The last day of classes at UVM brought more than 45 UVM student volunteers and crews from Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront (BPRW) to improve the newly acquired 12-acre park space behind the former Burlington College property.
This project is a partnership between the City of Burlington, BPRW and the University of Vermont’s Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. Since February, Dan Cahill, the BPRW Land Steward and an alumnus of the school, has worked with Professor Bill Keeton's Ecological Restoration class on a student service-learning project at the former Burlington College site.
Students visited the park several times during the semester to collect data and make assessments. They also met with key stakeholders involved. Nine student teams designed restoration projects for the park and created adaptive management plans. After further review, Professor Bill Keeton pulled together the revised plans into one cohesive plan to implement on the May 4 Work Day.
This is Keeton’s 15th service-learning restoration project that his classes have done throughout the state.
“Working with the City Parks Department on a project so important to the community has been a great experience for the class,” said Keeton, professor of forest ecology and chair of UVM’s Forestry Program. “It helps them apply the science to the complexities of the real world. Plus, the students get their hands dirty planting trees and doing other restoration activities; which at the end of the day is a gratifying feeling for all of us, including the instructor.”
The final plan includes several factors that balance healthy ecology with public-use park space. The students' projects focused on restoring the heavily degraded site through invasive species removal, gulley and lakeshore bank stabilization, and trash cleanup.
The plan aims to reintroduce native plant communities, establish pollinator gardens, improve wildlife habitat, as well as support community-based recreation that includes open areas, community gardens, and edible plants. Possible edible plantings include hazelnuts, fruit trees, and blueberries. The students, led by Keeton and class teaching assistant Julia Runcie, also worked hard on the trail and recreation recommendations that are integrated into the overall design.
"After spending the semester drawing on my cumulative knowledge to formulate a restoration plan, it was fulfilling to initiate the beginning stages of our proposal," said senior enivornmental sciences major Lindsay Cotnoir. "Seeing the tangible change in the landscape with trees covering eroded slopes and woody debris abutments in place reminded me why I was drawn to environmental science in the first place. Though I am only one person, I can make a difference in the world in my own small way."
Dan Cahill is excited about the completion of the project. “This newly revitalized land brings together many aspects of much needed parks amenities," he said. "The New North End will benefit from additional community garden space and open areas for recreation. The now formalized paths allow easier access to the bike path and waterfront, while preventing further erosion of the steep hillside.”
The highlight of the day featured the planting of more than 500 native trees.
Some of the trees, specifically the pitch pines, were donated by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources and grown from locally collected seeds at a nursery operated by Green Mountain College. Additionally, two dozen disease resistant American chestnuts were supplied by The American Chestnut Foundation, providing an exciting opportunity to reintroduce this species into a site they may have occupied before blight decimated the tree species throughout its entire range in the eastern U.S. in the early 20th century.
Many more of the trees were grown in the Intervale Conservation Nursey or obtained from other nurseries growing locally adapted native varieties. The Intervale Conservation Nursery grows native, locally sourced trees and shrubs for riparian restoration projects throughout Vermont. The nursery works with landowners, farmers, watershed organizations, and government agencies to restore and protect Vermont’s waters.
The park’s proximity to Lake Champlain and steep banks make it a prime location for controlling storm water runoff and require thoughtful erosion control. Students planted the greatest number of trees in a steep gully at the end of an informal trail that shows high degradation but serves as a riparian buffer. In that area alone, students planted 180 trees, including cottonwood, red maple, red oak, butternut, hackberry, yellow birch, and witchhazel.
"Being able to learn course material and then apply it to a real life situation, like the restoration plan, really increased my understanding of what restoring an ecosystem is and all the hard work it takes to bring an ecosystem back to a healthy condition," said junior Jordyn Geller.
This story adapted from a release by Diana Wood of Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront.
