It was a day of seasonal contrast. The temperature was rocketing past 80 by mid-morning, and the air shimmered as it would in mid-July. The trees were bare and leafless, and the lakes and ponds of Woodbury held a surprise – a near-full cover of ice, albeit rotten and eating away at the edges. … Continue reading
Would you be willing to hike to a remote lake once a week during the summer months? What about following up that hike with a paddle in an inflatable boat to collect lake water samples? Sound challenging? Well this is exactly how a Vermont Lay Monitor spent last summer. Let us begin with High Pond. … Continue reading
Wetlands: Nature’s Filter Today is World Wetlands Day, a day to appreciate the value of wetlands. Wetlands make up a small proportion of the Earth’s surface – in Vermont, only about 4 percent of the land surface is comprised of wetlands. Despite this they are disproportionately important. Most Vermont animals use wetlands as habitat and … Continue reading
This past year, there were multiple stories in the media covering massive algal blooms in Lake Carmi, tons of phosphorus pouring into state surface waters, and the seemingly never-ending efforts to clean up Lake Champlain. These stories would leave many Vermonters to believe that Vermont’s lakes are in deep trouble. While these issues are very … Continue reading
Like something straight out of Dr. Seuss’s Book, the tufted tops of the black spruce remind me of a landscape expected to be seen in “The Lorax” at any time of the year. The Peacham Bog Natural Area, approximately 748 acres within Groton State Forest, is open to the public and managed by the Department of … Continue reading
Sunday, October 15th, 1:30 – 3:30 pm, join conservation ecologist Marc Lapin for a guided walk through one of Cornwall’s finest examples of a Valley Clayplain Forest natural community. This hemlock-hardwood forest abuts a rich wetland complex, all part of the Beaver Brook watershed, a major tributary of the Lemon Fair River. Learn about the site’s plants … Continue reading
The red maples are turning crimson, tamarack a bright yellow, and even the sphagnum moss presents a variety of colors within the Colchester Bog Natural Area located in Burlington’s backyard. Here you have an opportunity to see the remarkable plant diversity that exists within a bog and its surrounding wetlands. Bogs are interesting places to … Continue reading
