Editorial: The Legality of Trimming

How often have you stood on the top of a Northeastern hardwood ridge looking down on a steep, powder-filled glade, and wondered how much better the skiing would be if you could just lop a few beech saplings here, trim a few hemlock boughs there? If only you could thin out the vegetation, you’d have room to smear wide turns instead of slaloming full-contact through the underbrush. The good news is that you can trim all the brush you want—if you have the landowner’s permission.

As a Vermont attorney and backcountry skier, I want to offer a few clarifications and comments on the article in the November issue (“Hollywood Stop”) about cutting backcountry lines in Vermont, and the companion piece about access to private land (“Moving the Needle”). One of the articles states that “glade cutting is explicitly illegal” under 13 V.S.A. § 3602. In fact, that statute only provides civil penalties (not criminal) for cutting trees greater than two inches in diameter. And, since most glade cutting involves thinning out brush and saplings less than two inches in diameter, this statute is unlikely to be a concern for any glade cutter.

Other statutes, however, have far more bite. Under 13 V.S.A. § 3606, for example, an illegal cutter is liable for treble damages for any tree cut, regardless of diameter. That could cost you a bundle of money, depending on the species, quality and quantity of trees cut. And any person who intentionally damages property—including cutting trees—without the right to do so can be found guilty of misdemeanor or felony unlawful mischief under 13 V.S.A. § 3701. No matter how well you think a prospective line might fill in with the lightest Champlain pow, cutting brush without the landowner’s permission is not worth the risk of jail time, a hefty fine, or a criminal record.

I see a lot of parallels between the burgeoning backcountry ski scene and access to private lands for hunting. As a hunter, I am dismayed by the ever-increasing yellow posted signs popping up around the state, like mushrooms after a rain, in response to decades of public perception that all hunters are slobs. If backcountry skiers want to ensure that we will always have access to skiable woodlands, we need to respect landowners. Ask permission to cut brush and clear lines. Build relationships with landowners so they understand our passion for skiing and our respect for the land. If we continue to flaunt state laws, and our numbers keep growing and putting more pressure on limited resources, we risk losing the ability to access our favorite lines.

The recently formed Adirondack Powder Skier Association (APSA), featured in the December issue (“Powder to the People”), is exactly what Vermont (and New Hampshire and Maine) needs to help build a coalition between skiers, lawmakers and private, state, and federal landowners. These organizations exist for mountain bikers, snowmobilers, ATVers, and virtually every other organization that has any impact on the land. It’s time for skiers to step out of the shadows and take action to preserve the future of our sport.

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This story first appeared in the January 2014 issue of Backcountry Magazine.