Process-based restoration at the Hubbardton River Clayplain Forest

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 approach that aims to reconnect rivers with their floodplains by adding woody material to the stream to trap sediment and restore the natural flow and evolution of the river. Due to logging, agriculture, and historical clearing of forests, a lot of streams and rivers have lost access to the naturally-occurring woody debris that is critical to their functioning. TNC has partnered with Vermont Fish & Wildlife and others to tackle this restoration project, which also includes revegetating the surrounding forest, much of which is now a hay field. A VYCC crew assisted with the in-stream restoration work this past June, and in the episode Kristen describes more about how they were involved and what they learned.

Listen to the full episode to hear how our streams and rivers have gotten to the state they're in now, why this kind of approach works and what its benefits are, how long it will take for the area to return to its pre-colonization state, and more!