Veterans Day
Final curtain
Shelburne recaps day that honors those who served
Palace 9 shows its last film
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Volume 52 Number 48
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shelburnenews.com
November 30, 2023
Scientists, researchers offer trees a new path
Light show
Ongoing research at Shelburne Farms LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
PHOTOS BY LEE KROHN
Shelburne Museum’s popular Winter Lights returns for the winter season. See more photos, page 10.
For researchers, foresters and other experts in the field, the truth is simple: the rate of climate change is accelerating, and trees simply can’t keep up. Assuming, of course, that trees don’t make their way to the dealership to buy an electric vehicle to speed up the commute, which leaves scientists to explore a wide range of options to protect them from the inevitable effects of an earth that’s heating up. These ecological management strategies have been the basis for much of Anthony D’Amato’s research as the director of the forestry program and research forests at the University of Vermont. One approach he, other researchers at UVM and ecologists across the globe have been exploring is assisted forest migration — human-assisted movement of a tree species, either within its current range into places where it is expected to do well in the future, or in some cases, movement beyond the current range into places that are expected to
Anthony D’Amato
change climatically and make it more favorable location in coming years and decades. Although tree species follow a slow and steady migration pattern on their own, the unprecedented rate of climate change that researchers now see poses new risks to many forests that have otherwise been historically resilient to changes in the environment. The general estimate for trees in the New England region, on average, is a dispersion rate of See D’AMATO on page 13
Holiday tree traditions live on at Parade Ground LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
Every town has it’s own unofficial “third-places,” or places where people gather and spend time between work and home. In Shelburne during the holiday season, residents say that the most prominent third place is the annual Christmas tree stand on the
village green. The tradition spearheaded by Shelburne’s Scout Troop 602 in the 1970s has been a town hot spot for decades. It all begins the day after Thanksgiving and has evolved into much more than just a place to buy a tree. While the place offers a convenient location for residents to bask in the yule-tide spirit, it
also has become a tradition for many families across the country who make an event out of traveling to the quintessential Vermont town to haul home a fresh pine — including the loyal customer from Connecticut who makes the trek almost every year. “People come from all over the county because the trees that we get are really, really good,” said
troop leader Mark Healey. “This one guy comes from Connecticut every year. We always ask when you’re tying the tree on the car roof, ‘How far are you going?’ We will tie an extra string depending on how far. It was just hilarious when this guy said he’s from Connecticut and we’re like, ‘We’re going to need some more string.’”
The trees have always come from the Moffat’s farm in Craftsbury — a fourth-generation Christmas tree farm. On average, the troop sells nearly 1,300 of the balsam and Fraser fir trees — and the one specialty white pine — each year. See HOLIDAY TREE on page 9