Dummerston Conservation Commission
Notes and Minutes
May 11, 2006
Present: Ed Anthes, Mary Ellen Copeland (chair), Patti Smith, Jack Lilly, Charlie
Richardson, Bill Schmidt, John Warren (recorder), Lynn Levine
1. Mary Ellen gave a tour of the commission website; it includes places for Documents,
Maps, Wildlife sightings, Events, Projects and Photos. At present, Mary Ellen is the only
one who can add items to the site, but as we learn, all commission members will be able
to.
Mary Ellen said that we need about $1200 to proceed; she will pursue finding sources for
funds.
Mary Ellen will set up a meeting with Daniel at DOSolutions to carry the work forward.
2. Vernal Pools: There is currently no town ordinance in Dummerston to protect vernal
pools. According to Melinda Bussino, Westminster has passed such an ordinance. We
need to confirm this and to see a copy of their ordinance, to see if we want to pursue this
course for Dummerston.
3. There will be a joint meeting of the Selectboard, Zoning Board, Planning
Commission, and Conservation Commission on June 12. All who can should attend; this
is an opportunity to work on coordinating and communicating with Town groups whose
efforts often overlap.
We should pursue having an overlapping member on the Conservation Commission and
the Planning Commission.
4. Rain Garden: Jack reported on a meeting with Wayne Gamell of the DOT, Wayne
Emery, Marie Caduto, and Jolene Hamilton. It was agreed to remove the culvert and
install a "check dam" at the lower end (the side toward the river) of the rain garden, to
control overflow. Given that there is almost no present erosion at the outflow end of the
culvert, there was some concern that there might not be enough rainwater to make the
rain garden functional. Would we be in the awkward position of having to water the rain
garden?
5. Dummerston/Putney Gravel Pit: John reported on the visit to the gravel pit site by
conservation commission members, and on his conversations with Tom Bodet of the
Selectboard. The less-than-desirable access route along Clark Road was the third choice
of the planners but was the best one left after consulting with neighbors who would have
been affected by the other routes under consideration.
The site is on a geographic feature known as a "complementary landscape," defined by
the Vermont Biodiversity Project as "enduring features that are not found on any
conserved land in Vermont" (Vermont's Natural Heritage, map on p. 35). In this case, the
enduring feature is the flat plateau, which in this case is a glacial lake delta system. We
may want to make a warning about further development on this surface; John suggested
that it be to the Selectboard, while Bill Schmidt suggested that we work with the
landowners, of which there are two major ones. Some level of protection of this feature
would meet the goal that the full range of elevations and geologic types in the town are
protected, as stated in Conserving Vermont's Natural Heritage, p. 108.
Just as we members of the present generation of occupants of the land are thrilled to find
vestiges of the past uses of the land, we can leave traces of our activities for future
occupants. Earlier generations did not deliberately leave these traces, but we,
recognizing the value in the record that is thus left, could do so deliberately.
Accordingly, we can leave some traces of the gravel pit operation in the necessary
restoration after the pit has served its useful life.
John will make a proposal about preserving a record of the gravel pit.
6. Endangered Species: John reported on this aspect of the Biodiversity Project. The
federal and state Endangered-Species Acts were briefly discussed and definitions of
"endangered," "threatened," and other levels of protection were given. A list of
endangered and threatened species in Vermont was presented. Many of the species on
the list are there because Vermont is located at the extremes, either northern or southern,
of the range of the species. Such species may be more common elsewhere; hence, they
do not appear on the federal list. However, the edges of ranges are critical as areas where
new diversity can arise, by interaction with closely related forms and by splitting off from
the parent population. An example is the Green Mountain maidenhair fern, which
formed as a hybrid of two species of maidenhair fern whose ranges overlap in Vermont;
the Green Mountain maidenhair is globally rare.
7. Sightings:
A moose was seen on Green Mountain Camp Road.
This seems to be a mast year for tree species which produce catkins (mainly birches).
8. Next Meeting: The next meeting will be at a different time:
Wed., May 31, 7:30PM
At Mary Ellen and Ed's home
The main topic will be to prepare for the June 12 joint meeting; also covered will be a
report from Charlie on Prospect Hill, and getting the Dummerston maps from Jeff
Nugent. We may want to replace Bill McKim if he doesn't wish to continue as a
member.
Respectfully submitted,
John Warren