• Forests in Vermont have been maturing, and the amount of habitat available to interior forest birds is probably greater now than at any point in the past 150 years.

• The subdivision of forestland into smaller pieces with multiple ownerships poses a significant risk to this group.

• Managing for interior forest birds is best accomplished on a landscape scale.

• Maintain large contiguous forest tracts, which have a higher proportion of core habitat (the amount of forest >200 m from any edge).

• Prioritize forests that are either connected to, or in close proximity to, other forest patches.

• Minimize the size of forest openings.

• Minimize isolation of forest patches by promoting reforestation of gaps between disconnected forest tracts.

• At a local scale, openings that are circular, square or rectangular plots create less edge than long, narrow strip cuts.

• Collaborative projects in Vermont are taking landscape scale approach to conservation.

• In order to help preserve large blocks, Linking Lands Alliance, led by VFWD’s Community Wildlife Program, provides resources (maps, etc.) for planners.

• The hope is to provide economic and cultural benefits as well as protection of critical interior forest habitat.