Land Stewardship

South Hero Land Trust works with landowners, residents, and partner organizations to support stewardship of our lands and waters. We engage in a number of education and action projects to help ensure a healthy future for all life forms in the Islands. Read about some of our projects below, and visit our Volunteer Page to get involved!

Keeler Bay Action Plan

The quality of water in Keeler Bay affects everyone who lives nearby in some way or another. But unfortunately, the bay is facing some challenges, including excess phosphorus and invasive aquatic vegetation. To address the challenges, in 2021 the Grand Isle County Natural Resources Conservation District and South Hero Land Trust began working with local residents to develop a Watershed Action Plan for Keeler Bay. With funding and support from the Lake Champlain Basin program, this group is  pursuing a cleaner Keeler Bay by identifying ready-to-build projects throughout the watershed with guidance and support for the South Hero community.

For those interested in learning more about the challenges Keeler Bay and what you can do to help, project lead Molly Varner at GICNRCD, with help from SHLT, put together an interactive online Storymap of the project. This interactive resource will take you on a multimedia journey throughout the greater Lake Champlain watershed, with special focus on Keeler Bay in South Hero.

>> Check out the Keeler Bay Storymap at: vacd.org/KeelerBayActionPlan

This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement (LC-00A00695-0) to NEIWPCC in partnership with the Lake Champlain Basin Program.

Forest Stewardship

South Hero Land Trust works with our partner organizations as well as private landowners and residents to steward the unique forests of the Islands. Through educational programs, volunteer tree plantings, and other projects, we are committed to this work to support current and future forest stewards.

One of the major problems facing our forests is the Emerald Ash Borer. Unlike native ash borers found in the area, Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) has no predators living here, and local ash trees have not co-evolved with it. This means they lack the chemical defenses to keep it at bay. Experts are expecting expect EAB to kill at east 90% of ash trees in Vermont, a sobering realization. With ash trees comprising an estimated 30-60% of total tree cover in Grand Isle County, the forests in the Islands will be more affected than anywhere else in the state. Learn more about EAB in VT at: vtinvasives.org

South Hero Land Trust has been involved in educational efforts related to EAB in multiple ways, including taking part in the Grand Isle County Emerald Ash Borer Task Force, tabling at events and schools about EAB to spread the message, and sharing with landowners the information they need to prepare. We have also engaged in two “on the ground” projects, including a deer exclosure fence and a long term ash monitoring plot.

For the deer exclosure project, we worked with County Forester Nancy Patch find a site and install a deer exclosure fence at Snow Farm Vineyard, installed with permission from the Lane family. This fence protects young trees by keeping deer out. Once the trees get above a certain age, they are safe from deer browse, so by strategically relocating a deer exclosure fence every few years, we can restore a forest over time. The fence at Snow Farm was installed in the summer of 2022, and by fall, its impact could already be seen. The area inside the fence was lush with green foliage on young ash, maple and beech seedlings, while outside of it the deer browse was very evident. Read more about this project in our fall 2022 Newsletter

The other EAB project is a long term “lingering ash” monitoring plot through the Ecological Research Institutes Monitoring and Managing Ash Program (MaMA) , in partnership with Vermont Land Trust. This study plot was set up in the conserved Tracy Woods with permission from the landowners, and includes 40 tagged black and green ash trees that we monitor each year for signs of EAB and general vigor. With similar plots all across the Northeast, the hope is that we can locate ash which, through some evolutionary mutation, have a level of resistance to EAB, and then take scions from those resistant ash that we can use to eventually repopulate ash across the landscape. Read more about this effort in our Fall 2021 Newsletter.

We are also engaged in ongoing efforts to plant trees, remove invasive species, and other projects to steward our public lands and waters, often with the help of volunteers! To learn more, check out our Spring 2022 Newsletter for an article by 2021-22 SHLT AmeriCorps service member Eileen Fitzgerald about a tree planting project she organized in coordination with the South Hero Congregational Church, Folsom Education and Community Center and others.

To get involved in tree plantings or other ecological restoration projects, visit our Volunteer Page to get on our volunteer email list and check out our Events Page for a list of upcoming volunteer opportunities.