Nature Conservancy and Stowe Land Trust Close First Joint Project

Deal Connects Morristown Bog Natural Area with Joe’s Pond

STOWE, VT — June 20, 2007 — On Tuesday the Vermont chapter of The Nature Conservancy and Stowe Land Trust (SLT) closed on a deal to conserve nearly 30 acres of bog, wetland and agricultural land. Located in Morristown this project connects the state of Vermont’s Morristown Bog Natural Area with Joe’s Pond, and is the first direct partnership between the two conservation organizations. Linking these two important natural areas provides contiguous habitat for wildlife and a much needed buffer to this unique bog community. The property, which is owned by Andre and Marthe Valcour, will be protected by conservation easement, a legal agreement that protects the land from development.

Stowe Land Trust will co-hold the conservation easement with the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB) and will take on responsibility for stewardship of the area which adjoins Joe’s Pond, an existing SLT project. The Conservancy and SLT approached VHCB together for funding and received a grant of $164,000 towards this project. VHCB is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary and this latest project adds to the more than 368,500 acres of agricultural land and natural areas conserved throughout Vermont.

This newly conserved wetland community has been correctly dubbed “Joe’s Bog”. Names of bogs and fens around Vermont can often be misleading. A bog in name is not always a bog as it may in fact be a fen, and at any one site areas exhibiting the characteristics of a fen and a bog can be found adjacent to each other. True bogs do not have a source of nutrient-rich ground water and the plant life found there has evolved to survive in a harsh, nutrient-poor environment. These plants, like the carnivorous pitcher plants, cranberries, sphagnum moss and an array of delicate orchids, provide good clues to identify if a wetland is a bog or a fen. Providing buffers of conserved land to filter run-off is essential for the long-term health of a bog. This sensitive natural community could be adversely affected if there were a sudden upswing in nutrients from adjacent corn fields or septic systems.

Don Avery, a long-time resident of Morristown and owner of Cady’s Falls Nursery, has actively supported this project from the beginning. “I am totally tickled that so many nice people cared enough about this project to make it happen. This bog is an amazing secret world and a joy to discover.”

Steve Rae, co-chair of the Morristown Conservation Commission remarked, "It is wonderful to have The Nature Conservancy, Stowe Land Trust, the Morristown Conservation Commission and town working together with a local landowner to preserve an important natural area in Morristown."

This property, home to a variety of rare avian and plant life ranks highly in the state’s inventory of natural areas. This inventory, managed by the Non-game and Natural Heritage Program in the Department of Fish and Wildlife, provides essential information to help catalog and conserve Vermont’s natural assets. Beneath the stunted canopy of black spruce and tamarack grows southern twayblade, a rare orchid only found in two other locations in the state. Other orchids growing in the wetter open areas include the rare white fringed orchid, and the uncommon grass pink and rose pogonia. The Tennessee Warbler, a rare breeder in Vermont, has been seen nesting here on the sphagnum moss. A shrub layer of cranberries, blueberries and dwarf rhododendrons completes the characteristic plant life of a bog.

Stowe Land Trust and the Conservancy’s Vermont chapter are pleased to have landowners Andre and Marthe Valcour as partners in conservation. It is a momentous occasion for Stowe Land Trust as it too celebrates its 20th anniversary and is now reaching out to help neighboring towns that do not have land trusts. “I am pleased that we’ve been able to partner with The Nature Conservancy, the Morristown Conservation Commission and Vermont Housing and Conservation Board on a project that will improve the quality of life for all of us,” said Heather Furman, Executive Director for Stowe Land Trust.

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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 170,000 acres of significant natural areas throughout the state, and maintains 44 nature preserves. Visit us on the Web at nature.org/vermont.

Stowe Land Trust is a membership based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of scenic, recreational, and productive farm and forest lands for the benefit of the greater Stowe community. The organization believes that protecting unique natural resources creates a more vibrant, economically healthy and genuinely livable community. Established in 1987 Stowe Land Trust has conserved 3000 acres on 24 unique properties in the greater Stowe area. Visit their website at stowelandtrust.org