The Abenaki tribes were in Centennial woods before the European Settlers came and they used the natural resources around them to sustain themselves. They didn’t change the landscape much except for occasional controlled fires to make pasture like land for hunting and traveling. When the European Settlers came they ravaged the forest to clean for pasture land which was soon abandoned. Then as another wave of trees was growing they chopped those down too for farming and what we see now is the second growth forest with the Eastern White Pines and some left over barbed wire in Centennial the evidence of past farm or pasture land.
Photo rights belong to Liz McDonnell 2018
This is an birds eye satellite image of my spot in Centennial taken in 2017.
This is the same area but taken in 1937. As you can see next to the baseball field the area east is chopped down mostly and it is not as populated by trees as it is now.
Images from http://wboykinm.github.io/btv-1937/#15/44.5093/-73.2260
Morris, Bill,. Burlington Geographic Satellite Imagery of Burlington 1936-2015. http://wboykinm.github.io/btv-1937/#15/44.5093/-73.2260