![\"In](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-134059309,imgsize-1127450,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/in-the-1950s-hugo-meyer-began-buying-abandoned-vermont-farmland-to-grow-timber-his-family-has-now-helped-permanently-protect-more-than-18000-acres-from-development.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\nGrowing up in Hardwick on a dairy farm, woods were a major part of Andrew Meyer’s life. He would often spend time camping and hiking around East Long Pond and as a kid, he visited logging jobs in the area of the Worcester Range with his grandfather or uncle.<\/p>\n Meyer said his family\u2019s been managing the woods as a working forest since the 1950s, when his grandfather started purchasing land in the region. Hugo Meyer began buying abandoned farmland after World War II to reforest it for timber. In the decades since, the family has owned and managed thousands of acres in and around the Worcester Range, maintaining the land as a working forest. As pressures on land have increased over recent decades, the family felt conservation offered a way to keep the property together and support continued family ownership and sustainable management.\u201cThese forests have been part of our family\u2019s story for generations,\u201d said landowner Andrew Meyer. \u201cConservation offers a way to keep the land together while continuing the stewardship and sustainable forestry practices that have shaped it over the years. We\u2019re proud to be part of an effort that protects the character of this landscape, supports our continued management of this working forest, and helps ensure that future generations can benefit from the same connection to the land that our family has had.\u201dThe conserved land includes extensive and varied forest habitat and wetlands, as well as a mile of undeveloped shoreline along East Long Pond. The property has been actively managed for timber for decades and will remain a working forest under the conservation easement. Forest Legacy easements are specifically designed to prevent fragmentation and development while allowing sustainable forestry to continue.Over the years, E.B. Hyde Corp., Meyer’s family-run timber company, worked for more than a decade with several partner organisations to bring more than 18,000 acres under conservation easements. In August 2026, they finalised the last of the three phases of the Worcester Woods project, placing more than 3,400 acres into an easement. The project involves a partnership among the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, the Vermont Land Trust and the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, along with other partners. Much of the funding for this project came from the U.S. Forest Service\u2019s Forest Legacy Program. That\u2019s revenue that comes partly from leasing federal offshore oil and gas sites.<\/p>\n According to Kate Sudhoff, a land conservation manager at the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, what has been conserved by Meyers’ family is an important wildlife corridor, a contiguous tract that animals can use to travel across the landscape. It is home to loons and some rare plants and flowers, and there\u2019s a mile of lake frontage on East Long Pond. Its main ecological value, though, is that it\u2019s an intact northern hardwood forest, an important habitat for wildlife in the state. It\u2019s also a high-priority conservation area for the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. \u201cThis one, we always thought of as the gem,\u201d Sudhoff said.\u201cIt requires a very patient landowner,\u201d she said, noting it can take years for everything to be finalised. \u201cThey have to be really willing and interested in selling these rights and holding the land. And the landowner\u2019s interest in the land has to align with the program.\u201d Meyer is very patient as a landowner. He said trees take 80 years to grow, and he manages his forests in 20- and 30-year cycles. \u201cYou have to think long term because these trees take so long to grow, and the health of the forest is critical to that,\u201d he said.For him, the permanent easement will allow the opportunity to think about the future of the land more easily. He doesn’t have to worry about development pressure or policy changes ever. \u201cThe understanding that that\u2019s really part of the legacy of what my grandfather had envisioned and set forth over 70 years ago,\u201d he said.Easement purchases are a conservation tool where the land remains in private ownership, but the landowner is bound to the restrictions and agreements that come with the easement. For example, easements involving the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation require that the area be publicly accessible and open for hunting.Will Duane is the land acquisition coordinator with Vermont Fish & Wildlife. He said that even if the landowner decides to sell the land, the easement remains, and the public rights go along with the property. \u201cWe\u2019re paying the landowners,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re keeping the land private, but they\u2019re selling some of those land rights to us to conserve it and to bring the public onto it.\u201dThe land can\u2019t be subdivided and developed, and an appraisal process determines the difference in value between what the owners might make from selling and developing the land instead of keeping it in conservation. They\u2019re selling those rights, which cost a little less than $5 million for the final phase of the Worcester Woods project.Vermont Fish & Wildlife also purchased from the Meyer family a 301-acre parcel that will become part of the Buck Lake Wildlife Management Area. That expanded the footprint of the Green Mountain Conservation Camp, a popular and affordable summer camp in the wildlife management area where kids can learn outdoor skills and natural science. \u201cIt\u2019s a real win-win-win across the board,\u201d Duane said.Meyer now plans to sustainably log the Worcester Woods for many generations. \u201cThis is such a big, important piece of land in our region that so many people enjoy,\u201d he said. \u201cWhether they\u2019re the logger cutting the wood, or the hunter or the hiker, or just knowing there are large parcels of contiguous land around them is what makes this region of Vermont so special. \u201cWe\u2019re obligated to recognise that and be in the position to help keep that the way it is, and a lot of people are going to benefit from that.\u201dBeyond Vermont\u2019s borders, scientists and conservation organisations have long recognised Worcester Woods as a critical link for climate resilience and wildlife movement. In 2012, the Staying Connected Initiative highlighted the Worcester Range as the \u201clinchpin\u201d connecting larger forest landscapes across northern New England and southeastern Canada.<\/div>\n Growing up in Hardwick on a dairy farm, woods were a major part of Andrew Meyer’s life. He would often spend time camping and hiking around East Long Pond and as a kid, he visited logging jobs in the area of the Worcester Range with his grandfather or uncle. A history of sustainable timber management […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/in-the-1950s-hugo-meyer-began-buying-abandoned-vermont-farmland-to-grow-timber-his-family-has-now-he-150x150.avif","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/in-the-1950s-hugo-meyer-began-buying-abandoned-vermont-farmland-to-grow-timber-his-family-has-now-he-300x169.avif","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/in-the-1950s-hugo-meyer-began-buying-abandoned-vermont-farmland-to-grow-timber-his-family-has-now-he.avif","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/in-the-1950s-hugo-meyer-began-buying-abandoned-vermont-farmland-to-grow-timber-his-family-has-now-he.avif","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/in-the-1950s-hugo-meyer-began-buying-abandoned-vermont-farmland-to-grow-timber-his-family-has-now-he.avif","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/in-the-1950s-hugo-meyer-began-buying-abandoned-vermont-farmland-to-grow-timber-his-family-has-now-he.avif","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/in-the-1950s-hugo-meyer-began-buying-abandoned-vermont-farmland-to-grow-timber-his-family-has-now-he.avif","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/in-the-1950s-hugo-meyer-began-buying-abandoned-vermont-farmland-to-grow-timber-his-family-has-now-he.avif","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/in-the-1950s-hugo-meyer-began-buying-abandoned-vermont-farmland-to-grow-timber-his-family-has-now-he.avif","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/in-the-1950s-hugo-meyer-began-buying-abandoned-vermont-farmland-to-grow-timber-his-family-has-now-he.avif","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/in-the-1950s-hugo-meyer-began-buying-abandoned-vermont-farmland-to-grow-timber-his-family-has-now-he.avif","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/in-the-1950s-hugo-meyer-began-buying-abandoned-vermont-farmland-to-grow-timber-his-family-has-now-he.avif","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/in-the-1950s-hugo-meyer-began-buying-abandoned-vermont-farmland-to-grow-timber-his-family-has-now-he.avif","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/in-the-1950s-hugo-meyer-began-buying-abandoned-vermont-farmland-to-grow-timber-his-family-has-now-he.avif"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"Growing up in Hardwick on a dairy farm, woods were a major part of Andrew Meyer’s life. He would often spend time camping and hiking around East Long Pond and as a kid, he visited logging jobs in the area of the Worcester Range with his grandfather or uncle. A history of sustainable timber management […]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":1,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":6,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/in-the-1950s-hugo-meyer-began-buying-abandoned-vermont-farmland-to-grow-timber-his-family-has-now-he.avif",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/in-the-1950s-hugo-meyer-began-buying-abandoned-vermont-farmland-to-grow-timber-his-family-has-now-he-300x169.avif",300,169,true],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/in-the-1950s-hugo-meyer-began-buying-abandoned-vermont-farmland-to-grow-timber-his-family-has-now-he-150x150.avif",150,150,true]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A history of sustainable timber management<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
A vital natural corridor<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"