education, forest stewardship, and recreation. Barre Town’s project is among many nationwide hoping to tap into the $3.5 million available through the program’s inaugural grant round. This includes $2 million that Congress just appropriated for the program in 2012, despite a tough fiscal climate. Supporters hope that these initial grants will build interest in the program and spur greater appropriations in the future.
BARRE TOWN PLANS FOR ITS FOREST Tom Stuwe believes that the new Barre Town forest has helped extend his life. “About 20 years ago, I was 250 pounds,” recalls the
large-animal veterinarian, who lives only a few miles from the trails association headquarters at Pierre Couture’s gen- eral store. “I saw my uncles, 300, 350 pounds, die young of type 2 diabetes, so I started mountain biking to lose weight.” Stuwe, now 63, and his daughters began riding a se- ries of logging roads and trails near their home, and he
The idea of community forests long ago escaped New England. “The movement is really about reconnecting people with their forests,” says TPL’s Jad Daley.
eventually lost 70 pounds. “But people came, bought land, built houses, and didn’t want us riding across it,” he says. This was about 2005, when the Millstone Trails Asso-
ciation was formed, driven by Couture’s long-held vision of making the old quarries the centerpiece of a recreational renaissance for Barre Town. The land’s owner, Rock of Ages Corporation, which operates the sole remaining granite quarry in Barre, “has always had an open policy about the land,” says Couture. “They get it; they’ve been terrific.” And so the trails association was able to open to the
public 1,500 acres, mostly owned by Rock of Ages, and 70 miles of trails—many of them rugged, technical single- track built by the association’s bike-loving volunteers.
Ryan Thibault
Millstone Hill trails were declared one of Vermont’s ten best mountain bike destinations by Bicycling magazine. The proposed community forestland is also used for fishing, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling by local snowmobile clubs.
A Milestone for Millstone Hill P Feature Title arks for Health 41