LANDS 2008 The Land Stewardship Program

LANDS 2008
The Land Stewardship Program
The Crew
James Barnes
Emily Lord
Arielle Conti
Dexter Locke
Gwen Kolzlowski
Jason Smith
Julia Meurice
Maureen Whalley
Sumana Serchan
Teddy Kwasnik
1. The Partners

Nationally
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Northeast
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1700+ Land Trusts
37 million acres
580+ Land Trusts
8.5 million acres
Vermont
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35 Land Trusts
246 Towns and Cities
2. The Work
Historical
Preservation
Forestry
Resource Ecology
Botany
Policy
International
Resource
Management
Environmental
Science
Geography
GIS
Recreation
Management
3. Mentorship &
Professional
Development
The Land Stewardship Program
st
1
year pilot
A little background…
LANDS 2007…
Me!
LANDS 2008…
LANDS 2008, version 2.0

9 weeks, 8 interns
Maintained emphasis on service-learning
Project partners from around VT
Continued focus on stewardship
GreenHouse space

…same smelly van…
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Changes made for phase 2:
…further exploring scale and scope

more emphasis on service, less time training

pushed the boundary of projects
(work ranged from pre-acquisition to stewardship outreach)

established relationships with new partners
(state, federal, large land agencies)

recruited interns from across the nation
(diverse and highly skilled crew)
Areas of Focus
Pilot 1:
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Boundary maintenance and
marking
Easement monitoring
Landscape inventories for
agencies
Pilot 2:
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Invasive removal
Pre-acquisition assistance
Baseline documentation
creation
VYCC partnership
Carbon inventory
Stewardship and outreach
Approximate
Project Locations
Pilot Year -- 2007
Project Partners
1.
Green Mountain Club

2.
TNC Vermont

3.
(Wolfrun Natural Area LIA)
Town of Shelburne

6.
(Mud Pond monitoring)
Jericho Underhill Land Trust

5.
(Shelburne Pond monitoring)
Town of Williston

4.
(LT boundary monitoring)
(LaPlatte Nature Park LIA)
Richmond Land Trust

(3 Properties LIA)
2nd Phase Pilot -- 2008
10 Project Partners:
1.
Nature Conservancy / Richmond Land Trust

2.
3.
4.
(LT boundary monitoring)
Burlington Parks and Recreation Dept.
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5.
(Boundary delineation)
Green Mountain Club

(Ethan Allen Park LIA)
Agency of Natural Resources
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
(Richmond invasive removal)
Lake Champlain Land Trust

6. Upper Valley Land Trust
(monitoring & BDR creation)
(New Acadia Farm preacquisition)
7. Vermont Youth Conservation Corps

(Niquette Bay project)
8. Stowe Land Trust

(3 outreach projects)
9. Little Hogback Community Forest

(Carbon inventory)
10. Green Mountain National Forest

(3 projects)
2008 Timeline
BPR LIA
TNC invasives
VYCC
LCLT
UVLT LIA
boundaries
LHCF Carbon
GMC monitoring
Final
Presentation
SLT Outreach
GMNF Overnights
Diverse backgrounds…
…working together
The last of the least...
…and the best of the rest
INVASIVES!!!
Vermont Youth Conservation
Corps
Leadership
Service
Conservation
Education
“Building Bridges”
Niquette Bay State Park
•Worked side-by-side with VYCC
•Built trail
•Hauled lumber
•Participated in WORD
•Physically intense but rewarding
Green Mountain Club &
Lake Champlain Land Trust

Service
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Skills
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Boundary Identification
Easement Monitoring
Map and compass, GPS
Pacing
Flagging
Knowledge
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Property Rights/ Easements – Steve Libby, Man of Many Hats
Baseline Documentation Reports
Green Mountain Club
Manley Tract in Johnson, VT
Pete Antos-Ketcham
Education Coordinator/Facilities Manager
Green Mountain Club
FLAG IT!
Green Mountain Club
Real world complexities…
3rd Party Violations
Property Disputes
Lake Champlain Land Trust
LCLT - scenic beauty, natural communities, and recreational amenities
Chris Boget, Executive Director
Singing Cedars Farm in Orwell, VT
Suzanne Young and Scott Greene, landowners
Lake Champlain Land Trust
Roger’s Tract
Vermont Agency of Natural Resources
A New Partnership
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Act 250 has increased amount of land held
by the state in easement
ANR lacks the resources necessary to keep
up with state-owned easements
LANDS helped with the backlog by
establishing a baseline and monitoring the
Roger’s Property
Kate Willard and Forest Hammond showed
the LANDS crew around
Where it all began…
1999 – Roger’s Farm was purchased by
O’Brien Brothers Realty as a mitigation
easement
Agency of Natural Resources holds the
easement
Hold on…what the heck are Mitigation
Easements?
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

The state granted a land use permit, so long
as the company put a certain amount on land
into conservation
Act 250
It’s been almost ten years, but still no
baseline documentation
Creating a Baseline Documentation
Report

What’s in BDR?
 Legal Documents (Deed, permits, easements)
 Maps
 Property Descriptions
 Management Plans
 Monitoring Reports
 Pictures
So, who cares about a BDR?
Monitoring
•Walking Boundaries
•Locating Corners
•Looking for easement
violations; boundary
encroachments
•Evaluating goals of the
easement (deer habitat)
•What did we find?
Here, It’s All About Deer
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
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The major goal of the
easement was to protect
deer wintering area, the
mixed hemlock forest in the
center of the property
No cutting or disturbance is
allowed in the yard area
How does it look now?
Our Findings
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The deer yards have grown over, not
providing enough protection for deer
Not a lot of deer sign, either scat, beds or
browse
Boundaries need to be reflagged or painted;
a few corners need to be reset
Stands and the Deeryard
In the beginning, we started with
this…
…and we
created this!
Little Hogback Community Forest
• Unique ownership of 115 acre
parcel in Monkton, Vermont
• Met with Cecelia Danks
• Goals: protect forest health and
provide affordable land
• VLT easement
• Shareholders receive benefits
• Looking for a new marketable
resource
Forest Management
• Prelco Land
• Role as a county forester
• Current use and Forest
Legacy Programs
Little Hogback Community Forest
•
•
Benefits of actively
managing land
Hogback as an example
for sustainable forest
products
Carbon Sequestration
Using a prism to
help determine the
basal area of trees
within the plots
Measuring diameter
at breast height
Coarse Woody Debris
Results
Total biomass
4750.0
tons/115 acres
Average
biomass per
acre
41.3 tons/acre
Amount of
carbon per acre
20.7 tons/acres
Average carbon 116 tons/acre
content
(Northeast Forester’s Association)
Coarse woody
debris
320.9
m3/hectare
And now, for a little break…
Green Mountain National Forest
Federal Conservation Partnership
• Invasive Species
Monitoring – Mary Beth Deller
• Vista Documentation – Donna Marks
• Heritage Sites/ Archeology – Dave Lacy
• Soil and Timber Stand Data Collection – Nancy Burt
Rochester, Hancock, Granville, & Breadloaf Wilderness Areas
Green Mountain National Forest
Upper White River Resource Project
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Brings GMNF professionals together to work as interdisciplinary team.
Incorporates public concerns and comments from management issues.
Helps develop and improve Granville and Hancock areas of GMNF.
Areas of development, data collection, concern, and community interest.
 Non Native Invasive Species Monitoring
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Recreation Access and Use
Heritage Site Documentation
Timber Quality Management and Impacts to Water and Wildlife
Resources
Wildlife Habitat Management
Non Native Invasive Species
Monitoring & Documentation
‘Wilderness Work’
Long Trail and Side Trails
VT125 N Mt. Grant
Heritage GPS
& GIS Work
Soil and Timber Stand Data Collection
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Soil drainage qualities and forest health.
Locating wildlife management areas.
Soil monitoring and drainage qualities for summer vs. winter harvests.
Shadowing a professional/ gaining insight and mentorship.
Federal Partner Deliverables
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Non Native Invasive Species – GPS coordinates
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Vistas – Photo documentation and GPS coordinates
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Heritage Sites – GPS, GIS, and documentation

Soils – Data collection for future recommendations
Land Trust Alliance Training Exercises
Land Trust Alliance
“To save the places people love by strengthening land
conservation across America”
Learning about Land Trusts
Meeting with Kevin Case
 Conservation in the Northeast
region
 Challenges Land Trust face
 Stewardship endowment
 Accreditation program
“The Stowe Land Trust is dedicated to the conservation of scenic, recreational, and
productive farm and forest lands for the benefit of the greater Stowe community”
Community Outreach
Meeting with Rebecca Washburn
 Three projects
 Three field days
 Four groups
Project #1
Property Descriptions Project
Our Task
 Compile information on five conserved properties to be described for
SLT website
Information about conservation history, allowed public use, significant natural
features
How did we accomplish these tasks?
 Resources: Baseline Documentation Reports and Stowe Land Trust
Website
 Field Visits: Photos Documentation and Field Notes
Joe’s Pond
Page Forest
Bingham
Falls Mill Trail
Weissner
Woods
Joe’s Pond
Bingham
Falls
Page
Forest
Weissner
Woods
Mill Trail
Project #2 Youth/ Adult Outreach
Curriculums

Develop activities that can be carried out in the property
that are:
Fun
 Great learning experience

Developing curriculum for young
children
Resources
 Project Learning Tree Environmental
Education Activity Guide
 Field Visits
“Every Tree Speaks for Itself”
“What is growing around you?”
“Drawing age in tree rings”
Developing curriculum for adults
Resources
 Historian Jean Innamorati
 Reading the Forested Landscape
by Tom Wessels
 Field Visits
“Nature Photography”
“Trees Identification”
“Detectives of Mill Trail”
Project #3 Develop Interpretive
Brochure for Mill Trail Property
Resources
 Baseline Documentation Report
 Historian Jean Innamorati
 Field Visits: GPS and
Photo documentation
Final Products
Burlington Parks and Recreation
(BPR), Ethan Allen Park
Our Charge:

Create a Natural Resource Inventory
 Including:
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Soils and bedrock
Descriptions and locations of all rare, threatened,
endangered and invasive plant species
Mapped locations of trails and management
recommendations based on conditions
Wildlife sign/habitat
Cultural/historical features of interest
Burlington Parks and Recreation

How:

Training
 Alicia Daniel – Lone Rock Point visit and introduction
to the “Layer Cake” model
 Liz Thompson – Natural Communities concept and
plant identification
 GPS/GIS skills from James and Emily
Training at Lone Rock
Point With Alicia Daniel
More Training…
James Barnes
Emily Lord
Arielle Conti
Dexter Locke
Gwen Kolzlows
Jason Smith
Julia Meurice
Maureen Whalley
Sumana Serchan
Teddy Kwasnik
Training at Ethan Allen Park With
Liz Thompson
More Training…
Low Bindweed
Cliff brake Fern
Service
(in the field)
Service
(in the office)
Service (in the office)
Finally…
New Acadia Farm * North Tunbridge, Vermont
Property Boundaries
Upper Valley Land Trust
Mission Statement
The Upper Valley Land Trust helps
people conserve land forever. We work
with individuals and communities to
protect the land that supports the
ecological health and vitality of our
region. UVLT stands committed to the
stewardship of conserved lands for the
benefit of present and future
generations.
UVLT and New Acadia Farm

Met with Stewardship Coordinator Monica Erhart from
Upper Valley Land Trust

Conversation between
UVLT and Robin
Russell, Landowner

New Acadia Farm
conservation value?
VHCB guidelines
VHCB has series of guidelines for evaluating conservation
value:
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Land which supports vital ecological or conservation functions
and values
significant wildlife habitat
lands essential to maintaining wildlife corridors
lands representative of ecosystem types in Vermont
Lands supporting rare, threatened or endangered natural
communities, plants or wildlife, such as:
Significant cultural features on the land
LANDS on a Mission!!
Natural History Team
Open meadow * Hemlock stand * N. hardwood forest * Fen * Stream
-Examined plant and animal species
-Forest cover/type
-Landscape analysis
Birding with Walter
Bobolink
Cedar waxwing
Indigo bunting
Rose-breasted grosbeak
Kingbird
Baltimore Oriole
Song Sparrow
Warbler
Cultural History
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History of ownership
Round barn
Old buildings
past agricultural use
Soil examination
 Present
Past 
Recreation and
Public Resources
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Used GIS to run
viewsheds analysis

Mapped VAST and
walking Trails with GPS
Deliverables
New Acadia Farm
An Introduction and Overview
Resource Highlights of New Acadia Farm
Historic Importance
Recreation
Trails and points of interest
Scenic lookouts
Public Resources and Community Benefits
Viewshed map
Watershed
Natural Resources
Meadow
Stream
Hemlock
Fen
Northern hardwood forest
Agricultural features
Wildlife
Bobolink
Moose
White tailed deer
Scarlet tanager
Is that your game face James??
What’s Next???
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2+ days of work to go!
Program Evaluation
The Land Trust Alliance Rally in Pittsburgh
Land Trust Alliance Vermont Training
Find funding / a job!
Acknowledgements
Institutional Support

University of Vermont

The Student Conservation Association

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources

UVM Plant Biology Field Naturalist Program

Northeastern States Cooperative Research Grant

High Meadows Fund

Land Trust Alliance

Deane Wang

Flip Hagood & the SCA Staff

The Greenhouse Residential Center

Marie Vea-Fagnant

Chris Kaliba

Hub Vogelmann

Steve Libby

Walter Poleman

Porky Reade

Marcia Caldwell

Carolyn Goodwin-Knueffner

Jeffery Hughes

Audrey Lankford

And many more…………
Project Partners

Agency of Natural Resources

Burlington Parks and Recreation

Green Mountain Club

Green Mountain National Forest

Hinesburg Town Forest

Lake Champlain Land Trust

Little Hogback Community Forest

Stowe Land Trust

TNC Vermont

Upper Valley Land Trust

VYCC
Workshop Leaders

Alicia Daniel

Chris Boget & Lake Champlain Land Trust

Chris Burns

Deane Wang

Dennis Shaffer and Vermont Land Trust

Jared Nunnery

Jim Sullivan

Karen Freeman, VHCB

Kevin Case and Land Trust Alliance

Liz Thompson

Mike Snyder & VT Agency of NR

Steve Libby

TNC Vermont

Walter Poleman

William Coster, VHCB
Thank You Interns!!
Dexter, Julia, Jason Teddy, James, Maureen, Gwen
Arielle, Emily and Sumana
Question & Answer