News Release

Forest Festival at Vermont’s National Park

Horse Drawn Carriage Rides

NPS Photo

News Release Date: September 16, 2019 Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, the only national park practicing active forestry, invites the public to celebrate working lands and wood craft during the annual Forest Festival event, Saturday and Sunday, September 21-22, 10am-4pm. The park’s 550 acres include some of the oldest scientifically managed forest in the US. For millennia prior to colonization, and continuing today, the region is home to the Abenaki people, who continue to carry out cultural practices that involve the northeastern forest.

During the event, visitors can experience a wide array of forestry practices. A horse-logging team will fell trees, while a portable saw mill transforms logs into boards. Professional woodworkers will demonstrate their craft, while visitors can try their own hand at woodworking with family-friendly projects to complete at the park, and take home. Chief Roger Longtoe Sheehan will share cultural demonstrations with forest materials, including stories and songs of the Elnu Band of the Abenaki Tribe. A horse-drawn wagon ride will connect the various activity hubs throughout the park.

Each day features a series of forest-themed scheduled programs. On Saturday morning, University of Vermont professor Walter Poleman will present his popular “Understanding the Forested Landscape” workshop from 9am-12pm at the Forest Center. At 11am, Windsor County Forester Hannah Dallas will lead a short guided walk through the woods. At 2pm, a national park ranger will present “Forestry, History and the Future,” a walking account of the site’s forest management practices across 150 years – from reforestation to climate change and invasive species adaptation.

Sunday begins with a 9am walk with Windsor County Forester AJ Follensbee. At noon, Rich Holschuh, a spokesperson for the Elnu Band of the Abenaki, and a member of the Vermont Commission for Native American Affairs, will lead a hike called, “Alosada Kpiwi (let us walk in the woods): Indigenous Perspectives on the Northeastern Forest.”  At 2pm, Amanda Anderson of Inner Lift Yoga will lead a yoga hike from the formal gardens behind the Mansion to the Prosper trailhead by way of the Pogue.

“As summer turns to fall, people are drawn to the transforming forested landscapes,” says Chief of Interpretation Stephanie Kyriazis. “Forest Festival celebrates the woods of Vermont. The park is particularly excited this year to host several indigenous presenters, sharing traditional and contemporary knowledge about the northeastern woods. Come to enjoy the storytelling, the horse-logging, the wagon rides, the artisanship of the wood workers, the hands-on crafts, or the science of sustainable forestry. The weekend will be full of fresh air and family fun.”

All Forest Festival activities are free. Regular tours of the Mansion ($8 adults, $4 seniors, children 15 and under free) will be offered at 10am, 12pm, 3pm and 4pm. Parking for the event is at the Billings Farm & Museum Overflow Lot. For more information on the event, visit https://www.nps.gov/mabi or call [phone] ext. 222.