Williston makes bid for Catamount outdoor center

A $1.9 million deal underway between Williston and the owners of a prime mountain-biking, wildlife-viewing, sledding and Nordic ski destination would place 380 acres of land off-limits to developers, advocates say.

The Catamount Family Outdoor Center, owned and operated by Jim and Lucy McCullough since 1978, could change hands next summer, Williston Conservation Planner Melinda Scott said Tuesday.

The alternative — up to 200 single-family homes in this rural corner of Williston, each on a 2-acre parcel — didn’t sit well with most town residents, Scott said.

“But it’s not a done deal,” she hastened to add. The Selectboard has yet to finalize its approval.

Fundraising is still underway, and the town is putting together a long-range management plan — for wildlife as well as for human activity on the property.

“We’re moving forward as if it’s going to happen,” Scott said.

A broad range of partners, beginning with Montpelier-based Trust for Public Land, is adding to the momentum:

The town has received a federal community forest grant of $400,000.

Vermont Housing Conservation Board kicked in $325,000. The board, together with the Vermont Land Trust, is securing easements on the property that will keep it intact for perpetuity.

The Nature Conservancy partnered with Keurig Green Mountain to contribute $75,000.

Abutting neighbors Steve and Debbie Page plan to donate 17 acres to the town’s purchase in order to preserve the full extent of existing trails.

Williston has committed the full $500,000 that sits in its Environmental Reserve Fund.

Other grants and donations, large and small, will be needed to reach the goal, Scott said.

The mailing list is a large one. Between 2009 and 2015, about 20,000 people visited the center every year, according to project organizers.

Although the property would no longer be on the town tax rolls, the municipal coffers would likely dip by only about $2,400, they add.

Williston Planning and Zoning Director Ken Belliveau termed the town’s chance to secure Catamount’s future as a “once-in-a-generational opportunity.”

Enthusiasm also rose from the tires-on-the-track crowd on Tuesday, where the hills were alive with whoops and cheers of young mountain-bikers attending a summer camp.

Counselor Brigham Francis, 17, of Williston, eyed his charges as they circled a gravel oval track.

“I’ve been coming here since I was three,” Francis said. “It’s been a tradition in my family. So — I’m trying to keep it alive.”

Fellow counselor Jacob Matosky, 18, of Shelburne, is likewise steeped in Catamount’s lure.

“People come back and you can still relate to the same experiences,” Matosky said. “It kind of stays unchanged.”

If you go: A walk-through of the outdoor center takes place at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, beginning at its parking lot. The center’s street address is 592 Governor Chittenden Road, Williston.

Contact Joel Banner Baird at 802-660-1843 or joelbaird@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@VTgoingUp.