Conservation

Event celebrates Hinesburg winning Vermont Tree Farmer of the Year

Research shows that Vermont could be an important destination for wildlife as the climate changes.

As lead fishing tackle and wake boat activity continue to harm Vermont loons, scientists say simple changes can help protect the birds.

As the Trump administration rescinds the definition of “harm,” environmental experts explain what the change could mean for Vermont’s listed species and future environmental policy.

Legendary herbalists speak to the relationships they’ve built with plants and how others can do the same.

Shoreline cleanups and policy reform have helped keep pollutants out of drinking water.

Community members, government officials and conservation groups gathered to celebrate nearly 60 years of wild turkey restoration.

As the weather gets warmer, Vermont’s brook trout are staying cool.

The migratory bird draws attention from birders and conservationists

Behind bats’ reputation is a struggling population in need of help.

Donated land to be called Wolf Tree Wilderness Sanctuary.

Tracking is a way to read stories in the environment about animals and how they interact with the world.

Producers adopt new methods as climate change disrupts sugaring season.

The executive director of VNRC discusses environmental policy and action in the wake of federal changes and extreme weather events

As solar grows, so does Vermont’s capacity for agrivoltaics — the dual use of land on solar farms for agriculture.

BLUE BTV is giving residents up to $2,000 for rain gardens, permeable driveways and other fixes to reduce phosphorus flowing into Lake Champlain.

Volunteer-run Leashed Dog Tracking Service helps recover lost dying and dead animals

Q&A with Kristyn Achilich, director of the Saint Michael’s Leahy Institute for the Environment

Winooski Recreation and Parks aims to unite the community through restoring local parks

Ted Lawson has traveled the world and now directs ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain. Here’s what he’s learned

Milton arborist Kris Dulmer keeps a lookout for healthy black ash trees. When he finds one, he volunteers to inject it with a dose of insecticide.

Wildlife Day at the Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area Visitor Center took place this year on Oct. 4 in Addison.

How trail management is impacted by severe weather

Vermont’s iconic slate roofs are timeless and sustainable — but how do we protect them?

Formerly a central industrial site, the land turned into what it is now —  abandoned.

Attendees gathered for the River of Light last Saturday to celebrate one of Vermont’s most important ecological resources.

In May, the University of Vermont published research on a Monkton wildlife underpass that protects amphibians from vehicles. At the same time, a major crossing on Interstate-89 and Route 2 was retracted due to a lack of funding. 

Scientists say the fish are a reliable measure of lake and basin ecological health.

Slow Birding, a meditative and insightful form of birding, is a new concept in Vermont and beyond. Birding enthusiast Bridget Butler has emerged as the reigning “Bird Diva.”

The Bobolink Project pays owners of fields, often farmers, to conduct bird-friendly practices. The birds get time and habitat to nest while the landowners get some compensation for letting them do so.

Swimming in natural waters, also known as open water swimming, has taken over the world recreationally and competitively. These Vermont swimmers talk about the serenity it brings them, but also how it empowers their connection to nature.

A St. Albans food digester that opened in May transforms organic waste into energy, fertilizer, and water. 

Activities in the park such as a live music series and a community garden are threatened by flood risk

“The first flush is the most concentrated pollution load, and over time, dripping oil in grease from cars, road grit, and leaf litter are all built up. This system is specifically created to treat that buildup,” said Patrick Hurley, the Project Manager at Memphremagog Watershed Association. 

“These young people could have jobs doing other things, but they’re choosing to work really hard and they’re choosing to come out here in the elements and spend their time doing manual physical labor that then makes a strong change in their state” said Devon Cooke, director of development and community at Vermont Youth Conservation Corps. 

Branch out Burlington, a tree nursery located in the University of Vermont Horticulture Farm, has been providing trees to Vermont towns and organizations for nearly the last 30 years.

The Telephone Gap Integrated Resource project had a historic level of public engagement, according to advocates, before it passed in June.

The Green River Reservoir State Park needed an alternative to a gas-powered boat. Park supporters gave them an electric canoe in order to maintain the land properly without causing a noise disturbance. 

“This spring, we collected 960 grams of seeds. That was mostly fluffy seeds, so that’s millions and millions of seeds,” said land steward Jess Colby. 

As plant species face population decline, herbalists teach foragers to be mindful of what they are taking

Many residents are familiar with recycling and composting — but one Vermont initiative focuses on making it easier to reuse.

Community members share their concerns about water quality through state grants that could clean up waterways

As ash trees in Vermont face extirpation by the invasive emerald ash borer, residents come together to recognize the trees’ ecological importance and cultural history.

What South Burlington’s Parks and Open Spaces Master Plan is trying to do

Chocolate is one of Vermont’s top food exports. But cacao doesn’t grow here — and climate change has been disrupting the global supply chain.

Walleye season started this month. Almost 5 million of the fish have been stocked in Vermont’s waters since 2009, the state says.

Volunteers across Vermont gather to help herps traverse the roads. Most often, that entails people scooping critters into their hands and shuttling them to safety. 

A company with Rutland ties has developed a way to transform human urine into useable fertilizer in a process they refer to as “pee-cycling.”

Native plants provide the preferred food source, habitat and host for native birds and pollinators, as well as prevent invasive species from moving in.

The federal government matches every dollar donated to the program roughly threefold so that the $15 stamp purchase turns into $60.

Merchant’s Row in Rutland now has three thrift stores, offering thrifters lots of options.

Legislators in both chambers have been in talks about chloride’s impact on waterways.

Group members say weather patterns may have contributed to the huge uptick in sightings this year.

Following a population dip in the 1960s and 1970s, the muskellunge were seemingly wiped out after an untreated waste spill.

“The only way we know a lot of this stuff is because thousands of people have helped us collect data across the landscape,” one Vermont expert said.

The mission is to reduce the distance pollinators like bees and butterflies must go to get nectar and pollen. The gardens, in effect, form a highway.

Close to 500 landowners have expressed interest in being paid around $300 an acre, dispersed over a 20-year period, for preserving forestland.

It has become increasingly more expensive to keep and repopulate his hives, the vetoed bill’s sponsor said, because colonies are dying at faster rates in recent years.

Part of the bill aimed to ban hunters from using dogs and bait — without a trappers’ license — to hunt coyotes in the state.

It’s a conundrum with many variables and few easy answers. As Murdoch put it, “What other tools do we have in our toolkit?”

The project has amassed 123,000 entries since its founding in 1994.

Researchers have concerns about the relation between the bald eagles’ rise and a receding blue heron population in the state.

With this winter’s relatively weak snowfall, more people may have turned to birding as an outdoor activity for the season.

The bill would rebrand the board that sets rules for implementing Act 250.

Montalban asked neighbors within a 3-mile radius to not use seeds treated with the pesticide, and he said many have been receptive to the request.

Neonicotinoids are insecticides that coat plants’ seeds, so the toxins are taken up into a plant’s tissue as it grows.

That money would make up what lawmakers are calling a climate superfund to help pay for natural disaster recovery in Vermont. 

The crowd included families with young children, experienced anglers, locals and visitors, all there for a day out on the ice.

The bill seeks to update the state endangered species list more frequently, establish critical habitat spaces, prohibit the sale of species and curtail rules that allow endangered animals to be taken from the land. 

If a business is culpable, H.614 allows police to seize any equipment it used for illegal activity. Furthermore, the bill increases fines and limits the logging activities of businesses with two or more outstanding fines or judgements.

Last month, Freak Folk Bier brewery received a grant from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation’s wastewater management program that would pay for upgrades to keep its sludge out of the waste stream.

The group’s numbers have expanded to 150 women. “I was all by myself for 30 years, fly fishing,” one co-founder said. No longer.

For the last two years, a heated debate has swirled around the serene setting, stemming from the U.S. Forest Service’s plan to cut and harvest 690 acres of trees around the lake.

Adelman and fellow PFAS activists believe that preventing further damage from the chemicals requires public education.

The Hinesburg Fire Department will be conducting a staged burn for training purposes that day on the corner of Route 116 and Hollow Road.

While a state game warden demonstrated a deer processing, kids and parents whittled away at wooden ducks around a table under the next tent over.

The commission plans to look at draft amendments to the regulations at its next meeting on Oct. 19.

Lacking waste services, poor access to safe drinking water and frustration with the state’s composting requirement were highlighted as common concerns across the state in a report released late last month by state environmental officials.

Here’s how the heating Charlotte selectboard meeting played out.

When it was introduced in the Legislature last year, a bill called S.201 proposed prohibiting the use of leg-hold traps in Vermont — rigs with metal pressure plates that, when stepped on, trigger spring-loaded claws to ensnare an animal’s leg.

Goss said that this year is the only the second time ever that loons have been observed nesting on the reservoir.

About 20 volunteer came out to the 100-foot-wide strip of land at the Ethan Allen Homestead in Burlington on April 18 for One Tree Planted Day, an event hosted by the Intervale Center, Winooski Valley Park District and the nonprofit One Tree Planted.

A novel experiment at Shelburne Farms aims to enhance that process along Lake Champlain by using fungi.

As the state pushes toward its solar goals, what environmental questions must be examined?

When scientists detected a small, bug-eyed gray fish two years ago at the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers in New York, it set off alarms everywhere along the waters of Lake Champlain.

Officials are cutting back how many lake trout are released annually into Lake Champlain after finding, for the first time in decades, sustained successful reproduction in the species — exciting news for biologists and anglers alike.

Vermont is the only state in the country where farmers cannot readily access a program meant to pay them back for restoring habitats around their farms.

Whether towns and cities can charge farms for stormwater utility fees is at the center of a bubbling debate between state agriculture officials and municipal leaders around Vermont. 

With mud season just beginning, experts warn that Vermonters should stay away from high-elevation trails for now to protect natural areas from erosion and further damage.

House lawmakers passed a sweeping land and water conservation bill March 24, in what is effectively a do-over of legislation vetoed last year by Gov. Phil Scott. 

Earlier this year, the Hinesburg Town Forest Committee learned that Lyman had gone into the town forest with heavy machinery and destroyed three beaver dams.

The Lewis Creek Association is a local environmental group that has been working to protect and restore Vermont waterways since 1990.

The conflict between the desire to maintain open space and the need for more housing in Shelburne came to the forefront on Town Meeting Day when residents cast votes on whether the town should set aside funds to acquire and preserve more undeveloped land.

A new Senate bill would prohibit the manufacture and sale of cosmetic and menstrual products and textiles containing PFAS and dozens of other materials dangerous for people and the environment.

Chemicals are discharged into the Winooski River

Environmental advocates across the state head into this year’s legislative session with the goal of updating Act 250 — Vermont’s land use and development law — to protect one of the state’s biggest natural resources: working forests. 

Communities statewide are set to start a series of wastewater projects funded by federal Covid-19 relief money.

Rachel Elliott is a reporter with Community News Service, part of the University of Vermont’s Reporting & Documentary Storytelling program. A possible plan to cut down trees on nearly 11,000 acres of the Green Mountain National Forest is heightening tension between climate advocates and federal officials who claim the logging would help ecosystems. The U.S. […]

Anti-fossil fuel activists say officials have done too little to let people know about what’s going on.