Summer Camp Registration is OPEN! We have camps for all sizes- from littles through teens. Give your child a fantastic summer experience: swimming, paddling, hiking, mountain biking, camping, and learning about the beauties of nature -- large and small. Check out the full list of our NorthWoods Camps in East Charleston and and Mountain Bike Camps in East Burke: Browse Camps
by Luke Thompson Step 1. Acquire forms It was January in the North East Kingdom and a few days into what would later become known as “the ice storm of ’98.” Jayson Benoit and I were heading out on a mission to buy a slightly used set of canoe forms north of the border in Quebec. Canoe forms are a series of canoe cross sections made of void free plywood that attach in line along a rigid strong-back to form the shape of a canoe. This particular shape had evolved [Read More...]
On August 24th, the NorthWoods community came together to celebrate our 35th Anniversary of conservation and education. The weather was perfection and we were amazed at the turnout, with an approximate count of 46 people helping to hike ALL the fire tower step and decking materials up the mountain! Then over 100 hikers, friends and alum gathered at the NorthWoods lodge to eat good food, listen to live music, socialize with old friends and celebrate the NWSC community: where we’ve come from and where we’re headed! In addition to some words [Read More...]
In 2023, with the support of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) Kurt Gottschalk Science Fund, the NorthWoods Stewardship Center partnered with UVM Extension Forester Ali Kosiba to establish climate resilience monitoring plots in the NorthWoods demonstration forest. Using protocols developed by UVM Extension, NorthWoods forestry staff and interns collected data that will be used to evaluate a forest stand where past timber harvesting was designed to improve climate resilience, bird habitat, and other ecological values. Sustainable Forestry Interns at NorthWoods spent their 10-week season working on a wide variety of [Read More...]
Workshop teacher Larry Walters measures crosscut blades. The Conservation Corps team had fun this February attending a two-day Cross Cut Sharpening and Maintenance course hosted by Larry Walters of Rutland, VT, a former U.S. Forest Service employee. Larry was a wealth of knowledge in the realm of crosscut saws, their maintenance, and the precision-based tools that are involved in the process of sharpening them. Larry was very happy to host Corps team Dusty, Blase, and Charles and pass this lost art form on in hopes that NorthWoods will steward and [Read More...]
Some of these adorable baby trees are now chilling, perhaps for 100 years or more, in a drawer in Norway! Last fall the Riparian Lands crew teamed up with the Statewide Seed Coordinator at Intervale Center to collect gray birch in the Champlain Valley and with our ECO AmeriCorps member Sarah Redman, here in Brighton, VT. Some of the seeds from both collections were later sent to the North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station in Ames, Iowa to be tested and stored long-term. These samples currently have a 96%-98% [Read More...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
