Love the Land with VT Fish & Wildlife

This year at the Intervale Center we have had a blast working in partnership with Vermont Fish & Wildlife. Both organizations manage land here in the Intervale and value conservation and community access, so who better to team-up with on a slew of fun and educational events? From self-guided wildlife tracking walks to this fall’s upcoming bat presentation, we are creating exciting and meaningful opportunities to learn and connect to nature and each other.

This winter we wanted to create COVID-safe events and activities for our community to get outside and explore. Wildlife tracking is an especially exciting activity during the winter with fresh fallen snow to help you unravel the stories of wildlife in the forests and fields. So, we installed a self-guided wildlife tracking walk on the Calkin’s trail loop. There were eleven stations total, complete with information on specific wildlife and their tracks as well as QR links to videos to help visitors learn even more about the animals who live here such as coyote, opossum, fisher cat, red fox and more!

After the snow melted and the shadbush began to bloom, it was time to fish! The folks at VT Fish & Wildlife are (obviously) pros in this department. We hosted Let’s Go Fishing events at the Intervale with Education Manager, Ali Thomas and veteran fishing volunteers. They brought everything we needed to learn how to catch fish found in the Winooski River such as bass and perch. The basic introduction to fishing course covered ecology, knot tying, fish identification, regulations, equipment and much more. Participants also learned first-hand about Abenaki fishing equipment and ways to honor the catch with special guest, Aaron Desroches of Alnôbaiwi   - www.alnobaiwi.org. Participants left the program with the skills they needed to feel confident fishing on their own.

As spring progressed, the riverine floodplain forest began to fill out with deep green colors and birdsong echoed throughout the valley. To celebrate this phenomenon, we hosted birding walks and learned all about our feathered friends from Doug Morin, Bird Project Leader and Wildlife Biologist. You’ve never seen such a blue as the indigo bunting!

As our collaboration developed, we brainstormed together and came up with our next offering: A presentation on land use and wildlife, exploring a history of change with Kim Royar, Furbearer Project Leader. This was an eye-opening deep dive into how we as humans have affected wildlife and ecology in the state. We continue to strive to understand our impact and make land use decisions accordingly to this day.

We are excited to continue to offer events like these, including an upcoming presentation on bats during Bat Week! Be sure to join wildlife biologist Alyssa Bennett from the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department as she takes us into the fascinating world of Vermont’s only night-flying mammals. You will learn about the habitat needs, benefits of, and threats to our nine species of bats. Find out how you can create bat habitat in your back yard and help us monitor the populations of bats that sometimes call our homes their own.

Register HERE for the bat presentation on Thursday, OCT 28th 5-6:30pm at the Intervale Center.

Stay up to date on all of our offerings with VT Fish & Wildlife and more by subscribing to our monthly newsletter and visiting our calendar.

Written by Duncan Murdoch, Natural Areas Stewardship Coordinator