431 Acres of Forest
Preserved in Rochester

The twin chunks of forest land stare at each other from opposite sides of Rochester valley, and thanks to conservation easements recently donated by the owners of each parcel, neither property will be developed in the future. Instead, they will continue to be managed for sustainable timber harvests, thanks to landowners who each conserved their land with the Vermont Land Trust.

Sarah Gruenig purchased her Rochester property in 1980, enjoying hiking and horseback riding on the property and living in a house at the base of the hillside.

Many years later she sold off the house and horse barn, but retained 213 acres of timber land, working with a forester who guided her timber management activities. Her rectangular property, located off Beans Bridge Road, is sandwiched between units of the Green Mountain National Forest forming her north and south boundaries, and the Great Hawk development to the west.

Mike and Diane Teetsel are relatively new to the valley, purchasing their land in 2001 and building a house shortly thereafter. Their 218-acre property fronts on Bethel Mountain Road and Cooper’s Run, and stretches over a mile from the west end to the top of Rochester Mountain on the east. Their land abuts the 375-acre Riley Bostwick Wildlife Management Area owned by the State of Vermont.

The similarities between the properties extend beyond size, shape and being next to public land. Both are dominated by hardwood forests, but have scattered pine stands in some areas, and both are under the management oversight of private, consulting foresters. The conservation easement will allow this forest management to continue.

"Conservation easements are a great management tool for woodland owners" said Mark McEathron, Central Vermont Director of the Vermont Land Trust. "The easements allow timber management to continue, provided there is a quality management plan in place to thoughtfully guide timber harvests. The Vermont Land Trust wants to see farming or forest management taking place on the lands we have helped conserve."

"Mike and I aren’t preserving the whole world, but we can preserve our part of it," Diane Teetsel explained. We feel fortunate that our land gives us peace, joy and happiness and that is what we have decided to preserve for all who come after us."