I Saw It First

One of my earliest memories as a child was to be the first kid in the car to proclaim, "I saw it first!" No matter if we were coming from Georgia, Kansas or as close as Burlington's North End, the first of us to spy the waters of Lake Champlain on our way to my grandparent's house in South Hero would holler out those words.  I continued to play that game by myself in college, as a mother with my own children when my parents lived there and even today with Wayne at what is now my sister's home.

It's funny how a body of water can mean different things to different people. Wayne, who was born and raised in Bellows Falls, remembers the CT River as the place that he went fishing but would never dare eat the fish. His memories of the polluted river have persisted and even now while watching Vernon families swim below the dam, Wayne refuses to swim or fish in the CT.

I stopped at the town hall recently to ask Mr Arsenault, how many miles of Vernon are borderd by the CT, in typical Tim fashion he anserwerd, "all of them." Unlike some of the historically commercial and industrial areas of the valley, Vernon has never turned it's back to the river. Brattleboro built the canyon that is Main street with its tall buildings between its residents and the river; but when the Europeans arrived in Vernon, they took advantage of the rich soils deposited here by the water to farm and farms remain here still.

Over the decades, progress did manage to catch up with Vernon, a hydroelectric dam was constructed, and in 1972 the now closed Vermont Yankee came online using the CT as its source for cooling water. With progress came a fence that separated resident from river.  Like many others, it was VY and the river that brought us to Vernon. With jobs came housing, pavement and other development that devided up the land and met the needs of the people. 

At our Town Meeting last night it was clear that Vernon continues to grapple with moving forward post Vermont Yankee. We are at a crossroads trying to strike a balance between meeting our civic obligations  and retaining Vernon's rural heritage. What becomes of the parcel between Governor Hunt rd and the river will be determined over the next decade.  

Last night the town voted to set aside money for legal consultation for future industrial development and we voted to set aside additional funds for Farmland Conservation. My hope is that in genarations to come, families in Vernon will look to the river - I saw it first! -Norma Manning

Shoe Trees part three: Who or what decides?

Vernon is a working landscape. We have multiple generational dairy farms as well as backyard farms, seasonal operations such as sugaring, stone quarries, railroad, hydroelectric dam, a mulch company,  logging, a large neighboring lumber industry and the growing presence of eco tourism. With each of these industries, decisions have been made as to how best utilize our resources.

 I'm sure that over the four hundred years at Black Gum Swamps, more than a few close calls were had in the name of progress, commodity, home heating as well natural causes such as fire, disease and changing environment.

A short hike up Black Gum Swamps' red trail reveals American Chestnut rings where mature trees once graced the swamp's landscape. Did these valuable trees fall victim to the blight, age or logging? Is it possible with careful management to restore the stand?

Last Autumn I was with a group of naturalists touring the swamps when the leader requested that no participant who had been in contact with chestnuts previously, approach the rings for fear of transferring the blight. This group seemed more excited about the rings than the Black Gums Vernon is so famous for.

Though the pictures of trees I take today may seemingly lack the romance of others found in or once found in Vernon, I can't help but wonder if our maples, ash and hemlocks without purposeful intervention, will someday go the way of the American Chestnut and American Elm.  With the Asian Long- horned Beetle, Emerald Ash Borer, Woolly Adelgid, land use pressures and climate change, one thing is certain, the foresight of our community members to conserve Black Gum Swamps and our town forest was wise, but will it be enough?

Wouldn't that be a shame if in twenty years shoes hung from our Sugar Maples instead of taps? - Norma Manning

Sapline running to a collection barrel on Huckle Hill