About Working Woodlands Workshops
NPS Photo Working Woodlands workshops are designed to connect nature enthusiasts and land-owners with natural resource professionals, to provide them with the skills and knowledge to promote land stewardship. These workshops are held both virtually and in-person throughout the year. Explore a wide range of topics, including but not limited to wildlife tracking, tree identification, creating wildlife habitat, invasive plant management, sustainable forestry, and much more. After attending a workshop, you can expect to come away with knowledge about land stewardship and the skills to take it home and practice in your own backyard. Workshops are co-sponsored by Vermont Woodlands Association, Vermont Coverts: Woodlands for Wildlife, and Billings Farm and Museum.
►View workshops on the park's YouTube Channel. Subjects include: Common Tree Pests, Bat Conservation, Successional Forests, Climate Change, Women Land Stewardship, Forest Birds, Vernal Pools, Wildlife Tracking, Composting.
2023 Working Woodlands Workshops
NPS Photo/Kyle Burton Horse Logging DemonstrationThursday, November 16, 202310:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Location: Forest Center at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park. Click here to register. Horse logging has a long history here at the park, beginning in the 1800s when horses were used to clear the forests of Mount Tom for agricultural land. Today, horse logging is used as a low-impact logging strategy which helps the park maintain a healthy ecosystem and prioritize forest ecology over speed or volume. You can experience this forestry work in person at this workshop where Third Branch Horse Logging, a local business that provides low-impact horse logging services, will give a demonstration. This hike is located at the Forest Center at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park. Parking for Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park is located at the Billings Farm & Museum. If using a GPS, please enter "69 Old River Rd, Woodstock, VT 05091". Once parked, to enter the National Park, take the paved path to the right of the Billings Farm & Museum Visitor Center, walk up and cross the street, and then take the right fork and walk 1/8 mile to reach the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park Forest Center. Limited accessible parking is available in the circle drive next to the Forest Center. 
Michael Durhampic The Ecology of BatsWednesday, December 6, 202312:00 p.m. -1:00 p.m. Location: Virtual Workshop Click here to register. Bats are a critical part of the forest ecosystem and have evolved some unique adaptation strategies for hibernation and reproduction. Learn about how bats survive and thrive in forests of the Northeastern United States from Northeast Temperate Network Wildlife Biologist Adam Kozlowski. 
NPS Photo/Kyle Burton Bats and the ForestSaturday, December 9, 202310:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Location: Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park. Exact location TBD. Click here to register. What is the link between bats and the forest? Join Steve Mortillo, Natural Resource Management lead for Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park and Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park, in an informational guided hike about the quintessential role of the forest for bat survival. The hike will go up Mountain Road as Steve explains the different forest components that allow bats to roost, forage, and drink. |