Vermont Land Trust - Farmland and Fragile River Habitat Protected in Maidstone

For Immediate Release: October 7, 2009

For more information, contact:

Tracy Zschau, Northeast Kingdom Director, Vermont Land Trust, (802) 748-6089
Elise Annes, V.P. of Community Relations, Vermont Land Trust, (802) 262-1206

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Farmland and Fragile River Habitat Protected in Maidstone

A fertile stretch of farmland along the Connecticut River has been permanently protected from development, the Vermont Land Trust announced today. Roger and Susan Irwin conserved their 141-acre farm with the land trust. Because this conservation project protected farmland and an ecologically sensitive area of the river, the project attracted funding from both the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board and the Upper Connecticut River Mitigation and Enhancement Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.

The Irwin Farm has been in Roger’s family since 1959. Roger and Susan farmed until 2001 when they sold their dairy herd. Currently, they rent the land to the Peaslee family. One hundred acres of the Irwin’s land is tillable and rated as having statewide-important agricultural soils. It’s used for hay and other crops, most recently barley.

“We are pleased with being able to conserve our land for future agricultural use after seeing how the easement on former Champion Lands has protected them from development,” said Roger Irwin. “It has encouraged us to do the same on our agricultural lands.”

The Irwin Farm is located along the free flowing Maidstone Bends section of the river, and also includes a fascinating old oxbow and several small wetlands. There is a large natural beach that is popular with canoeists and fisherman.

“We are fortunate to have rich and beautiful land to both work on and enjoy recreationally,” said Roger. “We feel comfortable that our family will be able to continue to use the land for agriculture and maintain wildlife habitat.”

The Irwins protected nearly a mile of Connecticut River shoreline. Forests along river banks, called floodplain forests, filter water running off the land. In the process, they trap sediments, nutrients, chemicals, and other pollutants, and help prevent flooding. The Essex County Natural Resources Conservation District has been mapping these forests. “We’ve studied floodplain forests along the river and are working to restore the forest along these stretches of the Connecticut,” said Tamara Colten-Stevens of the Essex County Natural Resources Conservation District. “The permanent conservation of this farm and the provisions for protective buffer zones along waterways further these goals”

The conservation easement stipulates a minimum 50-foot buffer along the Connecticut River, as well as a protection zone covering the floodplain forest and wetland areas. Forest management will be permitted in these areas to enable continued enrollment in the Use Value Appraisal program. “It was a great opportunity to work with Roger and Susan, and to be able to balance the conservation of working farmland with the protection of river frontage and wetlands,” said Tracy Zschau of the Vermont Land Trust.

About the Vermont Land Trust
The Vermont Land Trust is a statewide, member-supported, nonprofit land conservation organization. Since 1977, the Vermont Land Trust has permanently conserved more than 1,550 parcels of land covering 496,000 acres, or about eight percent of the private, undeveloped land in the state. The conserved land includes more than 690 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 or to become a member, contact: Vermont Land Trust, 8 Bailey Avenue, Montpelier, VT 05602, (802) 223-5234.