Green Mountain Conservancy Windham County Corridor Project
The goal of the Marlboro Wildlife Connectivity research is to maintain and enhance Vermont's living landscape for wildlife. This project began in 2006 when the Marlboro Conservation Commission decided to research major wildlife corridors in town through tracking initiatives, and create maps with the assistance of Nate Harvey, a local professional tracker and map maker. Although the project has only been going on for about eight years, the expertise of the team has been built up from decades of tracking experience. With these maps, the group hopes to demonstrate which areas are in most need of protection in order to preserve wildlife in the area. Because the minimum amount of land to support large wildlife is much larger than a single Vermont town, the team has extended their efforts to the whole of Windham County since finishing the survey of Marlboro. Ultimately, the group hopes to connect six towns into their mosaic of maps.
Although most of the research is gathered by bushwhacking and tracking on public lands, the group utilizes orthophotos in order to assess private properties and fill out data gaps.
Athens, Dover, Jamaica, Newfane, Somerset, Stratton, Townshend, Wardsboro, Westminster
Forest Land, wildlife
The main accomplishment of this project has been getting peoples' attention to the fact that our landscape is becoming more and more fragmented, and raising their concerns around this change in the landscape. Although the project has succeeded in identifying and mapping a number of wildlife corridors in the Marlboro area, the goal of 'keeping the landscape alive' is an ongoing project.
Tangibly, this group has succeeded in documenting wildlife road crossings along routes 9, 30, 35, and 100, as well as the whole town of Marlboro. As of 2014, the team has also made maps in Athens, Townshend, Newfane, Dover, Westminister, Stratton, Wardsboro, Jamaica, and Somerset. They have tracked the likes of wild turkeys, white-tailed deer, long-tailed weasels, fishers, porcupines, red foxes, gray foxes, bobcats, coyotes, and housedogs among other animals.
Marlboro Conservation Commission
Windham Regional Commission
In order for this project to be successful, three key (types of) players are necessary: a mapmaker, professional trackers, and someone to organize the project.
Because the maps are made by a professional mapmaker and tracker who needs to be reimbursed, funding is the main challenge for this project. All of the funding for this project is raised through donations. A second challenge has been having the project affect political change. Although locating and mapping these critical corridors is an important step, it is just part of a larger effort for conservation
Windham County Corridor Project