Franklin County Conservation District
Tree Sale 2020 Programs and Services Meet the Team Events Meetings
Recent Posts from our Winter 2020 News:
How are your trees?
Here’s a question for you: How are the trees you purchased from our tree sale doing? Every year we distribute thousands of stems through our sale, but rarely do we hear of the lives these trees go on to live (or not live.) There are two reasons we want to know how your trees from our Tree Sale are doing. Take Our...
Berkshire farmer works to restore stream
In the Lake Champlain Basin, water defines our landscape. The erosive force of water carves out steep drainages along our mountain faces, adding definition to the Green Mountains’ most iconic peaks. It forms the valleys we inhabit, where the water can spread out, slow down, and lazily meander from one side of a valley to the other. As water continuously shapes our earth, it bends and winds and bows and twists and crooks and seeps. It’s natural,...
Restoring Trout Habitat at the Johnsons Mill Dam
The District is working with state and federal wildlife agencies to remove the Johnsons Mill Dam in Bakersfield, reconnecting habitat for native brook trout and improving water quality. The Johnsons Mill Dam, built on the Bogue Branch near Witchcat Road, was once a productive saw mill but now, after decades of disuse, is in a state of deterioration. Removing the dam will reconnect 22 stream miles and allow brook trout to move upstream and...
Payment for Ecosystem Services
“Ecosystem services” is the term used to describe any positive benefits the natural world provides to humans. There are four general categories used to describe these services. Provisioning services are the material or energy outputs of ecosystems, including food, water, raw materials such as wood and oil, and more. Regulating services are provided through the regulation of natural systems, including flood control and water purification,...
Free Trees to Capture Carbon
This year we are partnering with American Meetings, Inc. to provide free trees to our tree sale customers! Black cherry, red maple, and black walnut are three of the fastest-growing hardwoods native to our area, so we have selected them for their faster carbon sequestration potential. Each of our first 100 tree sale customers this year may opt to receive up to two free trees out of these species. Read on to learn why else we love these...
Featured Trees & Shrubs – $2
Every year we promote two trees or shrubs you might not know about that make excellent landscaping and habitat! In past years we've featured dogwood, viburnum, Aronia, and buttonbush. This year we're discounting river birch ($5) and witch hazel (only $2!). Newly this year we are also giving away free trees to our first 100 customers!Witch Hazel's many wonders What’s most remarkable and unusual about witch hazel is that it flowers in late fall,...
Grow Mushrooms Under Your Raspberries!
by Jeannie Bartlett The last two springs I’ve inoculated different areas of my raspberry patch and under my fruit trees with winecap mushroom spawn, and the double-harvest sure has been fun. In early spring I spread clean hardwood wood chips through my raspberry bed and under my fruit trees, 2-3” thick. Then I scatter handfuls of winecap sawdust spawn over the wood chips, and lay on another inch of chips. Finally, I water the whole thing until...
Highgate Farmer Presents at Middlebury College
In January, farmers Matt Choiniere (Highgate) and Steve Schubart (Charlotte) gave a guest lecture to the Middlebury College class Food, Farms, Future: Vermont. Through the course, 36 students explored the history, present and possible futures of VT agriculture. “Listening to Matt and Steve talk about the ways that farming cows can actually be part of the solution to climate change was so different from the narrative that I have been exposed to...
Spring Regional Events
Feb 26 - No Till & Cover Crop Symposium, Burlington, 524-6501Feb 28 - Hops Conference, Burlington, 524-6501Mar 11 - Organic Dairy Producers Conference, RandolphMar 12 - Precision Agriculture Forum, 10a-2:30p, American Legion, St. Albans. Contact farmerswatershedalliancenw@gmail.comMar 12 - Bird Diva Bridget Butler’s Birding Essentials: Interpreting Bird Behavior, 6:30pm, Barlow St. Community Center, St. Albans, $35, 524-1500 x *268Mar 24 -...
New Farm Bill Brings Changes to NRCS
The new Farm Bill passed in 2018 is just beginning to take effect. The Farm Bill supports programs administered through USDA, all the way from nutrition to support for beginning farmers and from crop insurance to conservation, and much more. Your USDA-NRCS team here in Vermont wants to let NRCS participants know about changes to the program processes. Applicants will no longer need to apply to “EQIP” or “CSP,” but will instead apply for a...
Farmers Learn Nutrient Management, Write Plans
The Conservation District again provided one-on-one assistance to small, family farms participating in UVM Extension’s Nutrient Management Planning class. "The class was informal enough to make it easy to learn," reflected Earl Fournier, a long-time organic farmer in Swanton who took the class this January. Taught by UVM Ext's Heather Darby, farmers learn principles of soil health, nutrient cycling, crop needs, water quality protection, and...
Update on Tile Drain Monitoring
Here at the District, we collect data for a VT Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets’ (VAAFM) study of tile drain sites across the state. Tile drains are installed under agricultural fields to drain off excess water in wet conditions to help crops grow more efficiently. Drains may be a single pipe or a system of pipes with water flowing out through one outlet below the field. The VAAFM study has been going for two years, collecting data on...
LaRosa Water Quality Monitoring
For the past two years, the District has been a part of the VT Dept. of Environmental Conservation’s LaRosa Water Quality Partnership Program which engages local watershed groups and citizens in water quality monitoring. Through this program District members and local volunteers sample a variety of sites for nitrogen and phosphorus levels. Results from these studies help the state understand water quality conditions across our county and help...
College Scholarship
Are you a college student, or will you be this fall? The goal of the Franklin County Conservation District’s $500 college scholarship program is to encourage young people from Franklin County to pursue careers in sustainable agricultural and natural resources management. Applicants demonstrating an interest in agriculture, natural resources or the environment are encouraged to apply. We seek to support education in fields including but not...
Volunteers Needed – Get Discounted Trees
Our tree sale, water quality monitoring and restoration projects rely on volunteers. Many of our partners in conservation and resilient local food systems also rely on volunteers to keep our environment and our communities healthy. We are launching a brand new bi-monthly email for volunteer opportunities. By signing up, you will learn about opportunities with the Franklin County Conservation District and our partners to: • plant...
Conservation Needs *You*
The holidays are over, but one song is still playing through my head: All I want for Christmas is you. Because your participation – above and beyond what you’re already doing – is what we most want here at the Conservation District. Probably you are already doing something to steward our natural resources – maybe you …
Download Publications
Download PDF: Winter 2020 Newsletter (3.9 MB)
Download PDF: Winter 2019 Newsletter (4.6 MB)
Download PDF: Winter 2018 Newsletter (4.2 MB)
Download PDF: Winter 2017 Newsletter (1.0 MB)
Download PDF: Franklin County Natural Resources Assessment 2017 (0.4 MB)
Featured Photos
Learn more about the Franklin County NRCD programs.
Campers Exploring
Campers at the St. Albans Day Camp explore through the cattails and shrub willows at the Collins-Perley Sports Complex.
Inspecting Crayfish
A Richford NOTCH camper inspects the crayfish he caught in the Missisquoi River.
Muskrat Lodge?
(From left to right) Chloe Decker, Tylee Shover, and Taygon Shover check out a possible muskrat lodge they found on the edge of the Missisquoi River in Richford.
Comparing Crayfish
Richford NOTCH campers gather close to compare the different crayfish they have caught in the Missisquoi River.
Drawing
St. Albans Day Campers make drawings of some of the nature they have found on their nature walk.
Exploring the Woods
St. Albans Day Campers explore the woods of Hard’ack Recreation Area.
Searching for Crayfish
Kaden Deuso searches for crayfish in the Missisquoi River at the Richford NOTCH day camp.
Showcasing Guides
Nikita Raymond and Natasha St. Francis showcase the “Locals’ Nature Guide to the Richford Playground” that they helped create.
The mission of the Franklin County Conservation District is to promote land use that supports human livelihoods and sustains ecosystems in Franklin County, VT. We empower and convene landowners and land-users to prioritize and address natural resource concerns through USDA and locally-developed programs. We recognize water quality and the continuance of our land-based economy as key concerns for Franklin County today.
Contact
Jeannie Bartlett, District Manager
50 S. Main St. #20
St Albans, VT 05478
802-528-4176
franklincountynrcd@gmail.com