Bruce Pond Forest
Sheffield Square Road : Sheffield, VT 05866
Caledonia County, Vermont
Farm Description
Bruce Pond Forest is one of those rare properties with an exclusive, undeveloped, 27-acre pond privately accessible by an internal road. While the land has been managed for timber since the early 1970’s and still offers good forestry opportunities, its striking water amenity and long road frontage provide other compelling uses for the new owner. The forest is located in the rural northeast corner of Vermont, yet Interstate 91 is only a few miles to the east, providing easy travel to destinations beyond.
The forest benefits from over a mile of frontage on a town-maintained, gravel road as a well as a comprehensive network of internal roads and trails, one of which leads to the southern shore of the pond. The shoreline of Bruce Pond is entirely within the property boundary. Pond depth is 13’, its shoreline is 5,500’, and its watershed is nearly 400 acres. A pair of loons were sighted on the property in 2016. The headwaters of Oregon Brook begin at the pond and then flow through the northern part of the forest. Terrain is generally modest, ranging from gently sloping to occasionally steep.
The timber resource is a product of a diverse array of past land use practices and soil types, resulting in a diversity of stand types, species, and age classes including dense softwood stands, even-aged and uneven-aged northern hardwood stands, and spruce/fir plantations. The overall species composition is comprised of 50% softwoods and 50% hardwoods. Sugar maple and spruce/fir are the dominant species, with common associated hardwoods making up the balance, including red oak, white ash, hemlock, black birch, and red maple. With the exception of hemlock, these species have historically enjoyed strong markets and an upward, long-term price appreciation.
