Donation to Nature Conservancy of Vermont Targets Water Quality and Health of Rivers, Lakes and Wetlands

Watersheds to Benefit Include Missisquoi, Poultney, Hubbardton, Otter Creek

Montpelier, VT—14 December 2005—The Vermont chapter of The Nature Conservancy announced today that it will receive a contribution of $205,000 from Lowe’s Companies, Inc. to support the protection and restoration of critical waterways in Vermont’s Lake Champlain and Connecticut River valleys. This is part of a $1 million donation from Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation that will help protect critical habitat and public recreational areas across four Northeastern states.

Projects prioritized for funding include reforesting stream banks and floodplains to improve wildlife habitat, partnering with farmers to prevent soil erosion, removing invasive plant species from lakes, streams and floodplains, and organizing volunteers to clean up waterways. Efforts will target the ecologically significant watersheds of the Missisquoi, Poultney, Hubbardton, and West Rivers and Otter Creek.

“Vermont’s wetlands clean the water we drink and swim in, our rivers support populations of fish and waterfowl, and our lakes attract thousands of visitors each year,” said Robert Klein, Director of the Nature Conservancy’s Vermont chapter. “We welcome Lowe’s support of the essential work we are undertaking, in close collaboration with our partners in public agencies, non-profit entities and local organizations.”

The Nature Conservancy, the Lake Champlain Basin Program, the Lake Champlain Committee, the State of Vermont, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and local watershed groups are all essential players in the race to protect Vermont’s water resources.

The delicate balance of life in a river can be upset by many things, including an increase in the level of pollution or the presence of invasive species. Native species are threatened by these changes. Widespread disruption in the water system can affect everything from fish migration in the rivers to human recreation on ponds and lakes.

“Protecting a stream or a lake requires a combination of many conservation strategies,” commented Rose Paul, Director of Science and Stewardship at the Vermont chapter. “This grant will allow us to expand a number of our key freshwater initiatives, including controlling invasive species and reducing stream bank erosion. It will allow us to expand into other watersheds, and most importantly it will expand our resources to partner with the farming community and local watershed groups.”

Exotic Invaders

Native grasses and shrubs, like beaver grass, big bluestem, alders and high-bush cranberry, form a dense root network that underpins the structure of a river bank, while the hum and trill of insects and songbirds are a testament to the life they support. Exotic invaders such as common and glossy buckthorn, Japanese knotweed, honeysuckle and phragmites disrupt the delicate balance of life.

Japanese knotweed, easily identified by its bamboo-like form, is one of the worst river bank invaders in Vermont. It is shunned by native insect life and ignored by deer and beaver. Even its root system fails to anchor the soil of the river bank. Fish and turtles who search for insects in its silent shade leave hungry, and during each successive rainstorm nutrient rich soil from the floodplain is washed away downstream.

Using a three tiered strategy of identification and mapping by experts, field control with the help of passionate volunteers, and outreach to the general public, the Conservancy hopes to stem the advance of these invaders, and to prevent new aliens from taking hold in Vermont.

Livestock and Wildlife, Co-Beneficiaries

With this donation from Lowe’s the Conservancy will expand its partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Wildlife Program, a collaboration that focuses on restoring river banks on agricultural land. Farmers will benefit from grants for developing alternative watering systems for livestock, for improving stream crossings, and for restoring river banks on their farms. The Conservancy hopes to replicate the success achieved along East Creek and the Hubbardton River, where 26 separate restoration projects have resulted in the protection of more than 36 miles of stream bank and the planting of more than 40,000 trees. Each private dollar invested has leveraged, on average, an additional $7.50 in public funding.

Brian and Patricia Wilson, who farm 450 acres in Shoreham, took advantage of this collaboration two years ago. “We were motivated by a desire to improve the pasture for our livestock, initially with permanent fencing and in the long-term with shade as the trees grow. “We are looking forward to the return of wildlife and songbirds as the hedgerows mature,” Patricia added.

Programs such as the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) and Partners for Fish and Wildlife provide resources to private landowners for the protection and restoration of wildlife habitat. Typically these federal programs require that private landowners or local sources match a percentage of the grant. By investing at the local level The Nature Conservancy can eliminate this barrier. The watersheds of the lower Missisquoi River and Otter Creek will be targeted as the program expands.

Otter Creek Wetlands Slated for Restoration Work

Wetlands, once thought of as desolate wastelands, are some of the most productive natural systems on earth. Across the United States 53% of wetlands have been lost, and in Vermont that figure jumps to more than 65%. Seven distinct wetlands make up the Otter Creek Swamp complex in Addison County, one of the largest remaining wetlands in New England. Only 8,000 acres of the 22,000 acre swamp basin remain unaltered. Funding from the Lowe’s donation will fund restoration on a recent acquisition of 50 acres of marginal farm land in Cornwall Swamp.

Removing drainage ditches so that water can once again flood the land and planting the right mix of native trees, will mimic the structure of adjacent wetlands, which also serve as a benchmark for successful restoration. Seedlings, grown from locally collected seeds, stand in wait at the Champlain Valley Native Plant Restoration Nursery, a partnership between The Nature Conservancy and the Poultney-Mettowee Watershed Partnership. The Conservancy’s goal is to plant a total of 9,000 trees here over the next three years.

# # # # # # # # # # # # # #

The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, The Nature Conservancy and its approximately one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 14 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 83 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. The Vermont Chapter, chartered in 1960, has helped conserve over 167,000 acres of significant natural areas throughout the state, and maintains 42 nature preserves. Visit us on the Web at www.nature.org/vermont.