What’s New?
Photo by Judy Valente
Lots!
Check out Refuge Happenings for the latest news about the ongoing work by the staff at the Refuge.
Friends Meeting on Tuesday, April 1, 2025:
A Friends of Nulhegan meeting will be held on Tuesday. April 1, 2025 at 6:30 pm, via Zoom. Refuge Manager Steve Agius will be giving us an update about the Nulhegan Basin Division and the status of projects at the Refuge. We will hear updates about snowmobiling at the Refuge and about snowmobiling in Essex County.
If anyone has photos please send them to david.govatski@gmail.com, and we will show them at the meeting. If anyone has questions or suggestions for the agenda please know that they are welcome to send those to david.govatski@gmail.com, as well.
Bring your questions!
Topic: Friends of Nulhegan
Time: Apr 1, 2025 18:30 Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82030573010?pwd=WgtL1X3bbLwuFZ7ZofBkZAa1aT0fz3.1
Meeting ID: 820 3057 3010
Passcode: 067789
Art Contest- Federal Junior Duck Stamp Program in Vermont
The annual state-wide Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program is underway in Vermont. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service invites students from pre-K to 12th grade to create designs featuring ducks, swans, or geese in their natural habitats. Designs are judged in four age categories, with awards for first, second, and third places and honorable mentions. Entries must be received by March 15th, 2025. Entries must be received by March 15th, 2025. Mail entries to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 5396 Route 105, Brunswick VT 05905.
The Vermont Best of Show entry will compete with contest winners from other states in a national competition in Washington D.C. The first-place national winning design is used to create the Federal Junior Duck Stamp. Proceeds from the sale of Junior Duck Stamps support conservation education by providing awards and scholarships for students, teachers, and schools.
Modeled after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s annual Federal Duck Stamp competition, the Junior Duck Stamp contest is part of an educational curriculum that teaches students about waterfowl, the importance of wetlands, and habitat conservation. Proceeds from the sale of Federal Duck Stamps protect wetlands through land acquisition by the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Contest rules and entry forms are currently available for download at the following web site: https://www.fws.gov/birds/education/junior-duck-stamp-conservation-program.php. For more information on the contest call the Silvio O. Conte National Fish & Wildlife Refuge at (802) 962-5240, ext. 112. Businesses or organizations who would like to sponsor this program are encouraged to contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Plus the updated hunting and fishing plan for the Silvio Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge in VT and NH has been released.
Click on the image below to read the Plan.
“Red-breasted Merganser by Ezra Goss
2024 Vermont Best of Show
Click on the image below to watch Kiley Briggs’ presentation at our April Friends meeting on our Friends’ YouTube Channel
Newly Released Report
The ponds of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge are ecological centerpieces of both the Pondicherry and Nulhegan Divisions; however, they have received little attention in prior ecological inventories. This study fills that gap with baseline information on the aquatic flora of the Refuge ponds, including species composition, abundance, community mapping, and rare and invasive species inventories. Studied water bodies include Lewis Pond in the Nulhegan Division and Cherry Pond, Little Cherry Pond, Mud Pond, the Johns River & Deadwater (above and below Little Cherry Pond), and the small open water areas of Cedar and Moorhen Marshes in the Pondicherry Division. Fieldwork occurred over six days in late August and early September of 2022. This report version has been redacted to remove sensitive rare species data.
“Birds of the Nulhegan Basin”.
Just found this video online, made in 2012 ~ not new to the world, but new to this page. Click on the image to view.
Work on the Refuge is never ending!
Thank you, David Govatski, for capturing this beaver hard at work, dragging an aspen branch across Stone Dam Road to a bank lodge on the Nulhegan River.
BARNET STUDENT WINS 2023 VERMONT JUNIOR DUCK STAMP CONTEST
A painting by Ezra Goss of Barnet won the Best of Show in the Vermont competition of the 2023 Federal Junior Duck Stamp Design Contest. The judging was held at the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium on March 29th. Ezra, a student at Lyndon Institute, entered a painting of a female common merganser. Ezra’s Vermont Best of Show artwork will now compete in the National Junior Duck Stamp Design Contest. Ezra’s artwork will be included in an exhibit that will tour the United States for the coming year.
Painting of a Female Merganser by Ezra Goss
To learn about work being done on the Refuge, check out our Refuge Happenings.
Looking back at events in the past year plus:
September 14th presentation by Dr. Fritz Gerhardt:
The meeting began with a presentation by Dr. Fritz Gerhardt of the Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC), in which he shared a slide show about the work of the CRC. The CRC has been working since 1952 in the entire watershed of the 410 mile long Connecticut River, from the Quebec/New Hampshire border to Long Island Sound, running a wide range of programs focused on the protection and restoration of ecosystems within the watershed. Dr. Gerhardt’s work through the CRC is geared toward restoring riparian areas, restoring flood plain forests, reducing erosion, protecting water quality, and improving fish and wildlife habitats. This work involves:
tree planting;
bio-stabilizing river/stream banks, i.e., using biological materials/processes to combat erosion and trap sediments;
wetlands restoration;
removal of dams and dam debris where dams are no longer used. In all of these dam removal projects, the CRC strives to maintain quality fishing while making recreation safer, and, wherever possible, maintaining some of the history of the dams as well;
upsizing or replacing culverts: ensuring that the bottoms of the culverts have the rough texture necessary for successful travel of fish and other aquatic organisms through the culverts.
August 13th - Ice Cream Social
Check out the photos posted in the 2022 Ice Cream Social Gallery.
Bat box building.
Ice cream with hot fudge or hot butterscotch sauce, chopped walnuts, M&Ms, sprinkles, whipped cream, homemade brownies - YUM!
Excellent speakers reporting about Refuge research, answering questions from the audience.
Moose calling fun with maple syrup for the winners.
A great time was had by all. Thanks to everyone for making it such a fun day!
May 28th Black Ash Splint Pounding
From the press release:
“Black ash trees have been used for generations as a high quality pliable wood product that can be 'woven' into intricate products. In May, a cultural event was held at the Nulhegan Basin Division, teaching the public about pounding ash splints and the looming threat of the invasive emerald ash borer. Black ash (also know as brown ash) can be pounded to separate the annual growth rings from one another. The separated growth rings are pulled into strips called splints. The flexible splints are a versatile product that can be used to make an assortment of items from pack baskets to fancy decorative baskets. There is a growing concern that emerald ash borer will kill the majority of ash across the northeast and that black ash will be a species that disappears from the landscape. Part of the event focused on educating the public on how to identify the insect and its telltale 'D' shaped holes in ash trees.
March 9, 2022 Presentation
At our March 9, 2022 Friends meeting, Nick Fortin, Vermont Fish and Wildlife’s Wildlife Biologist and Deer Project Leader, presented the results of the Essex County Deer Yard Survey conducted in January - March 2020.
Click the image above to watch the presentation
Click on the button below to read the report by Nick Fortin, Deer and Moose Project Leader, Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department
Tree Identification Workshop was held on March 5th
Thank you, USFWS Wildlife Biologist Rachel Cliche, for a terrific Tree ID workshop! Lots of information about the tricks to help ID trees and shrubs, about which trees are found in the Nulhegan Basin, and about animals' tree preferences for habitat. A lively and deep-probing discussion about what constitutes an invasive species and how such are handled on the Refuge, giving consideration to the survival of native plant species and ramifications of treatment impacting native wildlife, all within the context of climate change, gave the workshop participants a glimpse into the complexity of the USFWS Wildlife Biologist's job. Such an educational walk through the snowy woods and along the Nulhegan River on a beautiful, sunny Saturday, with lots of fun and lots of laughs.🙂
Looking forward to the next Tree ID workshop when the trees are in their summer regalia!
Tour of the Ongoing Applied Silviculture for Climate Change project was given on Saturday, January 15, 2022.
The Refuge staff provided the public with an opportunity for a guided tour of the habitat management project for the Applied Silviculture for Climate Change research being conducted at the Refuge under the leadership of Professor Tony D’Amato of the University of Vermont. The purpose of the research project is to evaluate the efficacy of adaptive silviculture climate change management techniques within the Nulhegan Basin Division spruce-fir forests, with an eye towards managing for biodiversity and habitat complexity. The project is a collaboration with the University of Vermont and the U.S. Forest Service.
A good-sized crowd assembled on that bright, sunny, cold morning. The tour began with an introduction by Refuge Manager Steve Agius in the Nulhegan Basin Visitor Center parking lot at 10AM. Participants then drove to the Canal Road project sites via Stone Dam Road. USFWS Forester Jeremy Goetz and USFWS Wildlife Biologist Rachel Cliche did a terrific job describing the work involved in the project - the work already accomplished, the work happening currently, and the work that lies ahead in this multi-year research - as well as the wildlife impacted. Check out this informative flyer that was given to the tour participants.
Some of the participants had years of related forestry experience, making the questions informed and adding much to the richness of the conversation. Those willing to continue braving the near zero degree temperature walked up to the area where research-driven tree harvesting was ongoing to view the machine in action and hear from the operator. The tour was very well done, very informative. More such tours will be offered during the current year and the years to come as the project progresses.
The 2022 Vermont Federal Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest is underway!
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service invites students from pre-K to 12th grade to create designs featuring ducks, swans, or geese in their natural habitats. Designs are judged in four age categories, with awards for first, second, and third places and honorable mentions. Entries must be received by March 15th, 2022.
Dr. Tony D’Amato’s presentation:
Adaptive Silviculture in the Nulhegan Basin
The Friends of the Nulhegan Basin Refuge held their annual meeting on Wednesday, December 8, 2021, via Zoom. We were very fortunate to have as our guest speaker Dr. Tony D’Amato, Professor in Silviculture and Forest Ecology at the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont. Dr. D’Amato gave an excellent presentation about the multi-year research project that he is conducting, Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change in the Nulhegan Basin. The video above of his presentation is excerpted from the Zoom recording of the meeting.