King Farm in Woodstock. Photo courtesy of Caleb Kenna via the Vermont Land Trust
Vermont’s only national park is in the running for an expansion.
On Thursday, U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Peter Welch, D-Vt., and U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt. introduced a bill to redraw the boundaries of Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock to include King Farm, a neighboring 154-acre property with a rich agricultural history.
The Vermont Land Trust has owned King Farm since 1987. Before that, the King family owned it for generations, starting in 1807, where Jabez and Abigail King raised livestock and made maple sugar, butter, wool and, later, milk, with the help of an ice house, according to the land trust.
Their great-granddaughter, Francisca King Thomas, left the farm in her will to the Ottauquechee Regional Land Trust, which soon changed its name to the Vermont Land Trust.
“It was her wish that the land be owned and managed for agriculture, forestry and public education, which is what we have been doing since 1986,” said Tracy Zschau, president and CEO of the Vermont Land Trust.
The farm served as the trust’s headquarters until 1990, and the organization maintains a regional office there, though its headquarters have since moved to Montpelier.
King Farm is otherwise a multi-use space, home to the offices of Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission, an actively managed forest, a working farm, community gardens, historic buildings and public hiking trails.
King Farm. Photo courtesy of Caleb Kenna via the Vermont Land Trust
In the last few years, the organization has been focused on “expanding who benefits from conservation, engaging people on the land and making our lands more accessible,” Zschau said.
In recent years, the land trust has partnered with the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, the National Park Service and Woodstock Union High School to host educational programs. Students have completed trail work, made benches and tried their hands at maple sugaring, Zschau said. Students have also experimented with new land management practices there, sharing insights at educational events, she said.
Meanwhile, the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, which was established in 1998, has similar missions: preserving a historical property while maintaining agricultural land, trails and educational services.
The legislation introduced Thursday, called the “Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park Establishment Act Amendments Act of 2024,” is intended to “strengthen the partnership between the park and the King Farm and improve opportunities for education, recreation, and historic preservation,” according to a summary of the bill.
Marsh Billings first belonged to George Perkins Marsh, an environmentalist, lawyer, diplomat, and author of the book Man and Nature, according to the summary. In 1869, Frederick Billings — who played a part in creating several national parks, including Glacier, Mount Rainier, Yellowstone, and Yosemite — purchased the property.
Then, Mary French Rockefeller, who created the Billings Farm & Museum, purchased the land before donating it in 1992.
The national park and King Farm already have an interconnected trail system, Zschau said. By connecting them further, the trust would engage in part of their own mission to think more broadly about land use, outside the bounds of one particular property.
If the farm became part of the park, that would also “strengthen the partnership” between the National Park Service and the farm, she said, and could open up “other federal funding sources and other kinds of recognition.”
The bill would also authorize, but not require, the National Park Service to acquire the King Farm in the future. While Zschau said the land trust has “no plans” to sell the farm at this time, “it seemed like a really good idea to include the whole range of possibilities.”
She acknowledged that getting the bill through Congress could be challenging, but said she was excited about the prospect of being “a part of something bigger.”
In a written statement on Thursday, the town of Woodstock celebrated the bill’s introduction.
Residents there enjoy the activities offered by the National Park Service, said Eric Duffy, municipal manager for Woodstock. “The Park is a massive tourist draw and a vital part of our community.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont’s only national park may expand.