Saxtons River native recognized as regional Forester of the Year Ethan Tapper named the winner from a 20-state alliance

The Northeast-Midwest State Foresters Alliance has presented Saxtons River native Ethan Tapper, Chittenden County forester, with the Cooperative Forest Management Forester of the Year Award.

This highly competitive regional award is presented annually to a forester from one of the 20 states stretching from Maine to Minnesota and from West Virginia to Missouri for outstanding work to advance forest stewardship on private lands.

County foresters with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation’s help private landowners, who own about 80 percent of Vermont’s forestland, manage their land responsibly.

County foresters have been serving Vermonters since the 1940s and oversee the enrollment of nearly 2 million acres of forestland in the state’s Use Value Appraisal — Current Use — program. In addition, each year they advise thousands of landowners on how to take care of their forests, help municipalities manage tens of thousands of acres of community forests and deliver education and outreach to thousands of Vermonters.

Tapper grew up in Saxtons River and studied forestry at the University of Vermont. He has been the Chittenden County forester since 2016 and is being recognized for his expansive and innovative public outreach. Serving the state’s most populous county, he leads dozens of public events each year, touching thousands of people in Chittenden County and beyond. At the height of the pandemic lockdown, Tapper moved from in-person presentations to online, creating nearly 100 educational videos about forests and forest management.

Keith Thompson, who oversees the work of the county foresters, says, “Ethan is a hallmark of how to engage Vermonters in understanding the value of Vermont’s forests and how they can take care of their woods. His success is rooted in storytelling, getting Vermonters outside in the woods, working with a diversity of partners, and using digital tools to broaden his reach.”