Randolph’s ‘Riverside Forest’

Will Receive Added Attention

Towns and cities all over the country have found that having a river running through them can be an attractive municipal resource—or an ignored no-man’s-land that too often is despoiled by trash and pollution.

A new municipal committee in Randolph has been formed to make sure that the scenic Third Branch of the White River, which traces its way for more than a mile though the village, will become the former, rather than the latter.

The committee is turning its attention especially to Randolph’s unique "riverside forest" which borders the river on the south side—and a large part of which is publicly owned.

The Town of Randolph, together with Randolph Area Community Development Corporation (RACDC), owns more than 20 acres of flood-plain forest in Randolph Village. The land begins with the RACDC Flood Plain forest reserve which lies along the river behind Pleasant Street and is accessed via Prince Street..

It continues—although with a few private parcels mixed in—upstream from the new Main Street bridge, past the recreation center, across the mouth of Thayer Brook, and all the way to Lincoln Avenue.

Mostly forested, this public land is considered unique for eastern Vermont because it is the only extensive flood-plain forest included in the Vermont portion of the Connecticut River Watershed. The White River is a tributary of the Connecticut.

According to the Nature Conservancy and the Vermont Non-Game and Natural Heritage Program, the land is also the site for various state-threatened and uncommon species of plants calling for protection from human degradation and invasive plants.

The forested part of this land has previously been included by the selectboard as municipal forest, overseen by the Forest Committee.

The open lands along the river are under the watchful eye of the Public Works department and the Recreation Committee. Now a new committee, known as the Riverside Forest & Recreation Committee, has been formed to develop plans for the best public use of the forested area, hoping to make the recreation lands better available to the public while protecting the wild areas and rare plants.

"Randolph is fortunate to own this special natural area with easy access by village residents," said former Selectman Steve Springer. "The goal of the committee is to make these lands into an even greater asset for those who live in the village, and for citizens of the region as well."

Springer will co-chair the new committee along with Julie Iffland, executive director of RACDC. Also on the committee are Lynn McNamara, specialist in invasive plants, Damon Lease of the Recreation Committee, Public Works Supervisor John Rotter, and Sidney McLam and David Crosby, both of the Town Forest Committee.

The Riverside Committee is open to additional working members. Anyone interested and willing to help should contact Town Manager Peter Butterfield.