Category Archives: Forests & Woodlands

Danby man charged with stealing from fire vehicles

Posted on March 6, 2014 by | Comments Off on Danby man charged with stealing from fire vehicles

The U.S. Forest Service has arrested Kyle M. Hoffman, 27, of Danby, and charged him with the federal felony of theft within the “Special Maritime and Territorial Jurisdiction of the United States,” the Forest Service said in a release Thursday.

The warrant for his arrest stemmed from several thefts reported in September of 2013, where federal wildland fire vehicles, Student Conservation Association vehicles and other vehicles were broken into at a Forest Service work center in Mount Tabor.

The case will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney in Burlington.

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Posted in Court, Crime, Forests & Woodlands, Rutland County

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Wardens arrest man for taking biggest buck in 20 years

Posted on January 29, 2013 by | 2 Comments

STAMFORD — Vermont game wardens say the biggest buck shot in the state in more than 20 years was shot a day after the close of the November rifle hunting season.
Wardens say they received a tip that 47-year-old Jim Smith, of Stamford, was seen removing the 10-point buck from the woods on Nov. 26. The 2012 rifle deer hunting season ended Nov. 25.
Last month Smith told wardens he’d taken the deer believing the season was still open.
Smith was charged with taking deer in closed season.
Curtis Smiley of the Vermont Big Game Trophy Club says the buck was one of the largest deer killed in the state in more than 20 years. It had a score of more than 165 on the Boone and Crockett antler scoring system.

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Posted in Conservation, Forests & Woodlands, Outdoors

A great year: No hunters injured or killed in the woods last year

Posted on January 15, 2013 by | Leave a comment

BENNINGTON — Vermont’s Department of Fish and Wildlife says no hunters were injured or killed while in the woods last year, the first time in four decades.
Chris Saunders of the department said 2010 had formerly been the lowest on record, with only two incidents.
Saunders said the three main injury types are when a hunter shoots someone else thinking they are game, shoots someone else while shooting at game, or shoots him-or herself or another when the gun fires unintentionally.
The Bennington Banner reports 1981 was the worst year for hunting injuries with a total of 27 incidents, one of them being fatal. The highest number of fatalities came in 1973, with four incidents out of a total of 18.

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Posted in Forests & Woodlands, Hunting

Amount of posted land in Vermont on the rise

Posted on November 5, 2012 by | 1 Comment

BENNINGTON — The amount of posted land in Vermont has gone up in recent years.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife says the numbers have increased since 1971, from 100,000 acres to 230,000 last year.
Unless a person takes measures to enclose or “post” their property, anyone who is properly licensed can go onto their property and hunt, fish, or trap there.
Once a person posts their property, hunters, anglers, and trappers must get permission from the landowner to conduct those activities.
The Bennington Banner reports (http://bit.ly/Uc6Kug) the department launched a service through its website that connects willing landowners with hunters. This was done in response to complaints from landowners with deer damage to their property and from hunters saying with all the posted land there are fewer places to hunt.

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Posted in Conservation, Forests & Woodlands, Hunting

Essay contest focus is forests

Posted on October 25, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Vermont Woodlands Association is holding an essay contest for high school students in Vermont, with the winning essay appearing in the spring issue of Northern Woodlands magazine.
The essay needs to be 600 words or less about why working forests in Vermont are important and how they contribute to the quality of life of all Vermonters. Along with publication in the magazine, the first prize is $1,000; second prize is $750; and third prize is $500.
A statement released by the association said, “Today, the loss of family dairy farms is being paralleled by the closing of sawmills and a decline in forest-based enterprises. It will be up to the next generation of forestland owners, citizens and voters to continue, or reverse, this trend.”
Email entries to [email protected], or send them to Vermont Woodlands Association, P.O. Box 6004, Rutland, VT 05702 and include a daytime phone number. All entries must be received by Jan. 1.

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Posted in Forests & Woodlands