Land Trust Wins Grant
By Nathan Burgess | Stowe Reporter | December 15, 2011
Mountain bikes are one key to Vermont’s economic future, the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board says, and so it’s giving the Stowe Land Trust $350,000 to help with a major project.
“What is developing in the Stowe-Waterbury area is a world-class trail network that will draw thousands of tourists and act as an economic engine for area businesses,” says Gus Seelig, executive director of the board. The board has endorsed the Stowe Land Trust’s ambitious Cady Hill Forest conservation project, putting $350,000 toward the $1.5 million cost of conserving 258 acres in the forest between River Road and Mountain Road.
The property already has 11 miles of mountain-bike trails — nearly 20 percent of the total mountain-biking network in the area — and more are on the way. The trails are part of the burgeoning Vermont Ride Center, an ambitious trail network through the woods in and near Stowe spearheaded by the Stowe Mountain Bike Club.
“We are very excited,” Heather Furman, executive director of the land trust, said about the state grant. “It’s definitely a huge step forward for our campaign and for our ability to make this project successful.”
The housing and conservation board issues grants with money from the state property transfer tax.
“Conservation of the Cady Hill Forest is a key addition to the region’s recreational assets,” Seelig said.
“The trails on Cady Hill are known as some of the best in the area,” said Patrick Kell, executive director of the Vermont Mountain Bike Association, which is also involved in the network. “There will never be an alternative location as attractive and as accessible to already established tourism infrastructure near the heart of the community.”
Stowe Land Trust has agreements to buy land from the Cabral and Hillman families, which own parts of the forest, Furman said. The closing date is May 31 of next year.
Furman said the state grant was never a sure thing. After Hurricane Irene hit on Aug. 28, the housing and conservation board was taking a close look at what projects it funded, and whether more money should be steered to flood recovery.
Last month, the Waterbury Select Board endorsed the project. The leaders of the flood-ravaged community see big economic potential in the mountain bike network, which also runs through Waterbury.
The state board’s evaluation of the grant request “was really based on the merits (of the project) and the ability to bring Waterbury along in its recovery,” Furman said. “We’ve seen such an influx of mountain-biking-related tourism in the last couple of years.”
The state grant is one of many funding sources being pursued for the Cady Hill Forest project. Others include:
• A $200,000 request to the Open Space Institute, a New York-based conservation organization. As part of the deal, some of the land would have to be managed for timber, Furman said.
• Private donors and foundations.
• A public fundraising campaign in late January or early February.
The land trust wants to add a parking lot on Mountain Road, next to the adjacent town-owned Macutchan Forest, for easier access to the bike trails.
The organization is asking Stowe voters to approve $288,000 from the town’s local-option sales tax on meals, rooms and alcohol to fund the parking lot and part of the purchase price. That tax raises between $500,000 and $600,000 a year.
Voters will make that decision at town meeting March 6.
Once it buys the property, the land trust would hand over ownership to the Stowe town government.
Furman said the land trust hopes to start construction next fall on the parking lot, and install a kiosk and trail signs. Other improvements to the trail network itself would be done in 2013.
