Project Overview

The NorthWoods Stewardship Center, located in the Clyde River Watershed in East Charleston, Vermont is an organization with a strong sense of place. As a conservation and educational organization in the North East Kingdom of Vermont, many of our programs and projects emphasize the importance of local stewardship to promote healthy ecosystems. The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department Habitat Stamp funded invasive plant control completed in the Clyde River Watershed was a collection of projects that addressed the spread of non-native plants in the area. These projects were completed with support from neighboring landowners, the State of Vermont, and the hard work of dedicated staff. Invasive plant spread can have a negative effect on many aspects of ecosystem health as they outcompete the native flora, alter hydrology, and ultimately decrease the diversity of organisms that create resilient and functional ecosystems. 

The Clyde River Watershed is an important linkage between the Memphremagog Watershed to the west and Connecticut River Watershed to the east. It is comprised of important riparian habitats, as well as highest priority interior forest block (as designated by the Vermont Conservation Design). Maintaining connectivity between watersheds and forests in Vermont and the Northeast is necessary to bolster resilience to climate change, increased development pressure, and changes in land use. The Clyde River valley is also comprised of many uncommon natural communities that are home to diverse populations of flora and fauna, including populations of Rare, Threatened, and Endangered species. Conserving and protecting these areas will ensure that this diversity exists into the future. Removing and managing invasive plants is an important part of this management. The Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, including the Clyde River valley has a relatively low abundance of invasive plants compared to the Champlain Valley and other parts of New England. Action taken early and proactively against these species is more likely to result in success in this region than other areas, making the cost and effort worthwhile. 

The majority of the funding was used to treat and remove phragmites from wetland habitats along the Clyde River, and shores of Echo and Seymour Lakes. Phragmites (Phragmites australis), an aggressive perennial plant in the grass family, primarily spreads through rhizomes (underground stems) making it difficult to control. It is very common in wetlands, lake edges, and fens where it forms dense monocultures out-competing native species and decreasing habitat value for native insects and animals. Due to the occurrence in aquatic areas, the size of the populations, landowner preferences, and occurrence of wells, mechanical removal was the primary treatment method for these projects. Herbicide was used where it was deemed a more effective treatment method and plants were growing outside of the aquatic buffer. The clip-and-drip method of cutting the plants and applying herbicide to the remaining stalks mitigates the potential for drift of the herbicide and its effect on pollinators. The main goal when choosing a removal method is to minimize the overall disturbance to a site, while systematically removing the invasive plants.

Other species that were treated included Honeysuckle and Buckthorn—both woody upland species that thrive in forests and along forest edge habitats. Buckthorn is a prolific seed spreader from its berry fruits which are dispersed by wildlife. One seed-producing tree can have a significant effect on the spread of the species, and therefore removing these from the area can significantly reduce the future spread. Plants were manually pulled by NorthWoods crews from the Conservation Science Department and Forest Stewardship Institute. As many of the root systems were removed as possible to limit the continued spread. Some of these projects are multiyear treatments with the goal of eradicating the populations. 

Community Outreach and Events

Invasive plants are a landscape-scale issue, and to be successful across the region and into the future, we recognize the importance of engaging more landowners and community members to keep this effort going. To support this, NorthWoods included several educational events and volunteer opportunities as part of this project, including:

  • An informational webinar about this year’s Habitat Stamp funded invasive control and the projects in the Clyde River watershed, with an emphasis on the ecological values being protected, different management strategies, and reasons for using herbicide treatment in some areas. This was partly to address concerns from residents near Echo Lake about herbicide use.
  • Following up on Echo Lake residents’ concerns, we met and communicated extensively with representatives from the Echo Lake Protective Association (ELPA) to create a plan that addressed their concerns, while still being practical and effective (see below)
  • To assist with the hand-pulling sections of the Echo Lake phragmites, we recruited volunteers from ELPA to work with NorthWoods staff
  • In a separate, smaller project, NorthWoods staff met with members of the Seymour Lake Association to come up with a treatment plan for a small patch of Phragmites on the Seymour public beach. Volunteers from the Seymour Lake Association organized work days to complete this manual removal, and shared information within their organization about this invasive control.
  • For each project, we communicated directly with landowners to set up a treatment plan that was effective, appropriate to the site, and met their goals for the land

Treatment Areas

At a Glance:

Site Name or Property Owner Invasives Plants Removed or Treated Removal Technique(s) Acreage
Forest Edge – Landowner A Parcel Honey Suckle 

Phragmites

 Hand Pulling/Mechanical Removal 0.5 
Forest Edge – Landowner A Parcel Buckthorn Hand Pulling/Mechanical Removal ~ 5 
Clyde River Wetland – Landowner B Parcel Phragmites Hand Pulling/Mechanical Removal 0.5
Echo Lake – NorthWoods & Landowner C Parcels Phragmites  Herbicide and Mechanical Removal  0.1
Seymour Lake Beach – Town of Morgan Phragmites  Mechanical Removal 0.02
Total Acres: 6.12 

 

Landowner A Property: Phragmites, Honeysuckle, Buckthorn Mechanical Removal 

Landowner A owns 236 acres of conserved land (easement held by the Vermont Land Trust) on the side of Tripp Hill, overlooking Echo Lake. The parcel is ~74% forested and ~26% open fields, managed by a local farmer for certified organic hay production. Invasive plants have been noted on the property in management plans prepared in 2011-12 and 2021-22, and the landowners have been committed to controlling these invasives. Work completed in 2022 was funded by the landowner and considered a match for the Habitat Stamp project. 

Invasives found on this parcel include honeysuckle and barberry (most abundant in field edges and hedgerows), buckthorn (field edges and some interior forest), and Phragmites (two small patches in forested wetlands). Although some individual shrubs are very large, the overall density is moderate to low, and the repeated treatments over the past 10+ years have been very successful. This is especially noteworthy because no herbicide treatments have been done on the property, per the landowners’ preferences and limitations on herbicide use near organic hayfields (where most invasive plants are found). 

This successful, ongoing project highlights how early detection and proactive response can prevent invasive plants from overtaking an area. The property is part of a 4,500+ acre interior forest block, ranked as “highest priority” by the Vermont Conservation Design Biofinder. Invasive plants are relatively sparse through much of this forest block, and preventing spread near the edges is an effective and practical way to protect the ecological integrity of the larger, connected forest.

Landowner B Property: Phragmites Mechanical Removal  

Landowner B owns 112 acres of property adjacent to the Clyde River in Brighton, Vermont. The parcel is mainly comprised of uncommon natural communities including Black Spruce Swamp (S2), Boreal Cedar-Sphagnum Basin Swamp (S3), Red Maple-Northern White Cedar Swamp (S3), and Sweet Gale Shoreline Swamp (S3). The Webster Brook, a tributary to the Clyde River, runs through the property creating some of the wetland habitat that comprises these natural communities. These uncommon natural communities are home to a suite of species, including populations of Rare, Threatened or Endangered Species. The goal of invasive control on this parcel is to maintain this diversity of natural communities and species.

One half-acre patch of Phragmites exists in a swampy wetland area. The Phragmites is growing in areas where native plants are still present in relative abundance and diversity. Crews from NorthWoods have been working on manually removing the plants over the past decade with some irregularity. The landowner has requested that herbicide not be used to limit the impact it may have on the other plants, water quality, and overall health of the ecosystem. Manual removal has not been particularly successful in decreasing the area where the Phragmites is growing at this site. Due to its extensive rooting system, it is difficult to remove the entire plant from the ground, and it appears to be able to regrow enough in the time between pulling to keep a population alive. The removal has likely kept the patch from spreading as much as it would, or becoming a denser area of phragmites. 

Future treatment plans may require more person-hours to complete more rounds of pulling in each season, and the potential use of herbicide to eradicate the population. 

Echo Lake Phragmites 

Echo Lake, located in Charleston VT, is part of a string of streams and lakes that form a major tributary to the Clyde River. Although much of the Echo Lake shoreline is developed with camps, houses and farms, the lake has excellent water quality and very few invasive species (aquatic or terrestrial). 

The NorthWoods Stewardship Center owns ~0.3 miles of forested shoreline, the largest segment of undeveloped shoreline on the lake. This section of shoreline provides benefits for habitat and water quality, but unfortunately, this area also has the only established population of invasive Phragmites on the lake (based on NW and ELPA observations). This ~0.35 acre Phragmites patch is mainly on NorthWoods land, and extends onto neighboring land owned by Landowner C. Treatment for this project was done with the permission of the landowner, and with a treatment plan approved by the Vermont DEC Wetland Program (District Wetlands Ecologist).

In prior years, several attempts at hand-pulling have proven to have little success. Some of this treatment area is in full sun (little native overstory competition), with dense and well-established Phragmites. In other areas, forest cover and shrubs are present including alders, dogwoods, willow, and overstory cedars and other trees. To more effectively treat Phragmites in this area, NorthWoods proposed an herbicide treatment using clip-and-drip (where native plants are present)and foliar spraying (areas of very dense Phragmites) . This plan was approved by the District Wetlands Ecologist and follows established protocols for invasive plant control, however, when we present this treatment plan to the Echo Lake Protective Association (ELPA), there were strong concerns about herbicide use near the lake. To address these concerns, we modified the treatment plan to include a 15’ buffer along the lake where no herbicide would be used (only hand-pulling), with herbicide used in other areas further from the lake. To help make this successful, ELPA volunteers offered to assist with the manual removal. 

During July-September 2022, NorthWoods staff and ELPA volunteers completed this treatment plan, with slight modifications. In areas of the densest Phragmites outside the 15’ buffer, we intended to cut back the Phragmites in early summer and return to foliar spray the regrowth in late summer. However, due to delays while we modified the treatment plan with ELPA’s feedback, the pre-cutting didn’t happen until late July, and there was never enough regrowth to foliar spray. Because of this, we focused instead on clip-and-drip, treating as many stems as possible, even where stems were small or where there was little regrowth after cutting. We anticipate very good control where large stems were treated, and are less sure how effective the clip-and-drip after cutting will be. Monitoring and retreatment in 2023 will show how effective this was, and we may modify the treatment plan if needed in future years.

Manual removal in the 15’ buffer was completed in July-August 2022, and resprouts were pulled again in September. This part of the project proved to be very labor intensive, and the success is still somewhat doubtful. Phragmites has dense below-ground roots and rhizomes that are nearly impossible to remove by pulling. Based on the vigor and regrowth in 2023, we may modify this plan, either pulling multiple times per year or using clip-and-drip herbicide treatment within this buffer. 

This project revealed some of the challenges of invasive control, beyond the plants themselves. Our discussions with ELPA highlighted the importance of community outreach, and listening to the concerns of neighbors. By modifying our plan and having open conversations with ELPA, we hope to maintain a greater level of community support for this project into the future, even though the treatment itself may be more difficult. This year’s work on Echo Lake also highlighted the urgency of this work, when ELPA members told us that other Phragmites populations have begun to show up on other lakeshore areas, most likely a result of root fragments from the NorthWoods/Landowner C shoreline. The amount of people-power required for this work was also noticeable in this project; hand-pulling of dense phragmites is extremely labor intensive, and clip-and-drip treatments can be very time-consuming and tedious.

Despite these challenges, we made greater progress on this Phragmites control than we had been able to achieve in past years. With careful monitoring and follow-up treatments, we are confident that we can restore this section of shoreline. 

Seymour Lake Beach Phragmites 

A much smaller project was completed on Seymour Lake, located in Morgan VT, upstream of Echo Lake. NorthWoods was approached by members of the Seymour Lake Association (SLA) who were looking for guidance on controlling a very small patch of Phragmites on a public beach, very close to VT Route 111. Although this patch is small and located in an area of low ecological importance, the SLA volunteers were motivated to prevent the further spread of invasives in this public space.

SLA volunteers were highly motivated in communicating and organizing work days. NorthWoods staff contributed a very small amount of time on the actual control effort, and instead, we were able to support SLA by providing information and helping create a treatment plan. Due to SLA concerns about herbicide, challenges of obtaining herbicide permits within the road ROW, and the small/low-density Phragmites population, we decided that manual removal could be effective here. Thorough hand-pulling was completed in July 2022, and SLA volunteers planned to revisit the site 1 or 2 times per month to pull any resprouts. Phragmites stems were relatively small and interspersed with native shrubs and turf grass, and we are hopeful that monitoring and follow up treatment in 2023 will be even easier than this year’s work. 

This project showed how a relatively small input of time, combined with early-detection and a well-informed treatment plan, can prevent the spread of invasive plants at an early stage. Through future partnership with SLA, we hope this can also help inspire landowners around Seymour Lake to control invasive plants on their property, since prior lake surveys have found numerous invasive plants around the lake.