• Start-up
  • Planning
  • Action
  • Evaluation

Staff from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources are currently working to update Mt. Philo State Park’s management plan, which includes a large amount of public input because of the Park’s popularity.

The project is almost complete, with an estimated completion date of spring 2022.
View from trail in Mt. Philo State Park
View of a newly constructed trail
Another view of a newly constructed Mt. Philo State Park Trail

Project Area

Above: A view of the Lake Champlain Valley from Mt. Philo State Park. Photo from Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks, and Recreation.
Mount Philo State Park is located atop Mt. Philo in Charlotte, Vermont and overlooks the Lake Champlain Valley and the Adirondack Mountains of New York. The 232-acre park is Vermont’s oldest State Park and is a popular and much-loved destination for recreation. The natural setting, including forests, cliffs, and meadows are all valued assets and the setting for the park’s recreational use. Favored activities include hiking, picnicking, and camping.

Developing the long-range management plan for Mt. Philo State Park was a complex, lengthy process that included addressing topics with broad management guidance for the future. State park operations include day-to-day strategies that focus on the function of the park facilities. Unlike other planning projects, Mt. Philo State Park’s land management elements are intertwined with park operations, making it difficult to separate individual elements from ongoing state park operations.

Management Goals

Natural resource management is crucial to enhancing recreational experiences in Vermont parks. Mt. Philo State Park is dedicated to recreation, and therefore, committed to the management of natural resources. Mt. Philo has 1.8 miles of hiking trail and 2.1 miles of road that provide access to the park's summit. Previously, trail maintenance has not been able to keep up with recreation traffic and frequency. Most trails show signs of heavy visitation, with some trails that should be 6 feet wide are now 30 feet. Funding should be focused on trail maintenance to help improve the sustainability and quality of existing trails. This program will maintain existing trails to protect natural resources while accommodating the recreational experience and high trail usage. This includes systematically widening trails and producing stable trail treads to protect vegetation and soils. This was most recently done on the House Rock Trail.

As of 2019, Vermont Forests, Parks, and Recreation is working with a trail designer to relocate portions of the Summit Trail for upgrades and improvements of accessibility and hiker traffic flow. Once these adjustments are finished, the expansion of the trail system will be considered, specifically on the northern parcel of the park.

The Vision Statement for the Park is: The healthy forests and spectacular views of Mt. Philo State Park provide a valued setting for high quality, well-managed, hiking-focused, recreational experiences that are consistent with the mission of the Department of Forests, Parks, & Recreation; are ecologically and physically sustainable; and engender a strong sense of stewardship among visitors. It provides a location where responsible and ethical recreational use does not degrade the natural communities and their associated forests, plants, and wildlife; where water and soil resources are protected; and where interpretation of natural and historic resources provide the visitor with a greater understanding and appreciation of Mt Philo State Park and the natural landscape of Vermont.

There are many specific objectives for management at the Park. Many of these focus on conserving biological diversity across the site, including many rare plants and natural communities, and improving ecosystem health, while also providing a high-quality trail system and opportunities for dispersed recreation. Here is a list of the Park's management goals taken from the signed 2019 MPSP LRMP:

  1. Maintain or enhance quality rank of natural communities and protect or enhance rare, threatened, and endangered species and their habitats.
  2. Maintain or enhance Mt. Philo State Park's ability to provide ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling, protecting soil and water resources, and providing high quality, sustainable recreational opportunities.
  3. Provide dispersed recreational opportunities and a high quality, sustainable hiking trail system where appropriate and compatible with other goals.
  4. Promote an ethic of respect for the land, sustainable use, and exemplary management.
  5. Assess, map, and prioritize management of invasive species. Control or management invasive plant populations to extent feasible.
  6. Document, protect, and interpret historic resources as feasible and appropriate.

Climate Change Impacts

Mt. Philo State Park is made out of young forests with hickories, oaks, and white pines. Forests cover is approximately 82% hardwood dominated. Wetlands take up 1.3 acres of the park, and all natural communities demonstrate high ecological value. Mt. Philo State Park is also home to 12 rare and uncommon plant species, 5 rare bat species, and 3 rare bumblebee species. Maintenance of these natural communities will benefit native bird, and pollinator species, as well as other wildlife. 

During a Forest Adaptation Planning and Practices training, managers considered numerous anticipated effects from climate change. A few impacts stood out as having the greatest potential to impact Mt. Philo State Park, including

  • Warmer temperatures and a greater number of days with extreme heat 
  • Changes in precipitation and hydrology, leading to erosion and flooding on clay plain soils
  • Increases in invasive species, which are already a management issue in the park

Poison parsnip is a popular invasive species at the park, and has seen success in management through many years of mowing timed to the plant’s life cycle, and cautious hand pulling via volunteers to avoid skin irritation. Poison parsnip has also been found to rarely grow in places where goldenrod grows. The key to invasive species is to be adaptive in management plans regarding invasive species. 

Further, one of the greatest concerns regarding climate change on the park is the effect on rare plants. There are several rare plants present or potentially present in the park, largely due to the presence of ledge outcrops and cliffs. Ecologists are collecting information on the abundance of these rare plants, as well as assessing the vulnerability of these species to changes in climate. Because some of the plant species are currently near the southern edge of their range, it is thought that these species may be particularly susceptible to changes in climate. 

Compositional changes associated with changes in thermally suitable habitat (loss of cold-adapted species and increase in warm-adapted species)
Increase in overwinter survival of pests, such as balsam and hemlock woolly adelgid
Increased physiological stress, resulting in increased susceptibility to pests and disease, decreased productivity and increased tree mortality
Increased evapotranspiration, resulting in a decrease in soil moisture; moisture limitation/stress negatively impacts productivity and survival in many plant species
Increased decomposition rate of organic material may enrich soils and make them more suitable for competitors
Decrease in winter snow pack, leading to change in deer browsing patterns, which affects regeneration
Lengthening of growing season resulting in changes in species competitiveness, especially favoring non-native invasive plants or altering phenological relationships
Increased physical damage and disturbance from extreme weather events, leading to gap formation, which could facilitate the spread of invasive plants
Support appropriate research project proposals which further understanding of climate change on Mt. Philo State Park.
Monitor ground conditions, results of management, research, and adaptations of silvicultural guides to inform management decisions and adapt treatment prescriptions as appropriate.

Challenges and Opportunities

Challenges

Manage impacts of high visitation on natural resources and recreational experiences through careful environmental stewardship, well-built facilities and consideration of visitor experiences.
Develop summit design to better address patterns of use, erosion, impact to rare species, stormwater runoff, facility capacity, etc.
Maintain north summit area as a location for quiet recreation by not scheduling group or reserved events in this area.

Opportunities

Provide outreach to groups on hiking ethic and group use.
Implement structural improvements for trail upgrades, septic capacity and water availability.
Advertise alternative recreational opportunities in the area including other state, municipal and publicly-accessible private trails.
Evaluate strategies to improve state park services including additional staff for operations, interpretation, and rule enforcement and expansion of park hours and operating season.
Evaluate requests for licenses (e.g. group events, hill climb/road rally) so that they strike appropriate balance and best serve the diversity of recreational opportunities while minimizing impacts to natural resources.

Adaptation Actions

Land managers from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources used the Adaptation Workbook to consider what actions could be used to respond to the anticipated effects of climate change on the Park. These actions have been evaluated and incorporated into the long-range management plan.

Area/Topic
Approach
Tactics
Entire park
Forest Strategy 1: Sustain fundamental ecological functions.
1.1 Reduce impacts to soils and nutrient cycling.
1.2. Maintain or restore hydrology.
2.3: Reduce soil erosion and sediment deposition
Retain species with high nutrient cycling capability
Retain or enhance coarse and fine woody material for nutrient cycling and soil protection
Conduct forest management on frozen or snow-covered ground
Rebuild soils at upper elevations by leaving substantial amounts of big trees, in addition to small trees and branches, on the ground to decompose and build soil organic matter.
Install fences to direct hikers to trails and avoid steep erodible soils.
Allow for revegetation or soil stabilization to restore compacted soils.
Minimize trail widening.
Close trails during mud season and extending periods of rain
Retain an abundance of dead trees and branches on the forest floor to maintain moisture, soil organisms and nutrient cycling functions.
Maintain adequate tree canopy and ground cover to increase water infiltration during rain storms.
Upgrade culvert sizes to accommodate greater precipitation in the future
Forest Strategy 2: Reduce the impact of biological stressors.
2.2. Prevent the introduction and establishment of invasive plant species and remove existing invasive species.
Manage invasive species as an important part of northern hardwood silviculture
Prevent the introduction and establishment of new invasive plants.
Prioritize & remove existing plants where appropriate.
2.3. Manage herbivory to promote regeneration of desired species.
Implement strategies that protect regeneration from browsing (i.e. fencing, leaving large tops)
Manage vegetation to create favorable growing conditions.
Retain multiple populations representing different environmental conditions to reduce risk of maladaptation.
Minimize disturbances in the vicinity of sensitive species.
Reroute roads or trails.
Monitor regeneration to detect reproductive success or species migration.
Forest Strategy 3: Reduce the risk and long-term impacts of severe disturbances.
Forest Strategy 5: Maintain and enhance species and structural diversity.
5.1. Promote diverse age classes.
5.2. Maintain and restore diversity of native species.
5.3. Retain biological legacies.
Maintain or enhance native species diversity
Promote age class diversity and vigorous crown development
Maintain species that naturally occur in a natural community and consider including species that may be better adapted to future conditions (i.e. oaks, hickories, white pine)
Create a diverse mix of tree species and tree ages to reduce forest impacts.
Avoid introductions of new pests that can be transported on firewood or other carriers
Forest Strategy 4: Maintain or create refugia.
4.1. Prioritize and maintain unique sites.
Maintain site quality and existing species composition where they may be better buffered against climate change and short-term disturbance
Forest Strategy 7: Promote landscape connectivity.
7.2. Maintain and create habitat corridors through reforestation or restoration.
Maintain or create forested corridors to help to promote movement of species – trees and wildlife

Monitoring

Regular monitoring will be done to ensure resources are protected from insects, fire, disease, high visitation impacts, and natural events. Minor adjustments in the plan may be made to reflect a change in climate conditions or unanticipated management plan results. Inventory, assessment, monitoring, and research are all necessary to aid assessment of progress toward achieving the stated management goals and to determine the productivity and success of the management actions.

Next Steps

The management plan was completed in 2019 and the foresters have continued to monitor the park to ensure management goals are met and the site remains intact due to this management plan. Management actions will continue to be identified that help to meet management goals while also helping to adapt forests to changing conditions.

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Keywords

Management plan

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