WINDSOR — Windsor County Forester Hannah Dallas and her team began marking trees last month throughout Paradise Park Town Forest with paint as the first step in implementing a new resource management plan to improve the health of the forest.

The plan seeks to use selective tree cutting to promote diversity in the age and species of trees in the 244-acre park, but the painted trees caught the attention of a number of Windsor residents who enjoy the forest. 

“I counted over a hundred trees,” Windsor resident Cassie George, who owns Bob’s Barber Shop, said Wednesday. “That seems more like logging than management.” 

Dallas will lead a Saturday morning walk through Paradise Park to address residents’ concerns about the scope and purpose of upcoming tree removal work. 

Paradise Park is located between Main Street and Country Road in the heart of Windsor and managed by the Paradise Park Commission, whose members are appointed by the Windsor Selectboard. The park includes Lake Runnemede, a forest, fields and wetlands. More than five miles of carriage roads and hiking trails wind through the park.

The management plan, approved by the town in 2022, was a collaboration between Dallas and the Paradise Park Commission and focuses on using “group cuts” to create a diverse mix of tree ages and species to maintain the health and resiliency of the forest. The plan aims to encourage the growth of tree species, such as red oak, that are predicted to do well in climate-change modeling, Dallas said. 

From the County Road trailhead, a left onto the Juniper Hill Trail takes visitors to one stand of marked trees. Some are painted with a large blue letter “L” for “legacy,” and those will “live out their days in the forest,” uncut, Dallas said. Yellow dots will help Dallas and her team “estimate the value and volume of trees to be cut,” and yellow diagonal lines mark the outer perimeter of work areas. Within those perimeters, selected trees will be felled based on size and other factors, Dallas said.

For Dallas, who has been the county forester since 2019, the paint’s purpose is to inform the bidding process and then guide logging work. She also hoped that the “visual stimulation” of the paint would generate public interest in the project.

“We are hoping to get people asking questions,” she said. 

George, who has lived in Windsor since 1970 and is a past member of the Paradise Park Commission, is a frequent park user who enjoys trail running, hiking and bird watching. She plans to join the group walk on Saturday and is trying to keep an open mind about the planned work. 

“I’m willing to wait to see what the forester says, that just seems like a lot,” she said of the number of markings.

Paradise Park Commission Chairman Jim Bennett has been fielding concerns from residents since the paint markings first appeared. 

“We are asking people not to jump to conclusions before knowing the plan,” he said Tuesday. 

“Not all of the trees that are marked are earmarked for cutting,” he said. “There are no hidden agendas, we’re just trying to do our best for the forest and the town.” 

There is no set date for the work yet, although it will begin “hopefully this winter when the ground conditions are appropriate,” Dallas said. The logging will be put out to bid by the town, and then the work will unfold as the weather allows.

Dallas and members of the Paradise Park Commission will lead a walk through the park at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 4. The group will meet at the County Road. trailhead, across from the entrance to the Mount Ascutney Hospital campus. There is no cost for the event, and anyone interested in hearing about the management plan is welcome to attend. 

Christina Dolan can be reached at cdolan@vnews.com or 603-727-3208.