Vermont Business Magazine Dishmill Brook drains 4110 acres of land in the Burke Mountain area, 35 percent of which is Darling State Park and a small portion of Victory State Forest. The upper portions of Burke Mountain Resort are located on leased State land which is part of Darling State Park. In partnership with Burke Mountain Resort, the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation has made significant investments in improving the stability of the Fire Road on Darling State Park.
This road was originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps to provide access around Burke Mountain for fire protection but has become less critical as neighboring municipalities and Forests, Parks and Recreation have built roads providing better access to the forests of the region.
The Fire Road was in a condition that was actively eroding with each storm event, culverts were failing on a regular basis and the road was nearly impassable for all except those with significant ground clearance. The road had essentially degraded to the point that is was being maintained as a multi-use trail from the ski area to Victory State Forest.
After consultation with the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Historic Preservation office, and Burke Mountain Resort we took measures to limit the risk of further erosion and infrastructure failure along 2.3 miles of the Fire Road. The work included outsloping a majority of the road surface, removing failing culverts, installing numerous waterbars along the entire length of the road and reinforcing waterbars with larger stone where large volumes of water was anticipated. The work also included the placement of large boulders along the route to prevent off road vehicles and a gate at the Toll Road within the Ski lease area. Measures were taken to protect this corridor as a multi-use recreation trail and will be maintained as such into the future.
All of this work was made possible with the generous support of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation’s Ecosystem Restoration Program (ERP) and funding from Burke Mountain Resort. The work was completed during the fall of 2019 by Darrel Matthews of Waterford, Vermont.
Source: Burke-DEC 3.2.2020