Fed money set to fund forestland projects
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By Gordon Dritschilo Staff Writer - Published: June 8, 2009
The Green Mountain National Forest has a whole lot of gravel coming its way.
Vermont's Congressional Delegation announced last week that $5 million will come to the state for U.S. Forest Service projects, and roughly half of that will be spent on roads in Goshen, Ripton, Chittenden, Wallingford, Peru, Sunderland and Winhall.
"We're still figuring out exactly where this money is going to go," Forest Service spokeswoman Kristi Ponozzo said. "We have general ideas, but we're still formalizing agreements … finalizing who, what, when and where."
Forest engineer Chris Hanrahan said there had been a lot of deferred maintenance on Forest Service roads and the money would go a long way to correct that.
"The main thing on our roads is gravel replacement," he said. "It's one of the most expensive things in our system and one we never get enough money for."
The projects will likely also include culverts and ditching, but Hanrahan said with gravel replacement costing $40,000 to $50,000 a mile, it is the biggest gap in the forest service's maintenance efforts.
"We should be doing two or three miles a year, but we don't get to do that," he said. "We do spot surfacing."
Hanrahan said the Green Mountain National Forest has 240 miles of gravel roads.
"Some are behind gates we don't open that frequently, some are heavily traveled," he said.
The delegation also announced money for work on "fish passage" improvements around the state. Hanrahan said at least some of that involves replacing large culverts with structures more friendly to passing fish.
"They won't go through a culvert that has a bottom in it," he said. "They like a natural bottom."
Making it easier for the fish to get around enlarges their habitat, Hanrahan said.
gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com
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