Summer project updates
July 27, 2010
The WRP has been working with volunteers and partners to implement several on-the-ground restoration projects in recent weeks.
Mill Brook culvert
Trout and other fish depend on the entire river system for survival, so connecting upstream and downstream habitats is important. Culverts under roads allow fish and other aquatic life to move from one habitat to another. As a result, the WRP and its partners are in the process of identifying and implementing a series of culvert modification projects to improve fish passage, thereby connecting vital habitats and increasing native fish populations.
The Mill Brook culvert under White River Lane in Pomfret was modified in 1995 through a cooperative effort between the US Forest Service, the VT Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Trout Unlimited. The project involved bolting wooden baffles to the floor of the culvert at evenly-spaced intervals to enhance fish passage during high-flow conditions. The wooden structures require routine maintenance, so WRP staff, volunteers, and partners replaced two broken baffles on July 21. With help from Forest Service fisheries staff, a team of nine workers removed the broken baffles and installed new baffles to ensure continued fish passage to upstream habitats in Mill Brook.
Class IV roads
In 2009, the White River Partnership, Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission, and Vermont Agency of Natural Resources worked together to inventory a subset of the Class 4 roads in the White River watershed. Project partners assessed 75 Class 4 roads and identified 26 priority roads in need of erosion control work.
In 2010, the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (VYCC) received funding from the Upper Connecticut River Mitigation and Enhancement Fund to employ a crew of high school students to implement a series of erosion control projects on a handful of high-priority Class 4 roads in Sharon, Norwich, and Tunbridge. The VYCC crew started work this week in Sharon, building stone culvert headers on Sugar House Road. For the next four weeks, the VYCC crew will continue to implement projects identified during the 2009 inventory, including the installation of culvert headers, water bars, stone-lined ditches, and stone aprons.
Each of these project sites is located within 50 feet of a waterway, with documented sedimentation entering those waterways. By completing these projects, the WRP and its partners hope to reduce non-point source pollution and improve trout habitat.
For more information about efforts to improve Vermont’s road systems, check out the NRCS Better Backroads program.
News
Posted: July 27, 2010 by wrp_admin
Summer project updates
Summer project updates
July 27, 2010
The WRP has been working with volunteers and partners to implement several on-the-ground restoration projects in recent weeks.
Mill Brook culvert
Trout and other fish depend on the entire river system for survival, so connecting upstream and downstream habitats is important. Culverts under roads allow fish and other aquatic life to move from one habitat to another. As a result, the WRP and its partners are in the process of identifying and implementing a series of culvert modification projects to improve fish passage, thereby connecting vital habitats and increasing native fish populations.
The Mill Brook culvert under White River Lane in Pomfret was modified in 1995 through a cooperative effort between the US Forest Service, the VT Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Trout Unlimited. The project involved bolting wooden baffles to the floor of the culvert at evenly-spaced intervals to enhance fish passage during high-flow conditions. The wooden structures require routine maintenance, so WRP staff, volunteers, and partners replaced two broken baffles on July 21. With help from Forest Service fisheries staff, a team of nine workers removed the broken baffles and installed new baffles to ensure continued fish passage to upstream habitats in Mill Brook.
Class IV roads
In 2009, the White River Partnership, Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission, and Vermont Agency of Natural Resources worked together to inventory a subset of the Class 4 roads in the White River watershed. Project partners assessed 75 Class 4 roads and identified 26 priority roads in need of erosion control work.
In 2010, the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (VYCC) received funding from the Upper Connecticut River Mitigation and Enhancement Fund to employ a crew of high school students to implement a series of erosion control projects on a handful of high-priority Class 4 roads in Sharon, Norwich, and Tunbridge. The VYCC crew started work this week in Sharon, building stone culvert headers on Sugar House Road. For the next four weeks, the VYCC crew will continue to implement projects identified during the 2009 inventory, including the installation of culvert headers, water bars, stone-lined ditches, and stone aprons.
Each of these project sites is located within 50 feet of a waterway, with documented sedimentation entering those waterways. By completing these projects, the WRP and its partners hope to reduce non-point source pollution and improve trout habitat.
For more information about efforts to improve Vermont’s road systems, check out the NRCS Better Backroads program.
Posted: July 19, 2010 by wrp_admin
WRP in Burlington Free Press
WRP in Burlington Free Press
July 19, 2010
The WRP’s Landscape Auction project was featured on the front page of the July 18 edition of the Burlington Free Press.
Other Media
VPR’s Vermont Edition featured the Landscape Auction project on July 8.
Vermont Law School featured the Landscape Auction project and its connection to the VLS community on July 2.
Seven Days featured the Landscape Auction project in their Earth Day issue.
Posted: July 16, 2010 by wrp_admin
Landscape Auction items – now online!
Landscape Auction items – now online!
July 16, 2010
The WRP is hosting the first-ever Landscape Auction in the U.S. on Saturday, August 14 from 1-4pm at the Vermont Technical College in Randolph Center.
Nine landowners are participating in the live auction event, and have identified a diverse set of natural and working landscape elements in need of preservation. These items are now available online!
Items range in price from $275 to $19,800. Lower-priced items are designed to give auction participants a unique working landscape experience – from learning how to store vegetables in a root cellar to monitoring fish populations on the Green Mountain National Forest. Higher-priced items are designed to improve the natural landscape over a longer time period – from improving songbird habitat to conserving a public access area on the White River.
Individuals, social clubs, community organizations, and businesses are invited to attend the auction and to bid on landscape elements. The highest bidder will receive a certificate commemorating their participation in the USA’s first Landscape Auction, and will sign a contract with the WRP, making their donation tax-deductible.
Each landscape element involves a small reward for the highest bidder. For example, if you “adopt” the purchase of a purebred ram, you will have the opportunity to help deliver lambs during the following spring! And for landscape elements exceeding $5,000, the highest bidder will receive a framed picture of the White River; for elements exceeding $10,000, the highest bidder will receive a 1-day guided fishing or canoe trip on the White River.
There are lots of reasons to participate in the Landscape Auction for Vermont’s Working Landscape. We hope you’ll join us on August 14!