SUMMARY:
Land owned by College
Middlebury College owns a significant portion of land beyond what is known as the main campus (225 acres of campus lands and athletic fields.) We own many small properties in the town of Middlebury, a significant amount of farmland in the area, and over 4000 acres of woodlands. The management of the main college campus and athletic fields is addressed in the section on "Landscaping."
Farmlands
Farmlands are under long-term lease to farmers, who must demonstrate intent of improving the land and optimizing yield capacity with good cropping practices. They are not permitted to employ pesticides with long-term effects in the soil.
Woodlands
Woodlands include 200 acres contiguous to the main campus and 1000 acres surrounding the Bread Loaf campus. The woodlands not designated as "protected" are managed with the goals of protecting intrinsic values, aesthetics, biological diversity, wildlife habitat and providing an educational experience. Timber is harvested periodically according to sustainable forestry practices. (Following state regulations, maintaining buffers, and minimizing damage to residual stands.) About 900 acres are designated as protected areas, including a research area in Middlebury and about 200 acres of riparian areas along the Middlebury River and Otter Creek. A few years ago a gift of 37 acres of woodland in the Cornwall Swamp was transferred to the Nature Conservancy as a part of a larger conservation effort.
Wallace, Floyd, Associates Master Plan, 1996
In Chapter 4 of the Master Plan, it is recommended that the College should consider developing a comprehensive Land Management Plan which addresses all College owned land in depth. This Master Plan only addresses College owned lands on and contingent to the main campus.
| Lands |
Acres |
Percentage |
|---|
| Woodlands |
4113.56 |
60.58% |
| Farmlands |
1653.55 |
24.35% |
| Developed |
354.39 |
5.22% |
| Other |
668.96 |
9.85% |
| Total (1998) |
6790.46 |
100.00% |
(Developed = Campus and athletic fields (225 acres) & Bread Loaf campus (40 acres) & houses (88 acres)
| Woodlands |
Acres |
Percentage |
|---|
| Protected |
929.9 |
22.61% |
| Managed |
3183.6 |
77.39% |
| Total |
4113.5 |
100.00% |
| How is farmland managed? |
leased to farmers |
| What restrictions are on the leases? |
must improve the land |
| optimize yield |
| no long-term residual pesticides |
| How is forest-land managed? |
sustainable forestry |
| create openings for natural regeneration |
| buffer strips in riparian areas |
| uncommon species maintained |
| Educational values of land? |
memo of understanding w/ Forest Service - allows for joint projects |
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Identify protected areas on maps. Protected areas should be clearly identified on campus master planning maps and buffered. Important natural features (trees, etc.) should also be identified on these maps and protected.
2. Reaffirm protection of lands. Areas that are designated as protected and mapped should be reaffirmed by the current administration of the College, particularly in light of development projects. We may want to take this opportunity to identify more areas that should be protected.
3. Develop more educational opportunities. The land owned and managed by the College provides great opportunity for classroom projects and research. The College has developed a memo of understanding with the Forest Service for entering into joint projects such as stream monitoring, aquatic habitat restoration, and streambank stabilization. We should make use of these opportunities more fully.
4. Develop a comprehensive land management plan. College lands beyond the periphery of the main campus should be considered and included in a management plan as recommended in the Wallace, Floyd, Associates Master Plan.
SOURCES:
Steve Weber - College Forester
COMPILED BY:
Jennifer Hazen