ATHENS — In collaboration with the Vermont Land Trust, Bull Creek Common Lands (BCCL), a new nonprofit organization, will conserve 36 acres along the Bull Creek to be used as a community forest. After two years of planning, the land is being acquired this August from David Bemis and will be named after his late uncle Raymond Bemis who served his community in many roles during his long lifetime and operated a fish farm on the property in the 1950s and 1960s.
BCCL intends to maintain the network of trails that are on the property and to protect the diverse landscape and ecological communities along the brook, including wetlands, a vernal pool, glacial fluvial landforms, rock ledges, and a floodplain forest.
The community forest will be permanently open to the public for various low impact, nonmotorized uses. A section of trail may be developed to be accessible for people with mobility limitations. Additional input from the local community will guide how the land is used.
Currently, the organization is fundraising for the final $15,000 needed to acquire and manage the community forest land. A public event to introduce the Raymond Bemis Community Forest will be held at the Athens Community Center on Saturday, July 22, at 2 p.m.
There will be a presentation including stories from members of the community about the land's natural and human history and a discussion about the community's current interests, followed by carpooling to the trailhead site and taking a short walk. More information can be found at bullcreekcommonlands.org and email inquiries can be directed to hello@bullcreekcommonlands.org.
BCCL is a community-based nonprofit organization that promotes the protection of wild spaces and wilderness restoration, emphasizing relationship with the land and long-term benefits for ecosystems and human communities. Its primary mission is to conserve land in and adjacent to the Bull Creek and Grassy Brook watersheds of southeastern Vermont.
Major funders of the acquisition and conservation of the Raymond Bemis Community Forest property include rhe Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB), Davis Conservation Foundation, Fields Pond Foundation and Windham Foundation.