“These trails came along at a crucial time and had a
big impact on my health,” says Stuwe, who was demoral- ized without an easy place to ride. “I need the getaway for my heart and lungs—but more for my brain. Just the intense cardiovascular workout; really, it’s like Prozac,” the vet says. “It’s a big area with a lot of solitude, and it’s a unique blessing for me and my family.” In addition to local riders, the trails began to attract out-of-town visitors. Millstone Hill has been praised in the Boston Globe, declared one of Vermont’s ten best mountain bike destinations by Bicycling magazine, and fea- tured in other biking, ski, and travel magazines and web- sites. YouTube videos show riders braving Roller Coaster and other challenging trails. Couture opened a small lodge for visiting mountain bikers and cross-country skiers and a one-room museum beside the general store, where visitors can view historic photos and exhibits about the quarry lands. Then the trails association got some troubling news.
Rock of Ages was thinking about selling its land. “We initially saw that as a threat,” Fraysier recalls. “If the land got developed, the heart of our trail network could be closed off. But after talking with TPL, we began to see this as an opportunity to preserve the recreational opportunities at Millstone in perpetuity. And this really is a rich piece of our heritage: the first granite quarries in town, established in 1790.” “It seemed as though, with right planning and com-
munity participation, we could find a way to protect these wonderful trails, and the whole forest, for the good of the town and surrounding region,” says TPL project manager Kate Wanner, who worked with local leaders on the project. The town formed a forest study committee, which
developed a proposal to consolidate the Rock of Ages land with four other private parcels and the land of two village water districts into a town-owned forest. In addition to the hoped-for funding from the federal Community Forest Program, TPL has secured $310,000 from the state of Vermont and $255,000 from private founda- tions. The Millstone Trails Association has committed to raising $100,000 from private donors. And despite hard times, town residents voted by more than two to one to put $100,000 toward the $1.3 million effort.
“If the land got developed, the heart of our trail network could be closed off. But after talking with TPL, we began to see this as an opportunity to preserve recreational opportunities in perpetuity.”
—Mike Fraysier, Millstone Trails Association “The town forest will have an immense positive
impact on the economy of the region,” says Darren Winham, who leads Barre Area Development, Inc., a nonprofit economic development group that has sup- ported the project. “Retail and restaurants will spring up, and other employers are already seeing the biking trails as a recruiting tool for attracting new employees.” A recent study commissioned by TPL supports
Winham’s optimism. It estimates that visitor expen- ditures for goods and services could total $2.3 million between 2012 and 2015. (See sidebar, page 42.) Tom Stuwe hopes the deal can be finalized soon. “I’m
still working full-time,” the veterinarian says. “My work is very physical, and being able to get out and bike on those trails is an integral part of keeping in shape. This will keep me wrestling cows and horses into my seventies.” Of course, the health benefits of close-to-home recre-
ation lands are not limited to rural Vermont. As community forests multiply across the nation, they could become important in improving public health in many places. As for my own visit to Millstone Hill, I made it
uninjured over Roller Coaster, even biking a bit of it. I’ll look forward to getting back to the hill’s handsome trees, haunting granite, and twisting trails, hoping that by the time I return, they’ll all belong to Barre Town.
Joshua Brown is a science writer whose work has appeared in the Boston Globe, U.S. News & World Report, and Conservation. He writes and teaches environmental journalism at the University of Vermont.
To view a gallery of historical images from Vermont granite quarries, visit
tpl.org/millstone/gallery.
A Milestone for Millstone Hill
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