Two men have been charged under federal law in relation to unauthorized construction and alteration of snowmobile trails in the Green Mountain National Forest.
The illegal work was authorized by the owner of the Hermitage Inn and Ski Club, an exclusive members-only resort in southern Vermont.
The U.S. Forest Service says Mario Pizzuto of East Hampton, Connecticut, and Benjamin Fritz of West Dover, Vermont have been charged. Charges are pending against a third man.
The Forest Service says the violations involve a new trail built to provide access to the Deerfield Ridge Trail in Wilmington from Haystack Mountain Ski Area, which is owned by the Hermitage Inn. A portion of the construction took place on national forest land.
Additionally, the Forest Service says a section of the Deerfield Ridge Trail, also on federal land, was widened and straightened, presumably to accommodate grooming equipment. The Forest Service says the trail is classified as a ‘primitive’ snowmobile and hiking trail.
According to a Forest Service news release, the men used an excavator to do the work which, “was not done to professional standards and did not include sufficient soil stabilization, water barring and other standard erosion control measures.”
Last month, Jim Barnes, owner of the Hermitage Inn agreed to pay $25,000 in fines and more than $47,000 in restitution for the violations. The Forest Service says Barnes admitted to authorizing the work, which was first discovered in late 2012 in response to complaints from hikers, hunters and others.
Earlier this year, the state charged Hermitage Inn with 15 counts of violating land use and water quality regulations for work done on the 1,400 acre property between 2011 and 2014.
