posted
on Wednesday, January 18, 2023
in
The Landing
Vermont Loggers Protect the Land
The first thing that strikes visitors to Vermont is its natural beauty. In the fall, the “Green Mountain State” becomes a patchwork quilt of color. Sugar maples create deep fiery reds and oranges in fall foliage. Not surprisingly, tourism is the state’s biggest industry, followed by manufacturing. Forestry contributes nine percent of Vermont’s total manufacturing output and is a $1.5-billion industry.
Almost 80 percent of the state is covered in forestland. Zachary Emerson, co-owner of Emerson & Sons Logging, grew up in Groton, near one of the state’s most picturesque forests. His father and company founder, Chris Emerson, was raised in nearby Newbury. “Vermont is small and quiet,” says Chris. “It’s like a big family. Everybody knows each other.”
This land is our land
Emerson & Sons Logging harvests sugar maples and other hardwood including ash, yellow birch, and beech, as well as softwood such as spruce, fir, and hemlock. About 50 percent of the wood the company harvests is roundwood. The other half is processed with a chipper and shipped to local biomass plants.
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