- Jockey Hill Farm - Shrewsbury, VT -
This past June, on the anniversary of last year's historic flooding, another record-setting rain storm left up to 7 inches of rain in parts of Southern Vermont and New York State. Residents of these areas were left wondering how to prepare for a continuous increase in erratic weather events. In Shrewsbury, one landowner is on a mission to fortify his carbon sequestration forest in preparation for climate change’s long term consequences.
Tim Stout, owner of Jockey Hill Farm in Shrewsbury VT, is actively retrofitting the ecology of his family’s 160 acre forest for a changing climate, while pleading that other landowners take similar action. I talked to Tim earlier in the Summer mainly about his educational efforts and where one unique Treeline Terrains map fits into the picture.
For the last 8 years, Tim has operated Jockey Hill Farm as a forest education center and carbon sequestration farm. He spent the prior 25 years working on the national grid, often bumping heads with higher-ups who valued profit over efficiency. “The future of the world was always more important to me than senior management, though,” Tim teased. While Tim has been an advocate for climate action since taking a highschool course on the subject in the 70s, he doesn’t count himself as “early” to the party, pointing out that “We knew about climate change well before I was born.”
“Seventy percent of the land in Vermont is totally forest, and eighty percent of that is owned by landowners, so in Vermont these landowners play an absolutely critical role in preserving the natural resources we have.” - Tim Stout
With 80% of forests in Vermont under private ownership, Tim maintains that “landowners in Vermont play an absolutely critical role in preserving the natural resources we have.” At Jockey Hill Farm, he pays close attention to how climate change is affecting the existing flora and fauna, and is finding ways to adapt the land to a warmer Vermont. The project is half science experiment, half educational campaign, and motivated, it seems, by a feeling that humanity has lost touch with the soil at our feet.
In 2019, Tim reached out to Treeline Terrains to carve a custom topographic map of Jockey Hill Farm. Today, the map serves as a starting point for tours and field trips, fostering curiosity in children and adults alike. According to Tim, the fact that the map was built to touch is a big selling point for the 6-12 y/o demographic. “They all want to pick it up and feel how heavy it is and are totally mystified how it’s created.” For an older audience, Tim claims his map is “a great tool to demonstrate where we’re going to see the most significant climate impacts.” Steep embankments, which are prone to erosion from heavy rains, as well as exposed mountain peaks, where significant winds can knock down trees, are examples of such high risk areas.
“What I love about this map is it gets people to look down,” Tim told me at the end of the interview. “It makes me curious in a way that a paper map just doesn’t.”
Well, Tim, I couldn’t have said it any better. Thanks for sharing your story!