A pilot program that helped loggers install stronger flood-resistant infrastructure to better handle extreme weather is about to run out of money, and supporters want the lawmakers to fund the program on a permanent basis.
In 2025 the Vermont Legislature allocated about $1 million to the program, which provides financial assistance to logging contractors to support water quality and climate adaptation practices.
The program kicked off in July 2025 and has funded projects such as skid trail improvements, truck landing hardening and temporary and permanent stream crossings.
Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation Watershed Forestry Program Manager Dave Wilcox said the program has been successful and in demand.
Wilcox said the extreme rains and flooding in 2023 and 2024, and warmer winters, highlighted the need for supporting sustainable logging practices, which have become more complicated and more expensive.
If the roads and culverts into and out of logging sites are not appropriately sized, they can be prone to runoff and erosion, affecting water quality downstream.
“With the weather we’ve been seeing, what used to work just doesn’t work anymore."Dave Wilcox, Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation
“With the weather we’ve been seeing, what used to work just doesn’t work anymore,” Wilcox said. “So we’re improving our practices, and this program helps loggers pay for those upgrades.”
Along with the challenging weather patterns, which can limit the time loggers are in the woods, Wilcox said the logging market has been squeezed by shrinking markets, tariffs, and low margins.
So by ensuring there is money to pay for the infrastructure, Wilcox said there is a better chance the environment can be protected.
“The loggers are used to doing some of these things, but they’re used to doing it on their own dime,” he said. “So there’s been a real buy-in. When the bridges and culverts are done right it protects water quality, and the environment.”
The department received 33 applications, and of those 16 have been approved. Six, so far, have been completed.
The average cost of each project has been just under $13,000.
The funding will run out in 2026, according to Wilcox.
“One of the best parts of the program is it allows us to get out more and talk to people and see the work they are doing,” he said. “It helps us provide input and have a better working relationship with the loggers. I would love to see it continue.”
