But
it wasn't long before the region's timberlands became viewed as a
valuable resource for the new country. Today, Vermont is home to a
vibrant wood products industry that has much to offer the visitor.
Products from Vermont's forests are admired and sold around the world.
Timber cut from Vermont's forests is crafted into everything from
baseball bats and toys, to furniture and musical instruments. Popsicle
sticks and golf tees started as a birch tree growing in the rugged
Northeast Kingdom; and cutting boards and salad bowls began as maple
trees found high on the slopes of the Green Mountains. Wood from Vermont
is also used to make the nation's homes - framing, clapboards, flooring, architectural millwork, kitchen cabinets, and log cabins. 
These items are the product of more than 12,000 Vermont woodworkers
and craftsmen - mostly working in small family-owned firms.
Wood Product Travel Tips
1. Workshops and factories. Many shops have special observation
areas where you can watch beautiful and unique wood products taking
shape right before your eyes.
Popular stops include:
2. Forests and Mills. You can see lumbering operations in action
or watch the raw timber transformed into beautiful art. Visit a
working forest at the Chase Mountain Preserve, www.jhlumber.com,
near Berlin or the Merck Forest and Farmland Center in Rupert. Watch
logs turned into wooden bowls and clapboards at Granville Manufacturing
Co., www.bowlmill.com,
in Granville; or tour one of the largest sawmills in the state -
Mill River Lumber in North Clarendon, 802-775-0032.
3. Showrooms and Studios. Browse the showrooms and studios of individual
craftspeople like Robert Gasperetti, www.gasperetti.com, custom
furniture maker, at work in his studio in Danby or order a new set
of cabinets at the Knight Kitchens, www.knightkitchens.com,
factory showroom near Rutland. Or you can shop for ready-made furniture
at the Pompanoosuc Mills, www.pompy.com, headquarters in East Thetford
or their factory store on Church Street Marketplace in Burlington.
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