Pomfret, VT – The Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) and the Hartland Conservation Commission recently completed planting 400 native trees and shrubs along Lull’s Brook in Hartland, VT thanks to a grant from the State of Vermont’s Ecosystem Restoration Program.
The grant from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation helped fund outreach to landowners, design of individual restoration plans, and the purchase and planting of the 400 native trees and shrubs earlier this fall. The project will reduce soil erosion and improve water quality on Lull’s Brook, an 8-mile-long direct tributary of the Connecticut River. “Buffers are our most effective and least expensive strategy for protecting our streams and water quality,” said Marie Caduto, the State agency’s Watershed Coordinator. “Partnerships like this, between towns and non-profits like CRC, make these projects possible.”
The project was identified originally in the Town of Hartland’s 2015 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan prepared by the Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission. The plan targeted an area identified as vulnerable with the recommendation to “add trees and shrubs along the banks of the brook to reduce the amount of excess sediment and nutrients that flow from the surrounding landscape into the brook and to provide additional protection and stabilization to the streambank in case of a severe flooding event.” CRC and the Town began working toward completing this recommendation in 2018.
Six properties along Lull’s Brook were planted as part of this project, including one owned by the Town behind the Rec Center where erosion was threatening a walking trail. Between the six different planting sites, nearly one acre was planted. CRC and the Conservation Commission thank all the neighbors for their involvement. In addition, the project wouldn’t have been a success without the help of staff from Redstart Forestry of Cornith and the Intervale Conservancy Nursery in Burlington.
This Lull’s Brook planting was one of eight total plantings completed by CRC this fall, totaling more than 7,200 trees and shrubs planted in the Connecticut River watershed. Since 2011, CRC and our partners have planted more than 41,260 native trees and shrubs in NH, VT and MA to help reduce erosion, improve habitat, and protect clean water. To learn more or get involved visit us at ctriver.org.
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