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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 10, 2007 | |||
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Life just got a little easier for area bears. Arlington resident Nancy Boardman conserved 163 acres of land important to bears and other animals that travel between the Green and Taconic Mountain ranges, the Vermont Land Trust announced today. Nancy’s property is a key part of a threatened forested animal corridor where the Green Mountains and Taconic Mountains are relatively close to each other. Bears and other mammals frequently cross from one mountain range to the other. However, to do so they must run the gauntlet of roads, houses, dogs, and gravel pits in the area locally known as ‘Death Valley.’ Nancy is well known for her tireless work with the Second Chance Animal Center, based in Shaftsbury, and for the “strays” that end up at her house, including donkeys, dogs (especially pugs; her license plate says “hugapug”), cattle, cats and more. But Nancy’s love for animals extends well beyond domestic animals. She was thrilled to discover that the land she was conserving was crucial to bears and other large mammals. “We’re taking so much habitat away from animals,” said Nancy. “Conserving this land with the Vermont Land Trust seemed like a necessary step in protecting them.” According to Doug Blodgett, a wildlife biologist with Vermont Fish & Wildlife, bears develop fidelity to places they have used as a crossing. “They tend to use these areas over time and pass the knowledge down to their progeny,” said Doug. Nancy’s land was one of the key parcels identified by his department as being within the corridor. The bear corridor has come under increasing pressure due to development. “Bears tend to disappear when they encounter subdivisions,” said Doug. Nancy protected her land from future development by donating a conservation easement to the Vermont Land Trust. An easement helps landowners voluntarily limit development on productive farmland and forestland, and other meaningful natural and community places. Landowners continue to own, manage, and pay taxes on the land and can sell their land; however, the conservation easement permanently remains on the property. Nancy will continue to employ an ecologically-minded forest management plan when harvesting the mixed hardwood and softwood that covers the forested portion of her property. “While Nancy will cut timber on her property and lease the fields to a farmer, she has committed to keeping this critical habitat bridge from being subdivided and built on,” said Donald Campbell, the southwest regional director for the Vermont Land Trust. “Nancy’s commitment to conservation is something that will surely benefit the animals, the forestland, and current and future Vermonters.” “I’ve always thought about what would happen to this land when I was gone,” said Nancy, who has lived on her land for 12 years. “I wanted to make sure it was protected. The land has a lot of character — wetland, a pond, forest, a meadow. I wanted it to stay the way it is.” The project first came to the attention of the Vermont Land Trust when Jim Henderson of the Bennington County Regional Commission, an avid hunter and wildlife enthusiast, began to map diminishing critical animal corridors in Bennington County. Nancy Bell, a Shrewsbury resident and the Vermont director for The Conservation Fund, and Doug Blodgett and were critical in helping design the land conservation strategy that both encourages active forest management and takes into account the biological needs of the wildlife passing through her land. By adding extra protections to the areas surrounding the wetland portions of the property, the bears will benefit from more cover and forage. “The Boardman land is very important,” said Nancy Bell. “Bears use the corridor to move from their home range to critical feeding areas. It’s also used by young bears leaving their mother’s range to seek their own home area. And, during breeding season in June and July, male bears use the corridor to travel to female bears’ home ranges.” By encouraging forest management that protects the streams and wetlands from silt and excessive light, as well as leaving food and cover for the bears and other large mammals, Nancy Boardman’s conservation effort will make one section of the bear’s harrowing crossing between mountains a little safer. “I hope the animals I work to protect and those I have adopted will have a better life,” said Nancy Boardman. “I’d also like to think my land will have a better life.” The Vermont Land Trust is a nonprofit organization that works with individuals, organizations and communities to conserve land for the future of Vermont. Since 1977, the Vermont Land Trust has helped conserve more than 1,300 parcels of land covering over 455,000 acres, or about 8 percent of the private, undeveloped land in the state. The conserved land includes more than 600 working farms, hundreds of thousands of acres of productive forestland, and numerous parcels of community lands. This conservation work changes the lives of families, invigorates farms, launches new businesses, maintains scenic vistas, encourages recreational opportunity, and fosters a renewed sense of community. For more information, call (802) 223-5234 or visit VLT on the web at www.vlt.org.
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