Restoration Roundup

In this episode of Restoration Roundup, we speak with Annalise Carington, Conservation Specialist at the Intervale Center and U.S. Fish & Wildlife, and Lynda Prim, who is the manager of the Intervale Conservation Nursery. We discuss the shortage of native trees and shrubs for restoration work in Vermont. 

Recent work by American Forests described this challenge at the national level. They found that nursery production needs to m...

In this episode of Restoration Roundup, we are joined by ecologist and naturalist Jason Mazurowski to discuss how practitioners and farmers can best support pollinators, particularly in riparian forests. Jason specializes in native pollinator conservation, and is currently working with the Gund Institute for Environment and Audubon Vermont on multiple field projects; he also serves as an adjunct instructor at UVM teaching courses o...

In this episode we have a lively conversation with Brenda Sieglitz and Audrey Epp Schmidt about the potential of incorporating commercial agroforestry into riparian buffers to provide both ecological benefits and financial returns for farmers. Brenda is the Senior Manager of the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership, which is a collaborative effort, coordinated by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, of 200 national, regional, state and ...

In this episode we speak with two scientists from the U.S. Forest Service that are part of the American Elm disease resistance breeding and restoration program, Dr. Leila Pinchot and Dr. Kathleen Knight. Dr. Knight’s research has focused on the effects of non-native pests and pathogens in forested ecosystems, concentrating in emerald ash borer and our topic today: dutch elm disease. Dr. Pinchot is a forest ecologist whose research ...

n this episode we speak with Allan Strong and Margaret Fowle about the importance of riparian areas for birds, and how riparian forest restoration practitioners can best support bird populations. Allan is a professor in the wildlife biology program in The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at UVM. His research focuses on bird conservation and he currently serves as Chair of Vermont’s Endangered Species Committee...

In this latest episode of Restoration Roundup, we speak with three farmers who made the decision to restore riparian areas on their land. First we spoke with Geo Honigford, a retired vegetable farmer from South Royalton, VT who sold his farm last year. We also spoke with Larry Trombley from Swanton, VT, a landowner who leases his land to farmers, who was particularly motivated by growing up in Vermont and seeing how agricultural pr...

In this episode we interviewed Katie Kain and Ethan Tapper to discuss the effects of invasive species on riparian areas, and strategies landowners and ecosystem managers can use to control them. Katie is a Fish and Wildlife Biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Partners Program in Essex Junction, VT. She works with watershed organizations, conservation districts, and state and federal partners to restore riparian...

For our eleventh and final episode of the first season of Restoration Roundup, we spoke with Shayne Jaquith and Gus Goodwin of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Vermont, and Kristen Balschunat at the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (VYCC), about a project TNC has been working on to restore the Hubbardton River and its surrounding clayplain forest in West Haven, VT.

Process-based restoration is a river and floodplain restoration appro...

This week we are excited to share the 12th episode of Restoration Roundup--and the start of the second season! We spoke with Shawn Good of the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department, Karina Dailey from the Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC), and Gabe Bolin of Stone Environmental about the work being done to remove the Pelletier Dam in Castleton, Vermont.

Dam removal is an important way to restore natural flows, habitat, and su...

For the thirteenth episode of Restoration Roundup we took a look at some of the active research being done in forest restoration. We spoke to three students from UVM’s graduate student program: Master’s students Kate Longfield and Stever Bartlett and PhD candidate Stephen Peters-Collaer. Working with the Rubenstein School of the Environment and Natural Resources and their mentors and advisors, these students are researching topics ...

In this month’s episode, we decided to talk to some stewards from Vermont’s riparian areas that also serve as recreational spaces. Oftentimes the priorities of restoration can be focused on the ecosystem side of things, ensuring wildlife passage, native species health, and the long-term well-being and function of a forest. However, there are many areas that need to balance those goals with the need to make an area safely accessible...