will not run out, the only thing that would make the trust go away is if Vermont Land Trust fails, which is unlikely because they are well funded. The trust has a conservation easement on it so it can never be developed.
“I’ve tried to account for the idiosyncrasies of poor leadership and poor politics, but one will only know in a couple hundred years. That’s not to say that the select board in Sheffield right now is not capable of doing it on their own. I’ve got to tell you, the history of land conservation in Sheffield is pretty sorry. I turned out to be the first parcel where this has been done. There was another large parcel in Sheffield, where the owner, not trusting the select board, gave it to the state, and the state hasn’t done anything with it. It’s a real shame. I’m fully expecting the town to take advantage of this for educational and product purposes. It’s a working forest, and the select board right now is an incredible group of people, that’s one of the reasons why I decided to do this now.” -Alan Robertson
At Sheffield town meeting, Anna Berger, who is on the school board, asked a question about the possibility of bringing the kids to this property for nature programs. Robertson says that his property is not posted and is open to the public, therefore the kids at Millers Run can come up anytime they want. Robertson says it’s not a matter of whether the kids com up to Sheffield Town Forest, it's whether want to come up. There is a program in Vermont called Walk In The Woods, and every month the members pick another forest location to tour and learn about what good forestry is. There is a Walk In The Woods at the Sheffield Forest on August 27th.
The best thing about the Sheffield Forest is access to a well-managed forest, and education about what good forestry is. Alan Robertson says that the North East Kingdom does not have a good track record on good forest management. He believes that demonstrating a better way to make money while maintaining good forestry is a valuable tool for the North East Kingdom and Vermont.
