Photo above – Left to right are Capt Anthony Derderian, CAP mission pilot; Lina Swislocki, Assistant Invasive Plant Coordinator; and Josh Halman, Forest Health Program Manager. The Vermont Wing of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) has completed its fourth consecutive year of support for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. Photo by 1st Lt Peter Steinerman, Burlington Senior Squadron–Vermont Wing, Civil Air Patrol.
The Vermont Wing of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) has launched its fourth year of collaboration with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation (FPR). The Department monitors forest health in the state, including annual surveys from the air and on the ground.
The survey missions have been flown by Capt Anthony Derderian, a mission pilot with the Burlington Senior Squadron (VT-002). Capt John Compo, Vermont Wing Director of Operations, supervises the missions. The missions utilized fuel-efficient CAP Cessna 182 aircraft flown out of Wing headquarters at Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport.
The flights enable the Vermont Department of FPR to survey the entire state of Vermont and identify areas of forest disturbance. These disturbances include defoliation by forest pests, areas of tree mortality, and forest damage due to weather events, among other causes.
“These missions have afforded our department the ability to quickly, and cost efficiently, monitor Vermont’s forests,” said Joshua Halman, Forest Health Program Manager with the Vermont Department of FPR.
“This past summer, we paid particular attention to assessing any damage done by the late spring frost, flooding, and past infestations of the spongy moth caterpillar, a particular threat to Vermont’s forests. Data on disturbances caused by other threats, as well as effects of abiotic factors, were also collected.”
