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So far northwoods has created 342 blog entries.
8 01, 2024

Andy Cappello

2024-03-20T20:09:35-04:00January 8th, 2024|Education Staff, Staff|

Andy graduated from Lock Haven University with a bachelor’s degree in Recreation Management and an emphasis in outdoor recreation. His lifelong love of nature and outdoor recreational pursuits brought him to Vermont where he now resides with his wife and kids along the Mad Brook in Charleston. He first moved to central Vermont in 2006 where he led outdoor recreational pursuits connecting people with their environment through activities like hikes, paddling trips, and backpacking trips. Andy moved with his wife to Charleston in 2010 to be closer to the best outdoor [Read More...]

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8 01, 2024

Maria Young

2024-01-08T14:48:25-05:00January 8th, 2024|Staff|

Maria graduated from Middlebury College, where she majored in environmental studies. After working as Crew Leader for the Northwoods’ Kingdom Corps in 2002, Maria spent time exploring the West and the wider world. She made a home away from home in Jackson, Wyoming, where she worked as a nordic coach, interned at a Conservation Alliance, gardened, and explored the Tetons on telemark skis. Maria has led a community service trip in Costa Rica, helped build a small library high in the mountains of the Himalayas, explored outdoor recreation inside the classroom [Read More...]

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28 09, 2023

Pro Crew Provides Expertise on Historic Old Bridle Path

2023-11-30T13:30:07-05:00September 28th, 2023|Conservation Corps, Highlights, News|

The NorthWoods Conservation Corps Pro Crew, whose season extends through the autumn, has been hard at work in the Whites for the past three weeks, restoring the Old Bridle Path on Mt. Lafayette in partnership with the Appalachian Mountain Club and the US Forest Service. This is a multiyear effort to bring the Old Bridle Path up to sustainable trail standards as part of a collaborative effort to restore the Franconia Loop Ridge Trails — one of the most popular loops in the White Mountain National Forest which sees thousands [Read More...]

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28 09, 2023

Repairing Erosion with Encapsulated Soil Lifts

2023-09-28T13:52:54-04:00September 28th, 2023|Conservation science, Highlights, News, Watersheds|

A river bank before and after the installation of an encapsulated soil lift. Whether paddling, casting a fishing line, or just enjoying a beautiful sunset, lakes and ponds are an integral part of the Vermont landscape. Over time, these beloved areas can become disturbed through the erosive pressures of foot traffic, wave and ice action, and the removal of native vegetation. Disturbed shorelines are directly tied to decreased water quality and require action to conserve our water resources.  An encapsulated soil lift is a best management practice that repairs [Read More...]

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24 09, 2023

Westmore Mountain Challenge 2023 Results

2023-10-18T14:20:55-04:00September 24th, 2023|Highlights, News|

Congratulations to the finishers of the 2023 Westmore Mountain Challenge! The weather was perfect - partly sunny and in the 60's, with fall colors just beginning to turn. We had a record turnout of 175 registrants - (the permit limit for this event!), 152 day-of participants, and 95 timed, full-length finishers. As always, we were inspired by the resilience, kindness, and community spirit of our participants who both pushed themselves physically and mentally and also supported one another on their respective journeys through the beautiful mountains of the NEK. Thank you [Read More...]

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30 08, 2023

Chokecherry Collection (Becoming Bog-people with VT’s Seed Coordinator)

2023-08-30T12:24:16-04:00August 30th, 2023|Conservation science, Riparian Lands|

(Photo collage - Our Riparian Lands crew teamed up with Brooke, fell into a bog, and collected from the Victory Basin Wildlife Management Area during the first week of August.) Between invasive species removal and building beaver dam analogs, the Riparian Lands Crew has been hard at work staying on top of seed collection efforts by collecting chokecherry (Prunus virginiana). With the help of State Seed Coordinator Brooke Fleischman, and ECO AmeriCorps Member Dana Welch, the crew has collected more than 28 lbs of seeds from seven different sites across [Read More...]

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30 08, 2023

How to Build Beaver Dam Analogs w/ MWA

2023-08-30T12:19:10-04:00August 30th, 2023|Conservation science, Highlights, News, Riparian Lands, Watersheds|

Controlling the flow of water is a large part of ensuring the health of riparian areas. One way that we can achieve this is by mimicking and encouraging beaver activity through the use of  Beaver Dam Analogues (BDAs). This form of Low-Tech Process Based Restoration (PBR) uses human-made “leaky beaver dams” to slow down the flow of water and spread it out to increase the saturation of the water table. Our goal is that these control structures work well enough to encourage nature’s environmental engineers (actual beavers!) to move in [Read More...]

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1 06, 2023

Restoring Watersheds in the North Country

2024-01-02T10:56:54-05:00June 1st, 2023|Conservation science, Highlights, News, Watersheds|

As the ground thawed and spring ephemerals emerged, the Spring Watershed Crew traveled throughout Vermont and New Hampshire on their first projects of the year. From the humble yarrow (Achillea millefolium) to the mighty red maple (Acer rubrum), the crew worked to plant over 5,600 native trees and 300 native plants to help improve water quality throughout the Memphremagog and Upper Connecticut River Watersheds. By restoring riparian buffer zones and installing rain gardens, these projects help to improve surface water quality by filtering and slowing down runoff from uphill areas like [Read More...]

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31 05, 2023

Seed Spotlight: Salicaceae Family

2023-08-23T10:09:22-04:00May 31st, 2023|Conservation science, Highlights, News, Riparian Lands|

You may have noticed that there is a bunch of fluff floating around in the air right now. This is because quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) is currently sending out seeds, and many other species in the Salicaceae family - such as shrub willow (Salix spp.), balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera), bigtooth aspen (Populus grandidentata), and eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides) - are about to follow suit. All of these species release millions of seeds surrounded by tufts of long, soft, white hairs annually that are carried along in the wind to be dispersed [Read More...]

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28 04, 2023

Heard about Hydroseeding?

2024-01-02T10:56:53-05:00April 28th, 2023|Conservation science, Forest Stewardship Institute, Highlights, News, Riparian Lands|

Hydroseeding is a direct seed application method that sprays large concentrations of seed on the land by using a trailer-mounted tank and sprayer system.The machine sprays out a slurry of seeds and water and sometimes (but not always) mulch and fertilizer. The sprayer is used to apply seed in a manner that minimizes the potential for movement of seeds from the site. This method is commonly used to quickly revegetate roadside excavation sites using conservation mix and grass seed.  Although it is a more common use, this method isn’t limited to [Read More...]

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Mailing Address

PO Box 220, East Charleston, VT 05833

Get in Touch

Email: info@northwoodscenter.org

Main Phone: 802.723.6551

Office & Administration ext: 301
Conservation Science & Forestry ext: 302
Education & Outreach ext: 303
Conservation Corps ext: 304

Or visit our Contact page for more ways to get in touch with our staff.


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Funding for the development of this website was made possible in part by the Rural Business Enterprise Grant through the Vermont Community Loan Fund from USDA Rural Development.
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