Vermont Wing of the Civil Air Patrol Supports State Forestry Division in Large Scale Aerial Surveys

Kim Stevens Vermont

Photo above – The Vermont Wing of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) has completed its second year of collaboration with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. The Department monitors forest health in Vermont, including annual surveys from the air and on the ground. Pictured (left to right): Josh Halman, Forest Health Specialist; Capt Bryan Holland, CAP Mission Pilot; and Emily Meacham, Protection Forester.

The Vermont Wing of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) has completed its second year of collaboration with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. The Department monitors forest health in Vermont, including annual surveys from the air and on the ground.

Dan Dillner, Protection Forester, accompanies The Vermont Wing of the Civil Air Patrol on a recent mission monitoring the health of the State’s forests. The Vermont Wing of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) has completed its second year of collaboration with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. Photo Courtesy of Vermont Wing, Civil Air Patrol.

The flights taken with the Vermont Wing of the Civil Air Patrol in both 2018 and 2019 enabled the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation to survey the entire state of Vermont and identify areas of forest disturbance. These disturbances included defoliation by forest pests, areas of tree mortality, and forest damage due to weather events, among other causes. “Because of these flights, we were able to map over 70,000 acres of damage due to forest tent caterpillar in 2018,” said Joshua Halman, Forest Health Specialist with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.

“Follow-up flights in 2019 allowed us to see that the outbreak of this insect was coming to an end, with just over 500 acres mapped statewide. We map these damages with the help of the USDA-Forest Service, which provides interactive tablets, software and support for the project.”

“The Vermont Wing, like all Civil Air Patrol operations nationwide, reduces taxpayer costs by relying on our volunteer pilots. Our small, fuel efficient Cessna aircraft reduce carbon emissions,” said Col Ann Brechbuhl, Commander of the Vermont Wing.

“These flights and our long standing collaboration with the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, demonstrate both our Wing’s versatility, as well as our ability to support time-critical state agency functions,” said Col Ann Brechbuhl, Commander of the Vermont Wing. “We look forward to helping the Department in future conservation and related missions.”