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When the State of Vermont purchased the Rutland Railroad right of way north of Burlington in February 1963, there immediately arose many pressures, paints of view; and proposals concerning what the state should do with the purchased land. A number of conflicting proposals and demands developed, Some individual landowners saw it as an opportunity to purchase a parcel from the state to extend their private holdings or give them access to Lake Champlain. Other individuals saw it as a hope for increasing public access to Lake Champlain. Officials of state agencies also differed. Some saw the costs involved in administering the holding, while others saw vast opportunities in developing the right of way as a major key in a comprehensive recreation development program.
University and federal agency people who looked at the purchase also had differing views. Some saw it as a pathway, others as a connecting link between a long string of intensively developed recreation areas, and others as one part of a superpark development of Grand Isle County. In response to these conflicting and competing proposals, Governor Hoff asked the members of the Interagency Committee on Natural Resources to study the newly acquired land and make recommendations concerning the best use to which it could be put. The Interagency Committee agreed unanimously to this proposal and set January 1, 1966 as the deadline for these reports to be completed. However, as a result of the recommendation of the Board of Forest and Parks, the deadline was moved up to September 1, 1965.
This study is based an an intensive study of aerial photographs and ground inventory of the right of way. All points of potential development have been inspected by the authors, Nearly all of the 37.5 miles of the right of way have been inspected on foot. Several points of possible development have been surveyed and discussed with recreation specialists of the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation and the National Park Service.
This report was originally intended to cover the former Rutland Railroad right of way north of Burlington. It is limited to Grand Isle County, in deference to a request by the Department of Forests and Parks.
This manuscript is a progress report of work done to date on the State Research Project 114, "Recreation Development Potential of Grand Isle County," It is not complete and comprehensive but designed to be suggestive of the opportunities and the scope of development which could take place. It should be read as a complement to other reports by state agencies. While time has been limited in preparing this report, the authors make no excuses on this basis. Although more detailed analysis is left to be done before specific development projects may be outlined, we believe that this report will sketch, in general terms, the unique situation, the unparralleled opportunities, and the significant development potential of this new piece of state property.
The cover and maps are by the VRRC cartographic unit. Thanks are due to the State Soil Conservation office for making aerial photos available, to Dwight K. Eddy for contributing to the section on economics, to Malcolm I. Bevins for assistance in analyses, and to M. Yvonne Gratton for publication design and layout.
H. Jeffrey
J, Lindsay
F. Sargent
J. Sykes
