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The Pulse of Burlington's Wild Green Heart
Winter 2018
Issue No. 9
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A Letter from Dan & Alicia
Winter tracking is a great way to have an adventure in the wilder places in Burlington. Red foxes slip through almost every corner of our city from Englesby Brook to Derway Island leaving their delicate tracks in the winter snow. One sure place to find fox tracks is down in the Burlington Intervale. Their presence in Vermont is no historical accident. Read about how red foxes got to New England and about their mutually beneficial relationship with today's Intervale farmers. Or take a walk on the wild side in Redstone Quarry. Learn about the origins of this beautiful hole in the wall in Burlington's South End. Be sure to join Vermont Master Naturalists on a walk in Redstone Quarry on February 24th at 2:00 p.m.
New things are happening in Burlington on the conservation front from forest restoration in Oakledge to the City and Lake Semester at Burlington High School to new Pause Places popping up all over town. And meet Gwen Causer who has a mission to help BPRW create more acres of bird friendly habitat in the city and to get people from all walks of life out into the woods. Find this and other breaking news in the Conservation Corner.
Hope to see you out walking in the woods,
Alicia Daniel
Field Naturalist, BPRW
Dan Cahill,
Land Steward, BPRW
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Red Fox and Redstone Quarry
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Photo: flickr.com/hotos/tonystake |
Red Foxes Help Out Burlington Farmers
Red foxes have been abundant in the Intervale for over a century. Although native in other parts of North America, legend has it that red foxes were introduced to New England by European settlers for fox hunting because the native gray foxes were too skilled at evading the hounds. Early settlers raised crops alongside red foxes, just as the Intervale farmers do today. The relationship is mutually beneficial.
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Photo by Sean Beckett |
Redstone Quarry:
A Special Kind of Wild
Redstone Quarry is a special kind of wild. Many of Burlington's green spaces, like Ethan Allen and Oakledge Parks, have long been set aside and designated as pleasant, natural places. In the quarry, looking at the redstone wall, you'll be face to face with a piece of Burlington that was never supposed to be beautiful. Now, it's where the night herons go to find some quiet.
Join the Vermont Master Naturalists BTV on a walk in the quarry on February 24 at 2:00. Details below.
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Vermont Master Naturalist BTV Program
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| Photo by Annette Seidenglanz |
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Vermont Master Naturalists Lead a Tree Walk in Arms Forest
In October, Vermont Master Naturalists Nancy Knox, Jason Pepe and Michele Tulis led a tree walk in Arms Forest, where calcium rich bedrock outcrops skirted by deep delta soils create a diversity of trees rarely seen in Vermont. Sugar maples stand on ledges above red oaks on the more acidic delta below. Follow the Vermont Master Naturalists BTV on their adventures through the year:
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Photo Courtesy of City and Lake Staff |
City and Lake Semester
This fall, Burlington High School launched The City & Lake Semester. The program is an immersive experience for 11th and 12th graders where students experience the city of Burlington as both curriculum and classroom. The program grew out of a belief that education doesn't need to happen within school walls in siloed disciplines, but could take place in our community where most problems, and solutions, are interdisciplinary. Over the course of the semester our students have looked at the city's history, examined city systems, studied the health of Lake Champlain, and explored our immediate community around our home base at the O.N.E. Community Center on Allen Street in the heart of the Old North End. Currently we are looking at the role of art in our community, working on a public art project with local muralist Mary Lacy.
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Photo Courtesy of Gwen Causer |
Gwen Causer
looks out over the first snow of the season from her Burlington home as she talks about her 15-year journey at Audubon Vermont working in conservation and education as a
teacher, naturalist and communications manager.
Audubon Vermont's mission is to protect birds, wildlife and their habitat through engaging people of all ages in education, conservation, stewardship and action.
"I got my start at Audubon in Huntington when my daughter attended preschool programs out there. I come from a plant background, so I used to think of birds as creepy little dinosaurs with wings," she jokes. "Now part of my job is to focus on native Plants for Birds."
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VYCC Trail Work: Not a Walk in the Park
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Photo Courtesy of VYCC |
The surprisingly tough process of trail work begins by transporting materials to the worksite, which includes carrying four-foot wood sills (weighing much more than one would think) and pushing wheelbarrows full of sure-pack.
And so begins a day in the life of a VYCC crew member. In a quieter moment (right), the VYCC crew learns about the different fern species found at Rock Point.
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Pause Places Popping Up: Burlington's Intervale Gains a New Space for Picnic and Quiet Reflection
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Photo by Dan Cahill
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As Burlington's array of open lands, both public and private, adapt and evolve, the creation of "pause places" is becoming a common way to redefine and enhance the human experience in our treasured spaces. Whether it is along the bike path, in the heart of the Old North End, or nestled in the Queen City's agricultural center along Intervale Road, pause places have become a valuable and high reward low barrier method for bringing new identity and public value to under utilized spaces.
This past summer, the Intervale Center and Burlington Parks Recreation and Waterfront teamed up to create a new picnic grove, next to Tommy Thompson Community Garden. The effort was catalyzed through an incredible community service outpouring by Dealer.Com and their employees. In late June 160 Dealer employees descended on Burlington's Intervale in what has become an annual event to enhance, redefine and generally spruce up the Tommy Thompson Community Garden.
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Save The Date: Field Walks, Talks and Events
Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront:
Vermont Master Naturalist BTV Neighbors to Natural Areas Walk in Redstone Quarry
with Will Lathrop and Alicia Daniel
Sunday February 24th: 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Meet at the top of Hoover Street. Parking limited.
This issue of BTV Conservation News edited by Claire Dumont
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