DRAFT ACFC

The Andrews Community Forest (ACF) is owned by the Town of Richmond, with the Richmond Selectboard ultimately responsible for the Forest’s management and stewardship. The Selectboard has delegated much of this responsibility to the nine-member, advisory Andrews Community Forest Committee. It meets monthly at the TownCenter, usually on the fourth Monday. For dates, start times, materials and Zoom links of upcoming meetings, please see the list below, Front Porch Forum announcements or the Town Calendar.

As with all Town boards and committees, the ACFC encourages interested members of the public to take part in its meetings and activities, and to apply for open seats on the Committee as they come up. Or use the Contact link below to share an idea or ask us a question. 

• ACFC bylaws
• 2025 Annual Report to the Town ACFC Town Report 2025
• Contact the Committee   - email: richmondtownforest@ gmail.com

The ACFC normally meets on the 4^th Monday of the month at 6:00 PM in the Richmond TownCenter Building. 
See the Town Calendar for dates and agendas.  
Access upcoming meeting documents by clicking on the meeting. 

The ACFC manages the Forest according to a comprehensive plan based on extensive public input and designed to protect and even enhance the Forest’s many natural, recreational and educational resources. 

The Plan is periodically updated to incorporate new knowledge about the Forest, its ecological functions, community wishes and stewardship priorities. Maps and appendices provide important background information about the goals and actions found throughout the Plan. The Plan’s provisions are based on requirements and guidelines spelled out in the Conservation Easement, Richmond Town Plan and Richmond Zoning Regulations. 

Current Plan and Maps

• ACF Management Plan (2018)
  • Maps and appendices 

Guiding Documents

• Sections of 2026 Richmond Town Plan Relevant to ACF [now in unpublished document “ACF and ACFC in the 2026 Town Plan.pdf”] Prior version here]
• Richmond Zoning Regulations (ACF-Relevant Sections)
• Conservation Easement

In 2021 the ACFC commissioned consultants’ recommendations for a trail plan with significant differences from a concept map included in the Management Plan. Those differences required a full revision of the Plan.

The ACFC has used this opportunity to update the entire Management Plan with new information about the Forest, best management practices and community inputs not available for the original draft. For example, the new Plan will acknowledge our Town’s responsibilities to the Forest’s original stewards, the Western Abenaki people. The entire document is being reformatted to make it easier to find needed information.
Current draft of Revised Management Plan (Current as of April 2025) [Need to update link when advanced by ACFC]

Source Information

• Ecological Trail Planning (Arrowwood Environmental June 2021) [*link]
• Detailed Field Assessment  (Arrowwood Environmental November 2022)
• VermontLand Trust – at Page 87 in Current Management Plan or here
• Audubon Vermont - at Page 258 in  Current Management Plan or here
• Field Naturalists Report[*link]

Public Input

• Community feedback and committee response regarding trail proposal (Spring 2022)
  • Consultants’ Expanded Additional Responses to ACF Committee (2018)
• 2023 draft Management Plan
• Summary of Public meeting Feedback March 2023) [*link]
• Other public comments and background information 

* [links to Wordpress – need to archive content to Town website]

Plan
 

The 2017 ACF Forestry Management Plan is built on the principles of “ecological forestry,” which uses practices such as the careful harvesting of trees to emulate the natural disturbances that foster greater biodiversity and forest resilience, as well as repairing damage resulting from prior practices such as clear-cutting. It also addresses the ACF’s role and contributions to its 70,000-acre forest block – one of the state’s highest-priority blocks – as well as wildlife habitat, water management, recreation, invasive species control and other topics. It describes the Forest’s division into three zones, each with its own management approach. 

Since the Forestry Management Plan was adopted, several acres have been harvested. Some of the wood was sold, with proceeds going to the Forest’s management fund. Other wood was milled and stored on site, for use in picnic tables, information kiosks and other infrastructure. Firewood was donated to a local non-profit that makes it available for little or no cost to disadvantaged families and individuals. Younger, more diverse growth is taking hold and new, broader range of bird life can already be observed.

Forestry Maps

• ACF Soil Map (2019)
• Forest Stands (2019)
• Forest Stands -Topo (2019)
• Management Intensity Zones (2019)
• Forestry Activities Map (2019)
• ACF Invasives Map 090119
• Example Forester Agreement 072419)

Video “ACF Ecological Forestry in the ACFC” (Youtube)

LINK TO COMMUNITY PAGE