A "new" natural area in Chittenden County.
It's hard to call a piece of ground "new" in any real sense, and now that the Saint Michael's College Natural Area has been up and running for more than a year, I suppose it's not exactly a new natural area. But there are some new aspects of the site worth discussing:
- Last year, 2018, was the last year of fodder corn planting on about 65 acres. We are gradually shifting from that model to a more natural use of the land.
- After adding a single mapped and marked trail last summer, naturalists of many stripes have discovered our site. As of May 20 2019, 150 bird species have been recorded on eBird and we have exceeded 400 observations on iNaturalist. And Shirley (@sdz456) even discovered a winter-fruiting fungus on site that is a Vermont record.
- We posted the entire property against hunting and trapping; despite this effort, three hunters were arrested and charged with criminal trespass and illegal possession of a deer based on photographic evidence provided by Saint Michael's College researchers.
- We have planted more than 150 trees thanks to donations from Branch Out Burlington and trees provided by the folks in the Intervale.
I believe we are well on our way to establishing a truly interesting Natural Area that will serve the community well in years to come.
Cheers
Declan
