Before I talk about the history of the pines themselves I thought I would talk about my history first. I started going to the pines at the beginning of the school year because my roommate told me it was a great spot to hammock, hangout with people, and sometimes do homework. I spent a lot of time sitting in a hammock and making friends, and it was actually the place that I cultivated a lot of long lasting relationships. I have a deep sentimental connection to the pines and that is definitely one of the reasons I chose it to be my phenology spot.
Now for the human history of the pines! It was actually really hard trying to find information on the human history of the pines as the majority of information pertained to UVM and not earlier years and indigenous impacts on the land. In reality what I could find was that UVM kept the pines intact in order to use the space for agriculture experiments in the 1800s. UVM was mainly focused on farming in those days and the pines made for a great spot for educating students on agriculture. In fact at one point in time cattle roamed the area we now know as the Redstone Pines.