Battle Over Battell A Look Back at the Controversy ControversyHistorical Look at the Property of Battell Woods

Author: Andrea Gissing

In the late 1800s and early 1900s Joseph Battell acquired over 34,000 acres of forest land in Vermont, which he later bequeathed to Middlebury College. Upon his death in 1915, the lands were transferred to the College, which maintained them in accordance with requirements stated in Battell's will. In the 1930s and 1950s the majority of these lands, 33,253 acres, were sold to the United States Forest Service (USFS), which assumed responsibility for managing Battell's former property.

In the summer of 1999, on the 160th anniversary of Battell's birth, controversy arose about whether the conditions and restrictions of his will had been carried out. Vermont Forest Watch, a conservation group based in Montpelier, launched a charge against the USFS for negligence in managing the land.

According to a July 15, 1999, article in The Boston Globe, "[Vermont Forest Watch charged] that the agency has logged the forest for decades, all against the deathbed wishes of Battell."

Following the claim brought forward by Forest Watch, the USFS and the College worked together to discover the true story.

"Everyone was sort of caught unaware when this issue arose," said Paul Brewster, forest supervisor for the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes (N.Y.) National Forest. "The background went back 50, 75, 100 years. The College and the Forest Service spent hundreds of hours trying to figure out what happened,"said Brewster.

"Forest Watch argued that Battell wanted all of these lands protected as forever wild so the Forest Service should not be doing any logging on the land," explained Professor of Political Science and Environmental Studies Christopher Klyza.

After careful readings of the will, however, it was discovered that Battell specificly dictated what was to happen with his lands. Article three in the will designated the 9,000 acres of Battell Park as "wild lands, forever open to the public as a park." The park is located in the vicinity of Bread Loaf and the Snow Bowl.

"The will delineated 9,000 acres to be managed as a park for the use of the citizens of Vermont and visitors," said Brewster. "Another 21,000 acres, the Battell Forest, had no use restrictions."

The forest is distributed throughout Addison County but concentrated mainly between the towns of Hancock and Ripton.

College Forester Steve Weber asserted that the restrictions stated by the will were carried out fully by the College.

"The will," he said, "was very specific as to where the boundaries of the lands were." The rest was unrestricted, and indeed, even when Battell was alive and managing the forest, timber from the lands supported 10 local mills.

Another 3,880 acres of Battell's lands were originally bequeathed to the United States as a national park, but these lands were refused by Congress and transferred to the College. "When the U.S. government acquires lands," explained Brewster, "they are not allowed to accept any lands with restrictions placed upon it."

This explains why in 1936, when the College wished to sell the lands to the USFS, they had to petition the Chancery Court of Addison County to permit the sale and rescind the restrictions. The court decreed that the purchaser would have no obligation or responsibility as stated in the will.

Middlebury College had initially put in place forestry plans to manage the land. Timber harvested from the 21,000 acres of unrestricted lands was sold to local mills, and the park lands were maintained for the public. "However, during the Depression years, lumber coming by rail from the West undercut the prices. With taxes, management costs and the added effects of the Depression, the College could not continue to afford the lands," said Webster. So they offered to sell the lands to the USFS.

Despite the claims advanced by Forest Watch, the former Battell lands have not been heavily forested and the wishes of Battell not entirely discarded. Since 1987, 55 percent of the former Battell lands have been managed either as wilderness or other designations that do not allow for commercial timber harvesting.

More than twice the area that Battell himself stipulated as park land has been preserved as wilderness. "[The Forest Service] has done our best to take care of the lands," said Brewster. "They are for the people and we feel like we have done a good job of taking care of it for the past 50 to 75 years. Now we've got 33,000 acres of healthy thriving forest, land for the public for now and for the future."