Funding to Audubon Vermont from a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant will be used to improve bird habitat in our region. The Champlain Valley Conservation Partnership (CVCP), of which South Burlington is a founding member, has been working with Audubon Vermont to support habitat management and land conservation work for identified birds—golden-winged warblers, woodcocks, black-throated warblers, Canada warblers, and wood thrush.
Audubon Vermont was recently awarded a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant to continue moving this work forward. Future projects include: providing stewardship assessments for landowners, promoting habitat management strategies, and identifying land conservation opportunities. The CVCP was noted as a recipient of a sub-award of $2,250 to assist Audubon in furthering their proposed work through the partnership’s region.
In the coming months, the partnership will be working with Audubon to identify outreach strategies to connect with landowners in our region that have properties with prime bird habitat, as well as find potential regional land management or conservation opportunities that are owned by the municipalities involved. "The partnership is very excited about this opportunity to improve the available habitat for these important bird species, while also providing outreach to our communities and engaging them in conservation and stewardship on their own land," said Ashley Parker, a City project manager and staff liaison to the CVCP.
This work is part of a bigger project focused on increasing the forest health in the entire Lake Champlain basin in Vermont and New York. Learn more: https://ny.audubon.org/news/effort-increase-forest-health-expands-entire-lake-champlain-basin-new-york-and-state-wide
The Champlain Valley Conservation Partnership (CVCP)
The CVCP formed in 2019 to work on conservation and land management at a regional scale. The foundation of this group is five municipalities, including: South Burlington, the Town of Williston, the Town of Shelburne, the Town of Hinesburg, and the Town of St. George. In October of 2019, the group held its first event to promote land conservation and stewardship at a recently conserved property in Shelburne.
Since its inception, the partnership has been working on a regional conservation map to help identify priority land conservation parcels, opportunities for habitat restoration, and regional trail connectivity.
Future projects include:
- providing stewardship assessments for landowners,
- promoting habitat management strategies, and
- identifying land conservation opportunities.