Please pitch in to help us continue our work
in 2012!
Over the past year many of you (or a
family member) have participated in
a NorthWoods outdoor experience -
retracing ancient paddle routes down
the Clyde River, touring our
demonstration forest to learn about
timber stand
improvement, or building stone water
bars that will last for
generations. Other projects, such as
invasive species control or riparian
tree planting, have provided even
wider benefits by safeguarding the
biodiversity, clean water, and
healthy forests that we all value.
We are proud of these achievements,
but for them to continue we will need to
meet our remaining 2011 fundraising
goals. The end-of-year appeal is
traditionally our most important
fundraiser and your participation is
instrumental to its success.
Planning for 2012 is also well underway
and the year is taking shape to include
our most-requested traditional
programming as well as several exciting
new partnership projects (more on these
in the coming months).
Already-scheduled events can now be seen
in our winter
calendar.
None of this would be possible without your
support, so please invest
in stewardship with a year-end contribution
to NorthWoods. Click
here for on-line giving, or bring your
donation by in person - we'd love to see
you!
Wishing you a joyous holiday season,
~ The NorthWoods Team
Announcements
Just Added - Early 2012
Game of Logging
A perfect
gift for yourself or the
favorite woodsman/woman in your life!!
Game
of Logging is an internationally-acclaimed
chainsaw training program that improves
safety and control when working in the
woods. This popular program is very
effective at keeping both participants and
the forest healthier and we've been thrilled
to work with
Northeast Woodland Training to offer
training opportunities now for over five
years. These additional training dates
have been added due to extra demand this
fall. Level 4 now covers Storm Damage
Cleanup and was very well received at its
debut at NorthWoods last month.
Space if filling quickly, so please contact
Jon soon to register.
Saturday-Sunday, February 11-12, 8am-4:30pm,
$150 per level
NorthWoods Deck Reincarnated
Our beloved deck was no match for last
winter's record snowfalls, which by March
had completely blocked the picture windows
seen above left. Thanks to an insurance
claim and several other key sources of
support, we are very pleased to report that
the deck has come back to life as a patio.
Related damage to the wall was remedied with
the installation of new high-efficiency
doors and windows. We feel fortunate
that this small disaster has resulted in
long-term improvements to our facility.
In acknowledgement of the skills and
generosity that made this project possible,
we'd like to first offer a hearty
endorsement to the main contractors
involved; JBL Hauling & Excavating
(Brighton), Erik Armstrong
(Lyndonville), and Back 2 Basics Builders
(Brownington). Also a special note of
appreciation to Poulin Lumber, Al Robertson,
Dupuis Sand & Gravel, Terry Perkins, and the
students and staff of the 2011 Kroka
Expeditions Semester program and Lyndon
State College for your support.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Keeping Vermont Green
While we're giving thanks, we must
acknowledge the invaluable support received
this year through a partnership with Vermont
Green - a collaboration of public and
private agencies preparing Vermont workers
for green jobs. Recognizing our shared goals
of conservation and sustainability, VT Green
representative Eli Gruber helped NorthWoods
secure VT Green funding for tools and
training for first-time workers on our
Conservation Corps, as well as green
re-training and support services for
unemployed and underemployed Vermonters
right here in our NorthWoods offices. Thank
you, Vermont Green, for this tremendous
boost to our capacities and to the many
participants who have gained new job skills
as a result!
Find out more about VT Green's goals,
partners, and projects at the
Vermont Green Summit & Showcase Expo,
November 9th at Vermont Technical College.
Calling All Bird Lovers... IP
Christmas Bird Count Dec 15th
gray jay
It's been said that the best gifts come in
small packages and who wouldn't agree after
hearing their first boreal chickadee or
watching the antics of gray jays amidst the
snow-covered firs? Each year within
two weeks of Christmas birders all across
the Western Hemisphere dust off their
binoculars for this 112-year old tradition
coordinated by the National Audubon Society
and carried out by thousands of volunteers
and organizations like NorthWoods.
This year will mark the 38th consecutive
Annual Island Pond Christmas Bird Count -
covering a fifteen mile diameter circle
centered in Island Pond. Armed with
binoculars, bird guides and checklists,
experienced birders and beginners alike will
collect data that helps assess the health of
bird populations and informs action
to protect their habitats. Join us or let us
know who shows up at your backyard feeder on
the 15th. Please contact
Jayson to register or for more details.
NorthWoods Gift Guides
If you're on the lookout for stocking
stuffers that are pint-sized but pack a
punch, look no further! Dayhikers,
backcountry die-hards, paddlers,
anglers, teachers, and local natural
history buffs will delight in a guide
from NorthWoods - we know because we're
all of these things! Options include
the NorthEast Kingdom Mountain Trail
Guide, Clyde River Guide, Green Mountain
Club Northeast Kingdom Hiking Trail Map,
and Power for Change Energy Curriculum
for Grades K-12 and all can be purchased
online. Proceeds support NorthWoods
conservation programs.
Program
News
TRAILS
2011 Conservation Corps Project
Reports
On October 14,
the NorthWoods Fall Crew packed up its tools
for the last time and completed the final
off-site project of the 2011 field season -
capping a nearly 6-month span of continuous
conservation work.
While we
are still tallying the cumulative
results for the 2011 NorthWoods
Conservation Corps season (stay tuned
for our forthcoming 2011 Annual Report),
our staff has pulled together a
selection of project reports that sum up
this year's accomplishments on a
project-by-project basis. These reports
include summaries for work at
Cow Mountain Pond Forest in Granby,
Westmore Town Forest,
Mount Hor - Herbert Hawkes Trail,
Gore Mountain Trail and the new
Middle Mountain Trail. Each report
features a detailed tally of work done,
color photos and in some cases revised
maps.
Forthcoming reports for work on the
Cohos Trail in northern New Hampshire,
the Connecticut River Paddlers Trail and
each of our US Fish and Wildlife Service
YCC Crews will be posted in the near
future.
Click the links above to
check out our 2011 project reports, or
better yet, visit the site yourself to
see the many good things NorthWoods is
doing in your local community.
**If you're having trouble opening
PDFs from this email, please try the
following: In Adobe Reader, go to Edit
menu, select Preferences, select
Internet, and uncheck "Display PDF in
browser."
LAND MANAGEMENT
Inspiring Young Foresters at 13th Annual
Women Can Do! Conference
Meg gives chainsaw
intro at WCD
In October, NorthWoods AmeriCorps staffers
Meg Carter and Cody Sayers donned chaps and
helmets to demonstrate chainsaw techniques
at Women Can Do! - an annual statewide
conference designed to inspire high school
girls to careers in trades and technology.
Participants were introduced to safe
chainsaw use and maintenance and to personal
protective equipment (PPE), then tried out
their new skills at the Action Expo.
NorthWoods' Expo tent was quiet at first
"probably because no one wanted to be the
first to brave the potential humiliation,"
smiles Meg Carter, "but with some
encouragement, brave souls emerged from the
crowd, donned the equipment, and made their
first cut." She was pleased to see some
women taking a genuine interest. "They
really shined and that was exciting to see,"
added Meg. "Others started digging a hole to
China under the log, but they pushed out of
their comfort zone and tried it, and that's
what counts."
As the Land Management Americorps member at
NorthWoods, Meg continues to broaden her own
horizons as a land steward and teacher.
Among other things, she has come
to appreciate the benefits of cutting some
trees to enhance the health of others - a
concept controversial among some who love
the woods. "To impart even a small bit of
this awareness to young women gives me great
satisfaction," she reflected after the
conference. "I take pride in helping to
encourage a future where women can take the
reins of conservation."
CONSERVATION SCIENCE
What
Ever Happened with the Purple Traps?
Cautious Good News...
EAB
Tunneling
Source: www.ext.vt.edu
This past summer, NorthWoods participated in
a trapping program to determine the presence
of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) - a small, shiny,
green insect responsible for the death of
roughly 60 million ash trees in 15 states
since its arrival from China in 2002.
The Threat:
A female EAB lays her eggs under the bark of
an ash tree, producing larvae that eat the
tree's tender innner bark, or cambium. If
the larvae eat the cambium around the whole
tree - "girdling" the tree - the tree can no
longer transport water and nutrients and
will die.
The Study: Funded by the
USDA in cooperation with Forecon and the
State Agency of Agriculture, most of Vermont
was trapped on a grid of one trap every two
square miles. The exception, Essex
County, was only trapped lightly due to its
distance from the nearest known infestation
areas. Other methods, one using girdled ash
trees as lures and the other employing the
search services of native beetle-feeding
wasps, were also used at a small scale.
Thankfully, despite this intensive effort,
no EABs were found in Vermont. Click to
see a map of EAB
Trap Locations .**
While Vermont has yet to see an EAB
infestation, we are on the prevention front
lines of one of the most destructive forest
pests that the US has ever seen! The spread
is rapid, now ranging as far east as New
York and as far south as Tennessee, as well
as north into two Canadian provinces.
Quarantines imposed on the movement of ash
products - especially firewood - in states
to our west seem to have at least slowed the
spread of the EAB in our direction.
For more information about preventing the
sread of the EAB, click to see the Vermont
Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation
EAB Fact Sheet.
**If you have trouble opening PDFs from
this email, try the following: In Adobe
Reader go to Edit menu, select Preferences,
select Internet, and uncheck "Display PDF in
browser."
November
Events at NorthWoods
To register, call (802) 723-6551 ext 115
That's it until next year. Meanwhile, we
hope to see you around the Center or out
on the trails. Enjoy the season, travel
safely, and leave no trace...
And, as always....
Let us knowif you have
any special workshop requests!
