Project Overview

The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR) is embarking on a robust public engagement project with Future iQ entitled the Vermont Forest Future Strategic Roadmap project. This ambitious project will identify opportunities to help Vermont chart a path forward to protect the long-term viability of forest-based businesses – and the many benefits they provide to the state’s environment, economy, and quality of life.

The goal of the Forest Future Strategic Roadmap project is to evaluate the current state of Vermont’s forest economy and to identify the opportunities to strengthen, modernize, promote, and protect the forest economy into the future. This process is engaging with the parties which represent all users of Vermont’s forests in a deep public engagement process and will develop a 10-year plan of recommended actionable strategies to protect the long-term viability of forest-based businesses, via the Forest Future Strategic Roadmap.

The intended outcomes of the Vermont Forest Future Strategic Roadmap are to:

• Increase sustainable economic development and jobs in VT forest economy
• Promote ways to expand the workforce and strengthen forest product enterprises
• Promote the importance of healthy, resilient, and sustainably managed working forests
• Identify actionable strategies to strengthen, modernize, promote, and protect Vermont’s forest products sector