Craftsbury Conservation Commission…promoting environmental stewardship throughout our town

The major goal of the Conservation Commission is to encourage responsibility for the stewardship of Craftsbury’s natural and cultural resources.


Regular Meetings of CCC

3rd Monday of each month at 7 pm in the Town Hall


Specific Tasks of the CCC

  • Assist the Selectboard and planning commission with natural resource issues

  • Make an inventory of the town's natural, historic, and cultural resources

  • Encourage the public's understanding of local natural resources

  • Oversee the Conservation Fund


Current Natural Heritage Information

  • 3 Town Forests (Coburn Hill Town Forest Inventory)

  • Craftsbury Academy woodlot

  • Inventory of Trees around the Common

  • Evaluation of Groundwater Resources

  • Black River Stabilization Project


Craftsbury Town Plan

See the Natural Heritage section of the Town Plan pages 24-29 and Appendix A, pages 92-96.  

 

Background: The History

In 1977, Vermont passed the enabling legislation (24 V.S.A. Chapter 118) to establish municipal conservation commissions. The major goal of a conservation commission is to establish community responsibility or stewardship for its natural and cultural resources. There are now 94 conservation commissions statewide. A commission is comprised of three to nine members who are appointed by the Selectboard. Each commission tailors its projects to the specific needs and interests of its town. A conservation commission can assist the Selectboard and planning commission with natural resource issues; make an inventory of the town's natural, historic, and cultural resources; receive gifts of land for conservation purposes; and encourage the public's understanding of local natural resources. A conservation commission empowers people to take responsibility for their town's natural and cultural resources.

At the 2007 Craftsbury Town Meeting, Craftsbury residents voted to establish a Craftsbury Conservation Commission. The proposal for a conservation commission came to the town after a subcommittee appointed by the Craftsbury Selectboard researched how useful the commission would be. Such a commission would help to meet the goals and objectives of the natural heritage section in the Town Plan.

Membership Information

Craftsbury residents interested in joining the Conservation Commission, click here for information.

The Conservation Fund

Established in 2017, the Conservation Fund is money set aside for the use of conservation related projects in the Town of Craftsbury. It allows the Town to collaborate with willing property owners, non-profits, and community volunteer groups to protect important local natural and agricultural resources. The Fund was created because in a growing town like ours, conservation opportunities can arise at any time and disappear just as quickly. It’s often hard, if not impossible, for a town to budget or respond in time to gain from those opportunities. Craftsbury’s fund would enable the Conservation Commission, Select Board and the public to review and act on conservation opportunities before they are lost. By doing so, it expands landowner options for directing the future of their property.

The Conservation Fund can receive money from donations, outside gifts, grants, and/or money appropriated by the Town of Craftsbury.  A primary requirement for the expenditure of moneys from the Conservation Fund is that such expenditure must yield a clear benefit to the Town and must result from a voluntary agreement between the Town or a land trust and the owner. In addition the Conservation Fund facilitates the conservation vision for Craftsbury as articulated in the Town Plan.

Ultimate responsibility for the disposition of moneys from the Conservation Fund rests with the Craftsbury Select Board. The Craftsbury Conservation Commission will evaluate requests and make written recommendations to the Select Board.

A major benefit of this Conservation Fund is that it will help attract additional funds for conservation projects because many state, federal and private sources of conservation funding require community support. The Conservation Fund positions our town to consider these opportunities and, if they are deemed worthy, to support and act on them for the benefit of current and future generations, often by attracting additional funds.

Information on the details of the Fund including criteria for projects which may be funded, processes, and application forms are found in the Conservation Fund Guidance Document.

PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO THE CRAFTSBURY CONSERVATION FUND. SEND A CHECK WRITTEN TO “TOWN OF CRAFTSBURY” WITH CONSERVATION FUND ON THE MEMO LINE AND MAIL TO: CRAFTSBURY CONSERVATION FUND, CRAFTSBURY TOWN HALL, P.O. BOX 55, CRAFTSBURY, VT 05826. Thank you.

Non-native Invasive Plants

The Craftsbury Conservation Commission supports the control of invasive plant species throughout the town. The commission has held workshops on identification as well as removal techniques for various species. The commission has also provided a ‘field guide to invasive plants’ for the Craftsbury Road Crew.

Any questions you may have regarding non-native invasive plant species can be directed to commission member, Elinor Osborn at nek292@myfairpoint.net.  Also, to assist private landowners and others, the Craftsbury Conservation Commission has weed wrenches available for loan.  These wrenches are useful when eradicating woody plants such as buckthorn, honeysuckle, barberry and burning bush. These tools are stored at the Craftsbury Public Library and can be borrowed for a limited time with the Library’s terms of agreement.

JAPANESE KNOTWEED DEMONSTRATION PROJECT

In 2017 the Craftsbury Conservation Commission began a Japanese Knotweed Demonstration Project in Mill Village across from the Little Hosmer Access.  The purposes of this ongoing project are to demonstrate various ways to eradicate or at least control this non-native invasive plant and to provide information about the detriments of the increasing populations of invasive species.

The site for the project across from the Little Hosmer fishing access in Mill Village is owned by the State of Vermont under the jurisdiction of the Department of Fish and Wildlife.  It was chosen because of its roadside visibility at a well-traveled intersection, and because the Commission and F & W are concerned about the increase of knotweed downstream.  Several years ago, fill was brought there creating a very steep bank and the knotweed erodes into the stream.

The Commission has consulted with other towns and has presented various methods over the years to show the results.  In 2018, a licensed herbicide applicator injected large stems in one section with glyphosate.  This method can become a precarious one, in that care and strict diligence must be taken with this herbicide.  General spraying of an herbicide is not recommended.  Other methods shown are pulling, cutting, mowing, and smothering.  There was a demonstration of drying methods as well.  We have planted several native species in hopes they will outcompete the knotweed, and a Sterling College group of students inserted willow fascines for the same purpose.

We hope you will visit the site to observe the various plots and signage.  Click HERE to view the brochure which is available on site during the summers. 

Some Craftsbury residents have had success in eradicating or are currently working on controlling their patches of knotweed.

We thank the many volunteers who have worked on and shown interest in this project.

LITTLE HOSMER POND
During the summer of 2021 the Craftsbury Conservation Commission recruited several volunteers who paddled Little Hosmer Pond looking for Eurasian watermilfoil. Eurasian watermilfoil is a highly invasive aquatic plant, which was first found in Vermont in the 1960s in Lake Champlain's St. Albans Bay and has since been found in more than 80 lakes and ponds in the state. This patrolling by volunteers has continued each summer and we are happy to report that after thorough checking, we have not found Eurasian watermilfoil in Little Hosmer! Additional information on Eurasian watermilfoil can be found here: https://www.vtinvasives.org/invasive/eurasian-watermilfoil.

Helpful Invasive Species Links

Lake Water Quality

In the summer of 2023 volunteers Judy Davis, Susan Frey, Ross Morgan, Diane Morgan, Ann Ingerson and Dave Brown periodically took water quality samples from Little Hosmer through the VT Lakes Lay Monitoring Program and Susan Dunklee did the same on Great Hosmer.

Tests included Secchi clarity, chlorophyll, and phosphorus. Lake Score Cards and comparisons can be found on Lay Monitoring Program | Department of Environmental Conservation (vermont.gov)

Links to Other Natural Resource Websites