VT LEAP
August 2025 Newsletter
Hello and a Happy Summer to all of the forestry folk enjoying the most active woodland season of the year! Our August newsletter is here, bringing with it tidings of beneficial programs, opportunities, and information for forest enthusiasts and business professionals of various Vermont woods backgrounds.
A brief summary of information for current events and programs can be found below. 
The Vermont Housing Conservation Board Presents: The Viability Program for Specialized Business Support
The Vermont Housing Conservation Board is offering enrollment into the Viability Program for Specialized Business Support. If you are a farm or forest business seeking an advisor for the short or long term plan, this program is for you. This applies to all consulting foresters, farms of all sizes, loggers, maple producers, sawmills, and craftspeople!
What the Viability Program does:
- Business Planning
- Enterprise Analysis
- Financial Record-keeping and Management
- Marketing and Sales
- Human Resources Management
- Management Coaching
- Retirement & Ownership Succession Planning
Click here to find out more and to enroll!
An Opportunity from the UVM Extension Business Team to Maple Professionals
For those who have attended the Spring LEAP Workshops for Maple sugaring, or if you are in the maple tapping business or own a sugarbush, the UVM Extension Business Team would like to offer you some useful information about Forest Business and Maple Business programming!
You’re receiving this email because you participated in the LEAP Spring Sugaring workshop this past June. I’m following up to share some resources from the UVM Extension Agricultural Business team that may be of interest to you.
1. Maple Sap Business Promotion Program
This program offers one-on-one support to help you:
- Assess the productive potential of your maple woods
- Develop start-up investment budgets
- Conduct cost-of-production analyses
Our goal is to help you evaluate the feasibility of starting a sap operation.
2. Forest Business Program
This program supports businesses in Vermont’s forest products sector with:
- Management tools and resources
- Skills development
- Personalized business planning services
To learn more about these programs and other services we offer, please visit the team’s website or reach out directly to Chris Lindgren at [email protected].
REMINDER TO APPLY FOR SLoCAMP FUNDING
Funded by the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation and administered by the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast, this grant-funded initiative supports loggers in implementing best practices that protect water quality and forest health during timber harvests. Take advantage of this opportunity while the grant lasts, as it could save you some of the financial cost of funding your site work!
Through SLOcamp, eligible loggers can apply for funding to support upcoming harvests—whether that means investing in equipment upgrades, site planning, or other improvements aligned with Vermont’s Acceptable Management Practices (AMPs).
If you have a timber job scheduled this year, it’s a great time to talk with your forester or logging contractor to see if SLOcamp might be a good fit.
Funding is available for materials and labor tied to pre-harvest site preparation, including:
- Hardening Truck Roads and Landings
- Skid Trail Improvement
- Temporary Stream Crossings
- Permanent Stream Crossings
To qualify, you must be a logging contractor meeting the following:
- The project must be approved and completed by June 30, 2026. Requests for project extensions beyond the June 30 deadline will be considered on a case-by-case basis for projects in good standing at the time of request. Extensions requests must be received after April 1, 2026 and before June 30, 2026. Extensions for 3 – 6 months from the June 30 deadline will be considered for project closeout.
- Harvest site is in Vermont, over 10 acres, and focuses on long-term forest management.
- Applicant is a logging contractor and owns more than 50% of the equipment used on this project.
- Commercial timber harvesting accounts for more than 50% of applicant’s income.
- Applicant is in good standing with the Agency of Natural Resources and the Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets (Act 154) and Vermont’s AMP Enforcement and Compliance Program.
- Land has been under the same ownership for at least 5 years, is currently enrolled in forestland UVA, or has a current conservation easement in place on the harvest area.
- State lands owned in fee simple are not eligible as AMPs are built into stumpage rates.
- State owned Wildlife Management Areas where others own timber rights are eligible.
- Applicant will have a contract with the landowner before operations begin. (Note: This does not apply if the applicant is harvesting on their own land.)
If you are a logging contractor interested in this cost-share program, there is still time to apply! 5 applications have already been submitted.
Click here to apply
VT LEAP
PO Box 1246
Middletown Springs, VT 05757
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.vtleap.com
To support vital journalism, access our archives and get unique features like our award-winning profiles, Book of Lists & Business-to-Business Directory, subscribe HERE!
