Ag Lease Awarded to Clark Hinsdale
by Ellie Russell,
November 4, 2010, page 1.....

At its October 25 meeting, the Selectboard voted unanimously to award Clark Hinsdale III the agricultural leases for the Charlotte Park and Wildlife Refuge (formerly known as Demeter Park).

The lease would be for a period of five years with the option for an additional five-year lease. Robert Mack and Matt Burke also submitted bids for the leases. Robert Mack has held the agricultural lease for the last five years and proposed a continuation of the lease in exchange for brush hogging of other town-owned lands.

The details of the contract with Hinsdale have yet to be worked out, but they expect to include an accommodation for Matt Burke of Bloomfield Farm for honeybees and a possible honeybee garden.

In his bid, Clark sought to lease all of the cropland units for a period of ten years. He owns the adjacent Varney farm and also Nordic Farm across from the park on the east side of Route 7. His intention is to grow both extensive and intensive crops, extensive crops being forage for dairy cattle and intensive crops being fruits and vegetables. His bid offer was $30 per acre for land that is extensively farmed and $50 per acre for intensive farming. Hayfields that are perfect candidates for grassland birds would be mowed on a schedule that assures successful nesting and fledging. He will also work to modify farming practices to benefit wildlife and, under the jurisdiction of the Park Oversight Committee, educate the public using educational signage. All of this will take a few years to be put into place, so little change will be seen for the next year or two.

Intensive crops would be grown on the western portion of the Varney farm and extend southward onto the park. Crops requiring excellent drainage would be grown along the ridge while viney crops, such as squash and pumpkins, would be grown closer to Route 7. Grazing would take place north of the Varney house and be connected by a lane along the northerly border of the park back to the grazing units to the west.

Grazing portions closer to the Varney barn could be used for horses that community members might wish to keep there in the summer. Limited access to the park will be provided from the Varney farm.

The rate of conversion from the existing extensive cropland to intensive farming will largely depend on the demand by farmers and the public. Possible interested parties include, among others, the Refugee Resettlement Program and UVM students. Clark would also be interested in providing an “incubator farming opportunity.” He also intends to provide a farmers’ market at the Varney Farm location where there is access from Route 7. Products sold at the market would include agricultural products grown both onsite and elsewhere. Organic farming on the park property is a future possibility. Clark would work with the Park Oversight Committee to develop detailed cropping plans and nutrient management for the park.

In 1869 Alfred Anson Byington purchased 600 acres on both sides of Ethan Allen Highway (Route 7). Approximately 386 acres of this land are now owned by Nordic Farms and approximately 75 acres are part of the park. Alfred’s grandmother, Lucy Hinsdale Byington, was the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Hinsdale. The farm remained in the Byington family until 1960 when it was sold to the Varney family. With the purchase by Clark’s father (Clark Hinsdale, Jr.) of the Nordic Farm in 2002 and the white Victorian Varney house and barn in 2004, the bulk of the farm once again came into the ownership of descendents of Joseph and Elizabeth Hinsdale. Clark pointed out that his leasing of the park property would complement this family heritage.

Through his combined holdings, Clark said this project would increase the efficiency of the conserved Nordic Farm and at the same time enhance the utilization of the Charlotte Park and Wildlife Refuge land and, concurrently, foster the cultivation of local food to be sold at a local market for local consumption.