For immediate release: November 29, 2022
Montpelier, VT –Northeast Wilderness Trust has purchased more than 830 acres in Ryegate, Vermont, to create the Blue Mountain Wilderness Sanctuary. Northeast Wilderness Trust protects more than 71,000 acres of forever-wild conserved land in New England and New York. With this new Sanctuary, the Wilderness Trust now safeguards 15,206 acres as forever-wild in Vermont.
Blue Mountain, the namesake of the local high school and grange, is the scenic backdrop of much of Ryegate Corner. From its 2,364-foot forested summit down to a low-lying Northern White Cedar Swamp (known as Ryegate Corner Swamp) at 970 feet, the Blue Mountain Wilderness Sanctuary has an impressive diversity of habitats.
This 830-acre forest block is devoted to protecting all wildlife and their habitat in perpetuity through forever-wild conservation. Kevin Proctor, from whose land the Blue Mountain Wilderness Sanctuary is being created, never logged the trees on his property, most of which he owned since the 1990s.
“I’m proud to have offered these amazing woodlands a jump-start on their journey to becoming a distinguished ancient forest of tomorrow,” Kevin said. “I chose to work with Northeast Wilderness Trust because it has always been my objective for this diverse landscape to remain as undisturbed as possible, for both the flora and fauna, and because the Sanctuary designation aligns most closely with that vision of preservation and protection.”