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Paul Brewster, Forest Supervisor September 12, 2001 Dear Mr. Brewster: I was pleased to read that the Green Mountain National Forest has decided to close the unmaintained dirt road to Wallingford Pond 200 feet short of the pond. As the largest undeveloped pond in Vermont, Wallingford Pond is a special place in the White Rocks National Recreation Area. I have been to Wallingford Pond many times, and I have always been dismayed to see ruts and mud churned by four-wheel-drive vehicles traveling from the end of the maintained portion of the road to the pond shore and through the woods in the vicinity of the shore. On many occasions the shore has been littered with party debris, including empty beer kegs. In addition, the muddy water pouring into the pond from the ruts does this remote pond no good. I congratulate the Forest Service on its announced determination to back up the road closure with intensified law enforcement. Probably comparatively few people have ignored previous closures of this road, but their apparent belief that they should be free to do anything they want in unspoiled backcountry has done enormous damage. Hardening the old woods road could reduce sedimentation in the pond, but it would do nothing to reduce unrestrained use of off-road vehicles in the woods around the pond or the problem of litter that is so easily carried in by vehicle. The road also has been used to haul in motorboats, and it has been extremely disappointing to portage a canoe a mile in to the pond, and then find it occupied by noisy and fast craft based at what appears to be a semi-permanent camp on the far shore with fireworks at night. If this kind of use is not legal, I hope your enforcement efforts will curtail it as well. Yours truly,
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