INSIDE SMOKEY HOUSE CENTER REBOOTED SMOKEY HOUSE CENTER WELCOMES A NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WHY I BELIEVE IN SHC WELCOMING BACK EDUCATION AT SMOKEY HOUSE CENTER OUR FARMS PIONEERING INNOVATIVE EQUITY FUNDS CONSERVATION THRIVES AT SHC WHAT’S HAPPENING IN OUR FORESTS

Smokey House Center

Smokey House Center Happenings In the Classroom and On the Land

2013

Photo by: David Middleton

Smokey House Center Rebooted President’s Message

I’m happy to report that a lot has been going on behind the scenes over the past two and a half years in the interim of Smokey House Center’s educational programming.

The Board of Directors has undertaken a comprehensive planning initiative with the help of people from outside the organization to craft a clear Mission and Vision for Smokey House Center that will move us forward in a much more financially sustainable way. The Case Statement, adopted by the Board in March, provides a framework for utilizing the 5000+ acres of forest and farmland by forging pioneering partnerships with private entities involved in agriculture and education, and will serve as the springboard for developing a three-year strategic plan. We believe strongly in the power of land, agriculture and learning.

I hope you will get excited as you read the articles in the following pages. You will see in “Welcoming Back Education at Smokey House Center— YouthWork and Learn” how through our new partnership with the 40-year old Tutorial Center in Bennington and Manchester, Smokey House continues to provide our community’s youth and adults alike with an outdoor classroom. In “Our Farms” read about our three private farming operations on the property and in “Conservation Thrives at Smokey House Center”, hear about how we are protecting prime building lots on the side of the mountain from future development pressures and .

I want to personally thank the Smokey House Center Board for their tireless efforts to chart a course for Smokey House Center. They have worked closely with Dr. Nancy Grossman who drove the work researching sustainable educational models, as well as with Greg Horner who looked at agricultural initiatives. I also wish to thank John M. Whalen who temporarily took on the role of Administrator during this transition. Smokey House Center has achieved maturity in its 40 years by a commitment to its long-standing purpose with regard to land, agriculture, youth and learning. As we emerge from a challenging economic period, we aim to develop an organization with the leadership and financial stability that builds on our rich history.

- Paul Beaulieu

Photos by: David Middleton

Smokey House Center Welcomes a New Executive Director By Paul Beaulieu

Over the past six months, the Board undertook an exhaustive search for a person to lead Smokey House Center (SHC) as it expands its programming by integrating several agricultural and educational partnerships. Working with Isaacson, Miller, a national non-profit search firm, our extensive process culminated in October in the hiring of Jesse Pyles as our new Executive Director.

Jesse Pyles is no stranger to Southern Vermont or SHC. His wife Laura was a Crew Leader here from 2005 to 2009, while Jesse lived on the property and worked at Green Mountain College and Merck Forest and Farmland Center. In 2009 Jesse and his family moved to Unity, Maine where he served Unity College over the past five years as Director of Sustainability. Bringing his deep experience gained at Unity College, with its national reputation as a leader in Environmental Sustainability, we are excited to have Jesse driving our next steps.

Jesse earned a BA in Environmental Studies from Pace University and an MS in Environmental Education at the Expedition Education Institute at Lesley University. Originally from West Virginia, he and his wife Laura have two children, Addis and Hazel.

Twenty years ago, when I was new to Manchester, my family and I took an autumn drive, leaf peeping up over Danby Mountain Road. After we had passed all the houses of Dorset rising up the mountain road, we traveled through the woods and then emerged into the most beautiful high valley of fields and farmsteads surrounded by embracing peaks. This was my introduction to the lands of Smokey House Center (SHC).

Over the years I came to know the work and mission of Smokey House Center: Land, Agriculture, and Learning. I have bought their produce at farmers markets, have come to know the farmers working the land and seen how the land produces a valuable work ethic in the lives of youth.

Last January when board president Paul Beaulieu asked me to join the board, I surprised him and myself by accepting without hesitation. I realized that the SHC mission combines all of my major passions: conservation of working lands, educational opportunities for at-risk youth and sustainable

local agriculture. And the chance for me to work with the board as they re-launched the education program was too good to be missed.

This coming year SHC will mark its 40th year of operation. I am excited to be a part of this as we ensure that these lands are fully protected, that they are accessible to and fully utilized by our young, entrepreneurial farmers and that a new generation of youth will benefit from both the learning and the working experiences provided by them.

Why I Believe in Smokey House Center By Consie West

Consie West, SHC’s newest board member, developed a passion for conservation early in life, growing up in northern Delaware where suburban pressures gnawed at the edges of the meadows and woodlands she played in. Through careful planning, she and her siblings were able to preserve those lands for the enjoyment of all. Since then she has lived in Alaska and Wisconsin, and has spent the last 30 years in Vermont where she has been involved in conservation projects with the Vermont Land Trust and the Vermont Chapter of the Nature Conservancy.

Photo by Sarah Dejong

Welcoming Back Education at Smokey House Center — YouthWork and Learn

Behind the old Milk House, students have carved a new garden from the rocky, weedy field. In the kitchen they’ve made dandelion jelly, fresh salsa, and pumpkin bread from home-grown ingredients. Stop by on a school day to find herbs drying downstairs while students are upstairs writing blog posts. The best learning is active, and these students are fully engaged.

After a two-year hiatus dedicated to reflection and research, education is back at Smokey House, alive and growing due to a new partnership between The Tutorial Center (TTC) of Manchester and Bennington and the Smokey House Center. The centerpiece of this partnership is a pro-gram for high school stu-dents who are not thriving in the traditional class-room. An interdisciplinary, experiential approach to learning, YouthWork and Learn takes the best as-pects of the former, much-acclaimed Smokey House Youthwork program and combines it with The Tutori-

al Center’s decades of expertise in education (including the award-winning Youth Agriculture Project). The result is a full-day educational program that uses real-world work skills and relevant projects to move students toward rigorous academic and personal goals.

The pilot program for YouthWork and Learn began last spring, when high school students spent two days a week at Smokey House, gaining valuable work experience as well as knowledge about the practice and business of agriculture in Ver-mont. Since then the

program has expanded to provide more project-based learning opportunities.

In the meantime, the Field Studies Program, begun in 1994, has continued under TTC instructors, turning local students into young scientists purposefully monitoring invasive species, investigating animal activity, and checking water quality. 7th graders from Dorset School continue to come for two weeks of intensive environmental science work each spring, and now TTC is reaching out to provide inquiry-based science experiences for other local schools. The community is

also excited about the potential for collaboration between local scientists, farmers and land managers, students, and community members around accumu-lated field studies data. The ecological diversity at Smokey House along with accumulated field studies data from the past decades as well as today is an important resource.

It is an exciting time to be involved with The Tutorial Center at Smokey House. Every day provides new opportunities for staff and students’ learning, innovation, and develop-ment.

FOUNDED IN 1971, THE TUTORIAL CENTER IS A

NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED NON-

PROFIT THAT ENHANCES LITERACY,

WORK READINESS, AND OTHER BASIC

SKILLS OF YOUTH AND ADULTS IN SOUTHERN VERMONT AND UPPER

NEW YORK STATE.

By Juanita Burch‐Clay 

Students arrive at SHC

on opening day

Photo: Sarah DeJong

For more information, please contact Juanita Burch-Clay at juanitabc@tutorialcenter.org

Students learn in the field

Our Farms

From Jersey cows and apples to the sugarbush, our farmers have been hard at work making their farms even more environmentally sustainable and productive. Here is a peek:

Caleb and Jess Smith of Dorset Peak Jerseys continue to expand their herd of regis-tered Jersey cows, now counting a full 140 head on the farm. In May, the farm began its

transition to a true no-till system for crop and forage production, saving time and

fuel while protecting soil and water quality. Twenty-one cows are due between now and the new year. The owners are grateful to share their lives with these special animals every day.

At Yoder Farm, Rachel, Ryan and Asa have been busy following the ups and

downs of the season. On the downside, the relatively wet, dark summer caused many early triages, led to some loss of beans and popcorn crops, and dealt a death blow to the last third of the strawberry crop. On the upside, our new high tunnel allowed us to get bumper crops of both snap peas and tomatoes, and new tillage and cultivation equipment created efficien-cies that will allow the farm to expand for the next several years. Looking

forward, our prototype vinegar tank is almost ready to fill up for the first time and turn out some tasty vinegar, there is a bumper crop of apples out there and we are now ex-panding by making many of our products at a licensed facility in Sunderland.

Two Dog Farm expanded its operation in 2013 with the purchase of a round baler and wrapper in order to be more efficient in making its own feed for the beef cattle. The cattle herd is

growing, six calves born this summer. In addition,

the farm brought on a full-time employee, Michael Gates, with the hopes of moving the vegetable and berry operation to the next level. Exciting-ly, 2014 holds plans for additional taps, which will follow

this year’s expansion in sugarbush. Are your taste buds watering? Join the national artisan food movement and stop by the new and improved farm stand to pick up products of all three farms. The farm stand is self-serve and open to the public daily from 7 am to 9 pm.

STOP BY THE NEW AND IMPROVED

FARM STAND TO PICK UP

PRODUCTS OF ALL

THREE FARMS.

DAILY FROM 7 AM

TO 9 PM.

By Ryan Yoder with contributions from Sue Katt and Caleb Smith

Photo by Jess Smith

Photos by: David Middleton

Pioneering Innovative Equity Funds By John Whalen  

Historically, many farmers at the end of their careers were left with no alternative but the sale of their farmland to developers in order to provide for themselves and their families. If farmers did not own the land they farmed but instead were leasing it, they were frequently left in the unfortunate position of facing their latter years with meager resources. In either case, development on the lands or a scrape-by existence, the situation was not an attractive one.

For years, Smokey House Center has leased its farms to different farmers. Now, with the benefit of a grant from the Castanea Foundation, SHC has created an equity fund and from it developed the concept of an equity agreement for one of its farms. This

agreement provides that annually over the course of the lease, a sum (the amount depending on the investment performance of the equity fund) is earmarked for payment to the farmer at the end of the lease term. Hence the idea is to create a retirement-like fund, not unlike the concept behind a 401(k), for the farmers so that at the end of their farming career, they will have accumulated some equity on which to fall back.

It is an expectation of SHC that the conservation of the Lewis Farm will bring

additional financial support so that equity funds and agreements can be established for the other two farms at SHC.

THE IDEA IS TO CREATE A RETIREMENT-LIKE FUND, NOT

UNLIKE THE CONCEPT BE-HIND A 401(K), FOR THE

FARMERS SO THAT AT THE

END OF THEIR FARMING CA-REER, THEY WILL HAVE AC-CUMULATED SOME EQUITY

ON WHICH TO FALL BACK.

Photos by: David Middleton

Conservation Thrives at SHC

Conservation of lands has a long history at Smokey House Center. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Stephen and Audrey Currier began assembling what would become Smokey House Center by buying up farms and forest land surrounding their original farmstead property. Although modern conservation easements did not exist then, they built a de facto land trust by creating this large block of land. Their work was cut short by their tragic death, but the conservation continued under the administration of the Taconic Foundation. In 1995 the lands of Smokey House were conveyed from the Taconic Foundation to Smokey House Center. Then in 2003, after a thorough strategic planning process, the Board of Smokey House placed conservation easements on the major portion of the forest and agricultural lands, legally limiting use of the land in order to protect its conservation values in perpetuity. These easements are held by the New England Forestry Foundation. At that point, there were excluded a number of potentially developable lots that could be sold in the future, if needed. These were called “banked lots.” Most recently, the Board has affirmed its commitment to conservation by voting to place conservation easements on the banked lots and also on the large Lewis Farm, a total of more than 300 acres of agricultural lands. The funds raised to conserve this acreage will be used to add to the equity funds for the farmers’ retirements, creating a new model for farming in Vermont, that of young farmers leasing affordable land while being able to save for a comfortable retirement.

THE BOARD HAS AFFIRMED ITS

COMMITMENT TO CONSERVATION

By Consie West

Photo by: David Middleton

Walk the 4,700 acre Smokey House forest and you’ll notice how it ranges in elevation from 800’ to 3500’ and includes a diverse array of ecological types and wildlife habitats. You will see alpine conditions as well as rich lower elevation forests on limestone soils. If you are lucky, you will spy numerous species that need large, unbroken habitats which they find in the Smokey House Center forest. And because the entire forest has been permanently protected, you’ll see flourishing rare plant and animal species. Depending on the shoes of the person in which you are walking, you will see unique value in our forests. Smokey House Center and

professional foresters carefully manage the forest to provide periodic income and support for the regional timber economy. In order to ensure we are managing the forests optimally, this past

year we updated our forest management plan, which the state of Vermont approved in the fall. For students of all ages, the forest provides an important educational

resource, serving as a hands-on learning tool. And finally, and equally noteworthy, is the significant watershed value that is provided by the forested headwaters at Smokey House Center that eventually reach Otter Creek and beyond- though flippers, rather than shoes, may be best for that view.

DEPENDING ON THE SHOES OF

THE PERSON IN WHICH YOU ARE WALKING, YOU

WILL SEE UNIQUE VALUE IN OUR

FORESTS.

By Curtis Rand

Contact us Smokey House Center, 426 Danby Mountain Road, Danby, VT 05739 (802) 293-2300 shc@smokeyhouse.org www.smokeyhouse.org

What's Happening in our Forests

Photo by: David Middleton

Land. Agriculture. Learning.

Smokey House Center encompasses 5,000 acres of conserved forest and farmland in Southern Vermont. In addition to managing conserved forest and farmland, Smokey House Center’s fundamental purpose is to maintain a working landscape that promotes sustainable agricultural and forestry practices while engaging people in meaningful ways. This includes providing educational programming that enables people to develop the skills needed to be productive and self-sufficient members of their communities.

Our Mission