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 more than double, from 1.3 billion seedlings per year to more than 3 billion per year, in order to meet even half of the reforestation potential in the lower 48 United States by 2040. 

Surveys of nursery growers and seedling buyers conducted by Annalise and me this year suggested that the problem is similar in Vermont; about half of the seedlings we use for restoration plantings are purchased by our nurseries from out-of-state for resale. Although price points for out-of-state trees from large industrial nurseries are usually lower, locally-sourced and propagated trees are more likely to be adapted to the specific growing conditions in Vermont, and less likely to risk carrying pests or pathogens from other parts of the country. Furthermore, developing and maintaining a native tree growing workforce in Vermont would allow us to invest in our own community as we purchase trees for restoration projects.

The seven operating nurseries in Vermont are currently operating at or near capacity. All of them would like to expand if they had the resources to do so, but there are many challenges to ramping up production. Nurseries cite difficulty predicting the highly variable market from year to year, sourcing highly specialized equipment and developing needed infrastructure, labor shortages, and more. There is also a group of individuals in Vermont who have expressed interest in opening new nurseries, but who need space, funding, and/or a better understanding of nursery operating procedures before they can get started.

In the inaugural episode of Restoration Roundup, we speak with Patrick Engelken, an entomologist with the U.S. Forest Service in St. Paul, Minnesota. While working to get his graduate degree at Michigan State University, Engelken studied the effects of Emerald Ash Borer (“EAB,” scientific name: Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire in the family Buprestidae) on riparian forests. Although EAB was first discovered in Michigan in 2002, the insects were not introduced to Vermont until 2018. EAB is an invasive species native to northeastern Asia that feeds on all kinds of ash species. 

Ash trees provide an important service to ecosystems as a key species in riparian forests. In these ecosystems, their roots help filter out pollutants and sediments; ash trees also help regulate nutrient distribution and cycling, leaf litter deposits, and forest floor temperature. In this episode, Engelken walks us through how EAB is detrimental to ash health, as the insects attack in the phloem layer of the tree. Phloem is a thin layer of cells that transport food around the tree to parts that need it. EAB eats at that thin layer, restricting nutrients from getting to all parts of the tree, and ultimately causing the tree to die. Because of the role ash trees play in riparian ecosystems in this region, the emergence of EAB in Vermont in 2018 poses a threat not only to ash tree health, but also to efforts to promote cleaner water and wildlife habitat for a healthier Vermont. 

In episode 19 of Restoration Round Up, Lauren Jennes and Michele Braun speak about their respective parts in a new incentive program for landowners: Stream Wise. Stream Wise is going into its second year of operation and is a program meant to assess, advise, and reward the work landowners do to maintain their privately owned riparian areas. Lauren, working with the Lake Champlain Basin Program, discusses the organization's wider vision and goals while Michele, the Executive Director of Friends of the Winooski River, one of Stream Wise's first community partners, explains what working within this assessment framework and with landowners across the valley is like. Join us for an overview of a new and rapidly growing program that benefits larger riparian systems by starting with what is small and privately stewarded.

Today we welcome Jessica Rubin to the podcast to speak about her research around mycorrhizae and other means to improve plant's phosphorous uptake. Jess, who began this work seven years ago with the start of an ecological resilience service called mycoevolve, expanded her research in pursuit of a second masters degree, resulting in two studies in Vermont where she compared site inoculation, plant selection, and site management to determine the best efficacy for removing phosphorous from the landscape.

Listen in for updates on her research, her methods for keeping farmers and Abenaki people and practices involved, and her hopes for the future of mycorrhizae inclusion in restoration work!

In this episode we speak to Will Eldridge, an aquatic habitat researcher, and Jess Colby, the Riparian Lands Project Coordinator at the Northwood Stewardship Center. Together they explain the process of an ongoing study about direct seeding- a method of planting trees and other plants in reforestation projects that may prove to be a powerful tool. This project, begun by Pete Emerson six years ago, is a massive undertaking by multiple stakeholders across the state and will begin showing fruit this upcoming Spring. Stay tuned to see what takes root!

This episode was directed by Cate Kreider.

In many episodes, we have discussed new things, but pausing to look back at how far restoration efforts have come is valuable as well! Join my conversation with Ron Rhodes, Shawn White, Mike Kline, and Chris Smith, all professionals working with this material for at least ten years, as we discuss the evolution of habitat science and buffer planting, the onset of new challenges, and the hopes for headwaters and further cooperation in the future. 

In this episode we speak with Jess Colby, Rob Fitch, and Rhona Thomson about collecting wild seeds for riparian restoration projects. Jess is the Riparian Projects & Forestry Outreach Coordinator with NorthWoods Stewardship Center in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, and Rob and Rhona were on her seed collecting crew this past spring, summer, and fall. We discuss how seed collecting works and why it's important, a very interesting tool called the "Dybvig," collecting seeds from a canoe, and more!

This episode was directed by Cate Kreider.

In this episode we speak with Kathryn Wrigley, Duncan Murdoch, and Leila Faulstich about managing riparian recreational spaces. Kathryn is a Forest Recreation Specialist with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation (FPR) focusing on the northwest portion of the state; Duncan is the  Natural Areas Stewardship Coordinator for the Intervale Center in Burlington, Vermont; and Leila is the Parks Supervisor for the Montpelier Parks and Trees Department. We discuss the role of volunteer projects in educating the public about riparian areas, challenges and mishaps in management of recreational riparian areas, and more!

In this episode we speak with Karina Dailey (Restoration Ecologist, Vermont Natural Resources Council), Shawn Good (Fisheries Biologist, Vermont Fish & Wildlife), and Gabe Bolin (Water Resource Engineer, Stone Environmental) about the removal of the Pelletier Dam in Castleton, Vermont. We talk about this history of this dam, why and how dam removal benefits stream and riparian habitats, and what makes this project unique.