‘A Gargantuan Effort’: Windsor Selectboard Approves Paradise Park Plan

By Dylan Marsh
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
WINDSOR, Vt. — On October 25, 2022, the town of Windsor Selectboard voted unanimously to approve the new management plan for Paradise Park. The vote to approve the plan came after the beginning of that night’s meeting, where they faced a significant outcry of disappointment from the community in regard to the recent rejection of a town Pride Tree.

The Paradise Park management plan, which is updated every ten years, is created and exercised by the towns Paradise Park Commission. The 2022 management plan seeks to combine the traditional plan with a forest acreage plan for land that is not governed by a conservation easement. As a result, the 2022 plan is significantly larger in scope than previous decades plans.

“This is so much work and I want to acknowledge that. This represents a gargantuan effort, thank you,” Selectboard member Chris Goulet said in regard to the 76 page proposed management plan.

Included in the updated plan are an in-depth assessment of known resources within the park, assessment of natural communities existing in the park, strategies for maintaining the park’s natural resources, and guidelines for the recreational use of the park in an effort to ensure the maximum benefit to residents and visitors alike. To further this plan, one of many ideas the Commission presented was a new approach to logging within the park. Rather than traditional logging harvests, the Commission is looking at selective patch logging, which they hope will help create a diverse range of tree age and species.

The Commission also acknowledged negatives that exist within the park, largely an issue of unregistered campers as well as significant erosion in two areas. Representatives for the commission say that they will continue to work toward finding permanent solutions to these ongoing problems. A hydrology study was conducted to determine the best way to mitigate water flow that increases erosion in the park but, due to the nature of the soil, the level of erosion has increased within the last decade.

The new plan also looks at potential future uses for well known areas such as the Lake Runnemede peninsula. The peninsula has been determined to be the most critical land management part of the park. The peninsula has not only been identified as the primary source of nutrients for the man-made lake, but also supports a wide range of wildlife habitation. The management plan looks to systematically remove agriculture from the area for the sake of slowing down the excessive introduction of nutrients into the lake.

The meeting also saw a follow-up to a heated debate that took place prior to the Selectboard voting down 3-2 a Pride Tree that would have been dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community in Windsor. Roughly 15 Windsor residents made their voices heard at the meeting, admonishing members of the Selectboard for refusing to show unilateral support for the queer community, but also what they deemed as insensitive phrasing and terminology.

“Extremely concerning that some of the people who are making decisions for our town are using terms like movement, ideology, choice, and not for everybody to talk about sexual orientation and gender identity,” one Windsor resident stated, referencing the previous meeting.

“The fact of prejudice is real in our community. Using prejudice for the basis for your policy making rationale is indefensible,” Davis McGraw said, referencing Selectboard member Tera Howard’s suggestion that, “The LGBTQ isn’t for everybody and that’s okay.”

Members of the Selectboard that voted against the Pride Tree stated that it was important to do so because it didn’t reflect the views of everyone in the community, and as Selectboard members, they represented everyone in the community. Of all the Windsor residents that spoke during the public forum section of the meeting, not one spoke against having a pride tree.