LANDS
The Land Stewardship Program
The Crew
Delia Delongchamp
James Barnes
Jessica DeBiasio
Patricia Brousseau
Corbett Tulip
Kai Starn
Emily Lord
Diane Nadon
Kyla Bedard
Jaime Recore
Why is Conservation Important?
An important tool for protecting vital
lands
 Protects resources that compose
treasured landscapes &
communities
 Innovation of monitoring processes
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Problem?
The challenge for Land Trusts & conservation
organizations who operate & hold Protective
Easements on thousands of acres, is to have Timeefficient & Cost-saving method of Stewarding
their lands.
Statistical Evidence of a Need
1950 = 53 land trusts, 26 states
2005 = 1,500 exist
5 million acres with voluntary land conservation
agreements. 3X the amount of 2000
As of 2003, local & regional land trusts had protected 9,361,600
acres of natural areas, an area 4X the size of Yellowstone
National Park.
(Statistics courtesy of LTA 2005)
Conservation in Vermont
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Vermont stats: 33 land trusts
480,897 total acres protected
77% acres protected under easements
(Statistics courtesy of LTA 2005)
Project Overview
Develop an Internship Training Program,
implemented summer 2007. Train & educate
SCA interns how to properly monitor properties
held under conservation easements through
record keeping, field checking, and communicating
stewardship issues to land owners.
Student Conservation Association
SCA is a non-profit organization which
places students in high-priority
environmental conservation
internships.
“The young women & men of the SCA comprise one
of the largest, most powerful forces in conservation
today…they forge powerful, personal connections with
the outdoors…they epitomize the ideal of conservation in action.”
-SCA
Next Steps…
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Design curriculum: Based upon
LTA’s Standards & Practices (2004)
Developing Partnerships with
towns & land trusts
Planning & Logistics
Scheduling workshop leaders,
speakers
Recruiting students
Week 1 – Discovery Adventure Camp
Lone Rock Point with Alicia Daniel
Journaling at Lone Rock Point
Shelburne Farms
5 Tree Hill,
Williston VT
Week 2
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Steve Libby conservation
easements, what!
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Private property, land
conservation, and land trusts
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Exploring the Landscape, plant
identification and natural
history
Camel’s Hump
Where I first learned about stinging nettle
First Day at The LaPlatte Nature Park
with Liz Thompson
Eagle Mountain Natural Area, Milton VT
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Day of monitoring with
Chris Boget, executive
director of Lake Champlain
Land Trust
Week 3
Landowner Dynamics with VLT, Shadow
Monitoring with TNC, Boundary
Maintenance for the Town of Williston,
and LTA Standards and Practices
Landowner Dynamics
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Met with Tyler Miller from Vermont
Land Trust at the Demeter Lands in
Charlotte
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Talked about his role in VLT
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How to handle violations and land
owner issues
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Landowner dynamics skits, how to
handle various situations
Shadow Monitoring With TNC
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Monitored with The Nature
Conservancy at Shelburne
Pond
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Worked with from TNC and
Americorps interns
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Worked with them to
understand how TNC monitors
properties
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Returned and finished
monitoring reports alone!
Boundary Maintenance for the Town of Williston
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Worked on the Mud Pond, Five Tree Hill, Brown
Nell Mountain properties.
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Re-signed and re-painted boundaries
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Working for a town rather than a land trust gave
us a insight into the many different land
stewardship possibilities.
LTA Standards and Practices
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Land Trust Alliance is the national organization
for land trusts throughout the country.
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Reviewed the Standards and Practices created by
the Land Trust Alliance
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LANDS hopes to help trusts work towards
accreditation in the future.
Week 4
Corridor Monitoring Training,
Vermont Housing & Conservation Board,
and Current Use Forestry
VHCB
Wolfrun Natural Area
Jericho Underhill Land Trust
Jericho, Vermont
July 2007
We’re going where??
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279 acre parcel with unique
features
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Big Swamp
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Mary’s Ravine
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Bedrock outcroppings
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Wildlife evidence and habitat
LANDS’ goal of working within JULT’s
mission to
“permanently protect Jericho & Underhill's
working landscapes, scenic vistas, and
important wildlife habitat.”
Trail map to depict
complete set of trails and
rate their condition.
Hydrology and
Topography map was also
created by confirming
data from Vermont
Center for Geographic
Information
Forest cover-types were
mapped based on
previously delineated
timber stands, visited,
confirmed and adjusted
where necessary.
Soil map was also created
to demonstrate the variety
of soils present.
Sub-Watershed and a
separate Connectivity
Map were created to
represent the
landscape from a
larger ecological
context
-Town of Shelburnethe LaPlatte Nature Park
• service
request
• service
proposal
• partners
• process
The park in context:
natural and cultural history
• Agricultural use
• A brief history of Shelburne Falls
Maps
• Trails
• Natural Communities
• Riparian Areas
• Invasive Species
Maps
Natural Communities
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Over a dozen types present including:
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Temperate calcareous cliffs
Mesic clayplain forest
Sugar maple sensitive fern riverine floodplain forest
LaPlatte River & Riparian Areas
http://www.biosci.ohiou.edu/faculty/white/stonecat.jpg
Noturus Flavus (the stonecat)
Assessing the river
http://fish.dnr.cornell.edu/nyfish/Ictaluridae/stonecat.html
Invasive Species
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TNC invasives training
GPS field work
Lab work
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Species found include:
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Buckthorn
Honeysuckle
Japanese Barberry
Bishop’s weed (Goutweed)
In conclusion:
The future of the LaPlatte Nature Park
Richmond Land Trust Service Project
Mission Statement:
“To preserve the rural character and quality of life in
Richmond,Vermont, and its surrounding communities
through land conservation, historic preservation, land
stewardship, and community service and education.”
The Service Request
Beeken Rivershore Preserve
Safford Brown Lowland Preserve
Safford Upland Preserve
Rochford DelBianco Preserve
What’s Next for
LANDS???
Evaluation of the Pilot
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What worked?
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What didn’t?
Why?
Academic Requirements!!!
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More importantly…. To make a better LANDS
program in the 2nd pilot in 2008
(fingers crossed)
Fall Listening Tour
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Potential Fall Round Table Discussion among regional
conservation agencies.
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Needs assessment of the
land conservation players
farther afield.
Future Ideas on the Ground
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Expand the suite of land partners
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Expand the program geographically
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Diversify the types of service the
LANDS crew can provide.
Future Strategic Ideas

Find the money
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Find a long term home for LANDS
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Any Feedback/Help Welcome!
Ultimate Goal
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To create a intern/crew model that can serve the diverse
stewardship needs of land trusts and other land agencies on both
aVermont and national scale.
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Give conservation-minded student interns a great learning
experience!!!
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Help to conserve the places we care about.
Acknowledgements
Institutional Support
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University of Vermont
The Student Conservation Association
Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources
UVM Plant Biology Field Naturalist Program
Northeastern States Cooperative Research Grant
High Meadows Fund
Kate Baldwin
Land Trust Alliance
Deane Wang
Flip Hagood & the SCA Staff
The Greenhouse Residential Center
Marie Vea-Fagnant
Chris Kaliba
Hub Vogelmann
Steve Libby
Walter Poleman
Porky Reade
Marcia Caldwell
Carolyn Goodwin-Knueffner
Jeffery Hughes
The Westdijks & NEGEF
Audrey Lankford
And many more…………
Project Partners
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Green Mountain Club
Town of Williston
Jericho Underhill Land Trust
Town of Shelburne
TNC Vermont
Richmond Land Trust
Workshop Leaders
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Steve Libby
Jesse Mohr
Mike Snyder & VT Agency of NR
TNC Vermont
Tyler Miller & Vermont Land Trust
Chris Boget & Lake Champlain Land Trust
Rick Paradise
Alicia Daniel
Chris Burns
Thank You Interns!!
Giselle
Corbett, Jessica, Kai, Delia, Jaime, Kyla, James, Tricia, Diane & Emily
Question & Answer