News

27 07, 2016

2016 Corps Season: Bald Mountain Trail Restoration Progress

2016-12-13T19:11:45-05:00July 27th, 2016|Conservation Corps, Highlights, News|

The NorthWoods Trail Crew takes a break from trail work at the Bald Mountain summit. (L to R) Alexis Alderman, Shane Tulp (crew leader), Quinn Stevens, Aaron Verge, Dawson Cote, Delphine McCann, Calvin Hosford, Kayla Hanson (crew leader). The NorthWoods Conservation Corps passed the halfway point in its summer season this past week and hikers and outdoor enthusiasts will find signs of their efforts throughout the region. Substantial trail management projects are recently completed or underway on Bald Mountain in Westmore, Wheeler Mountain in Sutton, and on the Cohos Trail in [Read More...]

22 07, 2016

In Pictures: Bunkhouse Construction Under Way!

2016-12-13T19:11:45-05:00July 22nd, 2016|Conservation Corps, Education, Forest Stewardship Institute, Highlights, News|

Work began in mid July on excavation and site preparation for a new bunkhouse at the NorthWoods Stewardship Center. The four-season 54 x 24 foot building will include bunks for 18 students and an annex with handicapped-accessible bathrooms and showers. The bunkhouse will expand the Center’s capacity and ability to offer its educational programming over multiple days to groups from a wider geographic area. For over 25 years NorthWoods has provided school and adult education programs as part of its mission of “connecting people and place through education, science, and action”, but groups have been limited to single day [Read More...]

22 07, 2016

This Week in the Woods: Exploring the CT River

2016-12-13T19:11:45-05:00July 22nd, 2016|Education, Highlights, News|

This week in the woods, campers took to the water to explore a Northern section of the Connecticut River. They practiced their quick and whitewater paddling techniques and took advantage of the slower sections to observe the ample wildlife. Some exciting encounters included a flock of 50 Canada Geese, a Beaver, and Weasel, a Great Blue Heron, and a Bald Eagle! This camp runs in partnership with the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. In the featured picture, campers paddle Island Pond on day one to get the feel of their boats.

21 07, 2016

Elm Restoration Update: Tending to the Trees

2016-12-13T19:11:46-05:00July 21st, 2016|Forest Stewardship Institute, Highlights, News|

American elm, once an iconic species common along Vermont's riversides and in hardwood forests (particularly wetter, nutrient-rich ones), has declined dramatically due to Dutch elm disease over the past century. But with upcoming research about naturally disease resistant American elm varieties, we're optimistic that these trees will be restored as a healthy component of of our Vermont forests. For the past two spring planting seasons NorthWoods has assisted The Nature Conservancy and the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department in planting nearly 2,000 elms and “filler” trees of other species in riparian fields, and this summer we're taking [Read More...]

13 06, 2016

Rick Wright – CT River Swim 2016

2016-12-13T19:11:46-05:00June 13th, 2016|Highlights, News|

Periodically throughout the summer we will be featuring accounts from long distance swimmer, Rick Wright. Rick contacted us this spring to ask us about specifics concerning the northern stretches of the Connecticut River and to purchase a CT River Paddler's Trail Map in preparation for swimming the full length of the river from the Quebec border to Long Island Sound. Rick, who is 72, started on his journey last year, swimming 50 miles of the CT river between Hartford and Old Saybrook CT over 8 days in the summer of 2015. Stay tuned for [Read More...]

9 06, 2016

All Aboard:  Third Grade Students Explore Lake Memphremagog

2016-12-13T19:11:46-05:00June 9th, 2016|Education, Highlights, News|

How old is Lake Memphremagog? Where does all the water in the Lake come from? Who calls it home?  Nearly 300 third grade students from Orleans County searched for answers to these questions on the Discovery Cruise aboard the Northern Star boat this spring. In the search, students were invited to become lake detectives, provided with helpful tools – binoculars, discovery guides, watershed maps, identification books, and their own powers of observation.  During the quest, detectives had to abide by Captain Chris Johansen’s number one rule: to have fun! Facilitated by NorthWoods [Read More...]

25 05, 2016

3,600 Trees Planted in Newport Center

2016-12-13T19:11:46-05:00May 25th, 2016|Conservation Corps, Highlights, News|

Over the course of three weeks this May, the Corps has been busy planting 3,600 trees at the Marquis site along Mud Creek in Newport Center. The species planted included: Northern white cedar, tamarack, quaking aspen, shrub willows, boxelder, nannyberry, and winterberry. Across 12 acres, these young trees will make up a riparian forest buffer which will reduce nutrients/pollutants in surface runoff, lower water temperatures through the shade they provide, create habitat corridors for wildlife, and produce litter and large woody debris for aquatic organisms. Every spring season, alongside partners such [Read More...]

25 05, 2016

Wheeler Mountain Trail Work Underway

2016-12-13T19:11:46-05:00May 25th, 2016|Conservation Corps, Highlights, News|

Changes are coming to Wheeler Mountain that will ensure continued public access for years to come. In an effort coordinated by NorthWoods Stewardship Center, Wheeler Mountain landowner John Krieble has agreed to a public access trail easement in a move that also relocates the lower portion of the Wheeler Mountain Trails onto nearby Willoughby State Forest. The new route will begin at a trailhead parking area, to be constructed this summer, on state lands and bypass the poorly sited parking area in use today. Under the agreement, crews from the NorthWoods Conservation Corps will construct roughly [Read More...]

19 04, 2016

Teaming up with TNC to Save Elms

2016-12-13T19:11:46-05:00April 19th, 2016|Conservation Corps, Education, Forest Stewardship Institute, Highlights, News|

NorthWoods is once again teaming up with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to help save the elms! In the mid-20th century, the Dutch Elm Disease came through the U.S. and decimated the American Elm population, killing almost all of the iconic trees. Even now, many elm trees which succeed in establishing themselves are killed by the disease before they are able to achieve their mature height. While the majority of elms have been killed, there are still some large elm trees which survived the disease, and it has been shown that some of these individuals have [Read More...]

19 04, 2016

NorthWoods Expands USFWS Youth Conservation Crews

2016-12-13T19:11:46-05:00April 19th, 2016|Conservation Corps, Education, Forest Stewardship Institute, Highlights, News|

The NorthWoods Stewardship Center has had a long-standing partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, managing Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) crews at National Wildlife Refuges across New England since 1999. Nearly 20 years later, the partnership continues to offer great potential at new locations. This year, NorthWoods will manage a YCC Crew at the Misissquoi National Wildlife Refuge in Swanton, VT and a YCC Crew Leader team at the Moosehorn NWR in Charlotte, ME. These crews are in addition to our current YCC crews at the Silvio O. Conte National Fish & Wildlife Refuge Nulhegan Basin [Read More...]

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