What: The Agency of Transportation and Fish & Wildlife Department will host the International Conference on Ecology and Transportation. Members of the media are invited to attend the field trips for an exciting opportunity to hear directly from leading Vermont experts about their research and current projects.
When: Wednesday, June 7, 2023. Most field trips are from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Please email Chris Slesar and Jens Hilke (contact information above) to register for a field trip.
Field Trips:
Road Crossings in the Northeast
Hiking distance: <1 mile total
The Vermont landscape of scattered quant villages and rural countryside represents a special context for wildlife road crossings. Scattered driveways and far-flung housing limit many crossing opportunities, and significant flooding events are on the rise in the face of a changing climate. These create challenges and opportunities as Vermont looks to focus on a statewide system of bridges and culverts that meet multiple values including flood resilience, aquatic organism passage, and terrestrial wildlife movement. This field trip focuses on habitat connectivity opportunities undertaken on the central Vermont landscape. Route 12 passes through a large area of conservation concern and action. On this exciting road tour, participants will see under-bridge wildlife shelves, culvert replacements, and floodplain restoration sites exemplifying our approach. This trip will also feature presentations from Vermont bat biologists to describe their work to navigate the White-Nose Syndrome’s effects on bat populations in the northeast.
Reptiles and Amphibians of Vermont
Hiking distance: 1.5 miles
Map of Itinerary
The Champlain Valley is home to the greatest diversity of herptile species in Vermont and represents the northernmost limit for some U.S. herp species. In this hands-on excursion, participants will explore wetlands and vernal pools in southern Addison County to look for a variety of Vermont's amphibian and reptile species including wood frogs, spotted salamanders, eastern musk turtle, painted turtle, and snapping turtle. We'll visit wetlands in the Pond Woods Wildlife Management Area, a successful salamander crossing structure in Monkton, and we’ll explore a road segment that is in design for a series of snake crossings primarily for one of the northernmost populations of timber rattlesnakes. This is not a sit-and-listen field trip! Participants will get out in the field with Vermont herpetologists, and the trip will include about 1.5 miles of hiking. Expect to be moving around wetlands where rubber boots are recommended for versatility but not required.
Moose and Their Habitat in Vermont
Hiking distance: Max of 1.5 miles
This trip is as Vermont as it gets: deep into Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom to the natural and cultural landscape featured in Howard Frank Mosher’s writing to observe moose, an iconic Vermont species. Motorists may be lucky enough to experience this majestic animal standing shoulder deep in roadside wetlands seemingly unconcerned, or the motorist may be unfortunate enough to see a dark hulking shape in the middle of a rural road at night. This trip is focused on moose and their habitat, and if we are lucky, we may see one or two. The trip leaders are Vermont’s moose program biologists. Participants will learn more about moose biology and will stop at several locations in prime moose habitat of Groton State Forest including Osmore Pond, the Groton Nature Center, and Seyon Ranch.
Source: 6.5.2023. Vermont Agency of Transportation. Barre, VT vtrans.vermont.gov
