To What Did Our West - East Hike Lead Us?

 

When we lived in Hinsdale, NH we used to joke that we lived in the dead woods. Our small lot was bordered on three sides with seventy five acres dominated by massive White pine and Eastern hemlock all of which were anchored deep in beach sand. Though we had an open compost pile and an unfenced garden, we rarely saw more than the occasional squirrel, bird, bat or stray dog. It wasn't until our neighbor logged the back line that we began noticing wildlife moving in. I used to casually observe that the difference between VT and NH was the dirt; but in truth, there is an abundance of wildlife in NH, we were only missing an invitation for diversity.  That invitation came in the form of a man made disturbance.* 

I had secretly been procrastinating about a hike that I had publicly feigned enthusiasm for in late January. That was before I came down with a nasty respiratory infection that lead to a double ear infection and before our Luna was operated on to remove a stage 2 tumor. Sometime between our hike to the Brattleboro Retreat land in Vernon and Luna's diagnosis, I began to contemplate our disjointed treks along Vernon's southern and western boundaries. Deciding that it would be a good bragging point, I set our sights on filling in the lines.

 Typically, Wayne and I are much more spontaneous about hitting the trail; but wasn't the temperature too bitter, the trail too icy, and didn't another project require our attention? 

 

I asked Cheryl to see if her pastor would allow us to park in the church lot and cross the property. Once I received permission, I promptly set the idea aside. It wasn't until Luna had healed and I ran into Bob, that I revisited the idea. Bob gave us permission to hike on his land with the advice that we start on the west side and not the east.  And so we set the date to get it done. I'm still not completely sure what the hesitation was, only that on the day, Wayne wasn't in any more of a rush than I to head out.

Not long ago a 29 acre lot near the top of Scott Rd was put on the market across from the Class place. I remember thinking what a great spot for an ATV trail; but a subdivision of property began soon after. The first clearing and foundation went in at the lower end of the land. Next, a driveway was cut into the woods at the top where Scott Rd meets Satan's Kingdom Wildlife Management Area in Mass. Then a for sale sign was posted immediately below that driveway for another lot. I recall reading an advertisement claiming that Vernon was one of the few communities left with open land, great proximity, school choice...perfect for building ones dream home. It reminded me of those advertisements urging customers to hurry in before they are all gone. On the day of our hike we noticed that several more clearings had been cut into the woods. 

When Wayne and I hike the VT / MA border, we prefer to hike on the WMA side to avoid conflict with land owners. 

Bob advised us to find the road and follow it; but he also warned to be careful because you never know what made the trail. He elaborated saying that animals make trails and even if it is a logging road it's easy to get turned around. I think that it's fair to say, that judging by the amount of backtracking Wayne and I do, we are too impatient to follow trails.

We weren't very far in when we came across what looked to be two kill sites. I checked with my resources who confirmed that the feathers belonged to chickens. I followed up with Cheryl who contacted John, the owner of the new home on the border; but he said that they weren't missing any birds. Cheryl mentioned that there had been a lot of coyotes in the area.

At first, the mixed woods appeared to be what we had come to expect when hiking  throughout Vernon.

It wasn't long before the woods began hinting that we were in for something special.

Rose Quartz

This tree fascinated me as we seldom come across trees in such an active state of decomposition while still upright. 

Piliated Woodpecker is one species that takes advantage of old growth; and in addition to insect infestations, is part of the decomposition process. This woodpecker's work in a White pine near the same stand as the above hardwood trees, is fairly easy to identify due to its rectangular shaped holes.

There is a thought that we have become a place of isolated fractured lands. Our woods are no longer deep and interconnected enough to support diversity and the species and economics that rely on them. Our state is currently seeking public input for preserving forests of 50 acres and greater for this purpose. 

 

 It's hard to imagine that our national system of conservation lands and parks have fallen short in this respect. Think about Central Park in NYC for an easier visual. No one would argue that the park isn't a gem and celebrate the forward thinking of carving out a park in the middle of a major city. But think again, Central park lacks wildlife corridors to other natural areas necessary to sustain wildlife diversity. So to speak, this park in its isolation, is a genetic island with little options for wildlife to find a mate outside of it's immediate genetic pool.** Please read further about this issue in the citations at the end of this post. 

On these hikes, I often wonder where the wildlife corridors are that connect Roaring Brook and Satan's Kingdom to the Connecticut River. Where is the corridor that bridges the interstate separating Guilford from Vernon (the west)? That moose, the one that left the track that I began this article with, has become a rare site in our region for more reasons than I am discussing here, yet this discussion is an important piece of the puzzle. Successional growth and corridors sustain the diversity that conserves and promotes a healthy wildlife population. 

This 2018 map depicts the plan for "Future Land Use Town of Vernon, VT" .

Last year when we had a sick moose make its way down towards the CT River side of Vernon the excitement was electric. I saw more pictures of that moose on social medial than I did of my own family. How did that sole moose make its way to the east side of Vernon? How has seeing a moose in Vernon become such an anomaly? Vernon's moose should serve as a reminder to us all that we should be planning for ways to help improve the vitality of our region's wildlife in the same way that we plan for other growth.      

Well folks, I seem to have done it again. Against Bob's advice I have ventured from the trail. Wayne just asked me if I was blogging or campaigning and so with your indulgence, I will tell you how I became like a kid in a candy store in part two of our hike from Scott Road to 142. - Norma Manning

*Ecological Succession Explained 

**No Room to Roam, NRDC

** Genetic variation helps rescue helps endangered panthers, Understanding Evolution

**Forest Fragmentation, VNR

State seeks public input on the future of Vermont's forest economy, VB, Vermont Biz

Setting Vernon's Table

Instructions from the wordy writer:

I completely understand that the following piece is a challenging read. Knowing this, prior to publishing it I  ran it past past a few people already familiar with some of the subject matter. They confirmed my suspicions saying, "Sometimes its best to start with the ending."  So with this in mind, kindly read the ending prior to reading the essay in its entirety. 

Introduction: 

One of Vernon's most endearing qualities is that it is not Burlington. Before I lose a whole bunch of readers, please allow me to explain how I put this thought together and why I think that it is imperative that our town focuses on it.  

It is quite confusing for a novice such as myself to listen to soundbites of information put out by various representatives of the state and those professionals working in the fields of natural resources. I readily admit that digging deeper into the matter only serves to conjure up more questions. 

The Issue With Information: 

Take for instance, the hundreds of millions of dollars spent to clean up Lake Champlain. Did I say millions? What I meant to say is that way back in January of 2017, the Burlington Free Press ran this article stating that, "...the total estimated price tag over the next 20 years could exceed $1billion." 

Now, Vernon's long timers may very well remember that thirty three years ago in 1990, the Lake Champlain Special Designation Act , sponsored by Senators Leahy and Jeffords among others, was signed. (Perhaps some of you have visited the ECHO Leahy Center?)  The LCSDA "specifically required examination of water quality, fisheries, wetlands, wildlife, recreational and cultural resource issues." Indeed, the Lake Champlain Basin Program was born out of this Act; and by 2021, $105 million dollars had been allocated to this partnership between the EPA, VT, MA, and Canada. But that's not all, additional entities were born out of LCBP  and millions more were spent on the health of the lake. 

So far the process seems fairly linear. Form a coalition to examine lake health and perform public outreach. Discover that there is an issue and so form subgroups and release funds to take on those issues. Funds are generated from state and federal taxes and from "pay to play." Vernon's Vermont Yankee committed to $7 million (2011) for example as compared to TDI New England's $202 million commitment* (2015).

The reality is, that the funding aspect of restoring clean water is anything but linear, it is in fact interwoven throughout many entities and utterly mind boggling. ** 

When Linear Become Circular: 

Now I know very well that many of you screaming at your device for wanting me to bring my point home. And so I find it personally amusing that in this 2010 VT Digger article, "Gov's presser on video: Hydro-Quebec deal, Vermont Yankee, Lake Champlain cleanup, declining tax revenues" by Anne Galloway, the reporter in this interview, throws the entire trashcan at Governor Douglas. Please read this article, for serendipitously, this is the report that kept showing up each time I searched the facets of lake cleanup.  We have all heard of the food web; but have we actually stopped to examine the web that is created when our cumulative consumption overwhelms our resources? 

What if I were to tell you that in all of these years of knowing about the problem, understanding the causes of the problem and all of the efforts to clean up the problem, it has brought us to the very same point as Burlington's completing their five year plan to build an additional 1,250 new houses by 2026. And what if in the same instance, you understood that development is identified as a major contributor to waterways and lake pollution. How then are we to hope to clean up our, "great lake" when one of the major players on her shores is also focused on meeting other demands? 

Municipalities in the Lake Champlain basin have exceeded that resource's carrying capacity. Those municipalities are in the midst of remediating the lake's issues even as they continue to develop and redevelop the land.

Indeed, one of the most endearing qualities of Vernon is that we are not Burlington.

The Table

I am in no way boasting that I'm a regular attendee of meetings here in Vernon. Vernon after all, has a plethora of boards, committees and commissions, all of which meet on a regular basis. In fact, though I have lived here since 2004, other than paying my taxes, I am very new to serving this community.

 I began Vernon Vermont Nature Finds in 2021 and from there I found  my desire to serve last March of 2022. Writing Nature finds led to my membership on the Vernon Conservation Commission. Other than that I have attended the occasional strategic planning meeting and always the annual town meetings in March. And hey folks, it looks by way of the town meeting 2023 warning, that discussing trash disposal has simmered down a bit...we shall see. 

Be it as it may, I did recently attend a public meeting on the Vernon Recreation Master Plan. It was during this meeting that one participant noted the small attendance and questioned why that was. Another attendee mentioned during the meeting that they were tired of all of the meetings in town and wanted to get something done. Yet a third person contributed that all of the public in attendance were currently serving on commissions, boards and or committees. For my part, I suggested that what we needed was a bit of good old fashioned controversy to spark public interest. 

Well Here Goes:

You may not know this, but Vernon is undergoing a housing boom to a scale not seen since the 70's. Ok, so I am being slightly dramatic here; but isn't that how all good controversy starts? To further exacerbate matters, of the hundreds of  land parcels that make up Vernon, as of 2018, the map shows 27 of those parcels were green (low intensity) "undeveloped".  I found this information on this map posted on Vernon, VT's town website. It causes me to wonder how many of those 27 green parcels remain "undeveloped" five years later, how many will there be in five more years?

I'm not claiming that all development or redevelopment is bad for the environment. But I am saying that it is imperative that we / Vernon proceed with great caution and well thought out plans. Windham County learned this lesson well with tropical storm Irene. Our own Planning Commission like all VT municipalities, is engaged with experts to develop flood mitigation plans. What I am saying is that I want you to remember the basic rule of thumb; that impervious surfaces create water runoff and water runoff not only has the potential to cause flooding, but often delivers pollution directly to our resources. I know, I know, I'm oversimplifying the impacts; but as I mentioned before, it's a mind boggling complicated web.

I'm going to amend my initial statement to: One of Vernon's most important qualities is that we aren't Brattleboro, Keene, Greenfield or soon to be Hinsdale. We still have a chance to attend the meetings, engage in the process, plan for open land, recreational land, farm land, healthy land. And best of all, in addition to what we have set aside, we as a community, still have the chance to participate in the reimagining of the former Vermont Yankee site currently being remediated at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars.****

Yes it is important that we get out and vote this March; but it's vital that we personally engage in the planning processes that lead to the items being voted on. The joke used to be, "Don't Jersey Vermont" now it's become something closer to home and as Wayne said, now we all have work to do. -Norma Manning

* Vermont could get 720 Million for Lake Champlain Power Lines, Seven Days

*Nuclear plant gain disputed 

**Funding for the LCBP , Introduction- Lake Champlain Basin Program

***Burlington's Mayor Announces Housing Action Plan

****As Vernon approves  plans for Vermont Yankee site, questions remain about future of nuclear waste