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Forests in Vermont frame and enrich our lives, making our state a beautiful place to live while also providing many critical services: cleaning our air and water, providing habitat for birds and other wildlife, sequestering and storing carbon and much more. In a changing climate, forests are both an asset – helping slow and mitigate the effects of climate change by absorbing the carbon we emit – and under threat. At the same time, climate change, resource extraction and environmental degradation threatens peoples, species and environments worldwide. While some of these problems may seem remote, is it possible that Vermont’s forests have a broader role to play in crafting a just and sustainable world? This presentation will focus on the role that forests and forest management play in our past, present and future with an eye on social and environmental justice in Vermont and across the globe. Tapper will discuss how responsible, ecological forest management can help support justice, equity, heathy communities and healthy ecosystems here in Vermont and world-wide. This class will meet online. You will receive an email 2 days prior to the start date of your class with information on how to participate.

Whether you own a large woodlot or just a small yard, you have probably struggled with invasive exotic plants. On a small scale, these resilient plants are a nuisance. On a larger scale, they are a major threat to ecosystems and biodiversity across Vermont’s landscape, and across the globe. In Vermont invasive plants are an existential threat to the health of our forests and other ecosystems, and the wildlife that depend on them. They also diminish the capacity of forests to perform many other important functions, cleaning our air and our water, sequestering carbon and providing habitat for our pollinators, in addition to many more. If you have ever faced-off with invasive exotic plants, you know that they spread like wildlife and are extremely difficult to control. Join Ethan Tapper, the Chittenden County Forester, for a virtual discussion of the threats posed by woody invasive plants, how to identify them, and options for treatment. Please bring your thoughts and questions about invasive exotic plants and how to deal with them. This class will meet online via Zoom. You will receive an email prior to the start date of your class with information on how to participate.