Conservation Corps

16 03, 2014

NorthWoods Conservation Corps Going To College

2016-12-13T19:12:10-05:00March 16th, 2014|Conservation Corps, Education, Highlights, News|

Every summer, NorthWoods Stewardship Center recruits local high school students for conservation projects in and beyond the Northeast Kingdom. These teenagers join the NorthWoods Conservation Corps to build trails, improve wildlife habitats, plant trees on river banks, and battle invasive plants. While working in the field, Corps leaders teach crew members about the science behind the work. This year, crew members will be eligible for three undergraduate science credits from Lyndon Sate College (LSC) if they pass the requirements of the Corps projects. The credit can be used at LSC or transferred to another college. “Experiential learning [Read More...]

19 12, 2013

Conservation Skills for Brighton Afterschool

2016-12-13T19:12:11-05:00December 19th, 2013|Conservation Corps, Education, Highlights, News|

Students in Brighton's afterschool program had the opportunity to join NorthWoods for a Conservation Skills program held at NorthWoods These students visited NorthWoods, and gained an introduction to the skills and lessons of conservation work.  Conservation Assistant Tim Lancaster modeled a day in the life of a Conservation Corps member, from tool safety and maintenance to the lore, legend, and safe use of an axe, and helped them work as a team to construct a small bridge on the Lang Brook Trail. Education Director Maria Young helped them practice with a crosscut saw, [Read More...]

18 12, 2013

State and Local Grants will support NorthWoods in 2014

2016-12-13T19:12:13-05:00December 18th, 2013|Conservation Corps, Forest Stewardship Institute, Highlights, News|

Commissioner Michael Obuchowski of the Vermont Department of Buildings & General Services presents Ross Stevens with the grant award NorthWoods new bunkhouse received an added boost in the form of a grant from the Building Communities Grants Program of the Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services. Conservation Service Corps Director Ross Stevens gathered with Governor Shumlin, state legislators, community leaders, and grant awardees from around the state for a December ceremony at the statehouse in celebration. The grant to NorthWoods provides $15,000 toward the construction of the 20-person [Read More...]

11 12, 2013

Bald Mountain Cabin Restored

2016-12-13T19:12:14-05:00December 11th, 2013|Conservation Corps, Highlights, News|

Over a century ago, following several devastating forest fires, Vermont’s governor appointed the first Forest Commissioner and laid the foundation for a forest fire lookout system that would span the entire state and include 38 lookout stations. This fall, the Bald Mountain summit cabin in Westmore—one of Vermont’s oldest lookout stations—was restored thanks to a grant from the Vermont Land and Facilities Trust Fund. The original summit cabin and fire lookout tower on Bald Mountain (then known as Westmore Mountain) date back to the early 1920s when lookout stations were also [Read More...]

14 11, 2013

Nulhegan Basin North Trail Opens to Public

2016-12-13T19:12:16-05:00November 14th, 2013|Conservation Corps, News|

The Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge – Nulhegan Basin Division announced this week that the North Branch Trail has been completed and is now available for public use.  The four mile loop trail is accessed from a parking area along Route 105 in Ferdinand, Vermont, approximately one-half mile west of the railroad crossing.  It’s expected that the trail will enhance opportunities for bird watching, environmental education outings by school children, and especially fishing – with improved access to the North Branch of the Nulhegan River - a high [Read More...]

14 11, 2013

Women Can Do 2013

2016-12-13T19:12:16-05:00November 14th, 2013|Conservation Corps, Education, News|

This year, as we have done for the past two years, Cody and I shared the pleasures and pitfalls of working with chainsaws with about 60 girls who will be Vermont’s next generation of fierce workforce women. This year, to our surprise and delight, the weather was perfect - crisp enough that we knew it was fall, but sunny enough that we could get away with wearing t-shirts. On the beautiful Old Dorm Green at Vermont Technical College, Cody and I set up our saw horses and pole-sized logs, and waited for our students to appear. [Read More...]

23 08, 2013

Corps Photo Contest

2016-12-13T19:12:19-05:00August 23rd, 2013|Conservation Corps|

Check out this great group of photos that Conservation Corps crew members and leaders took during the 2013 summer field season. Photos were judged in five different categories: Conservation Practices, Flora & Fauna, People, Landscapes and Ham & Cheese (just for fun). Can you guess which photos were in which category? Click on a photo to view them all in slideshow format.

16 08, 2013

Brighton and NorthWoods Collaborate to Conserve Bluff Mountain Trail

2016-12-13T19:12:20-05:00August 16th, 2013|Conservation Corps, News|

Sitting just outside the Village of Island Pond in the Town of Brighton, Bluff Mountain has afforded stunning views to generations of local hikers who have climbed to its lookout over the Village and Pond below. This summer, the popular Bluff Mountain Trail received substantial improvements thanks to a grant from the Vermont Recreation Trails Program, and a new public easement secures access to the area for generations of hikers to come. “We were delighted” remarked Luke O’Brien, Trails Director at the NorthWoods Stewardship Center in East Charleston, who worked with the Brighton Selectboard to apply [Read More...]

26 07, 2013

New Trail in the NorthWoods Forest

2016-12-13T19:12:20-05:00July 26th, 2013|Conservation Corps, Highlights, News|

NorthWoods Crew members didn’t waste any time starting their season, and used their training week to add nearly a ½ mile of trail to the NorthWoods network. Building on existing trails and logging roads, the new trail weaves among boulders and a variety of forest types on the north side of Tripp Hill, providing access to one of our three Forestry for the Birds demonstration sites - a collaborative effort with Audubon Vermont and the Vermont Land Trust to show how timber management can also enhance songbird habitat. Our trail network [Read More...]

10 07, 2013

2013 Corps Season Kicks Off!

2016-12-13T19:12:20-05:00July 10th, 2013|Conservation Corps, Highlights, News|

The NorthWoods Conservation Corps annually employs youth ages 14-18 to tackle priority conservation projects from northern Vermont to coastal New England. Our 2013 Corps program kicked off with crew leader training the week of June 17, commencing trail, wildlife, and river conservation projects on publicly accessible land around the region, including Bluff Mountain and Holland Pond areas, Willoughby State Forest, and the Silvio O. Conte and Stewart B. McKinney federal wildlife refuge systems. For nearly twenty summers, the NorthWoods Conservation Corps has employed youth on service projects in their local communities, providing on-the-job training to 1080 individuals to date. [Read More...]

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