The World 11_07_18

WORLD SPORTS & OUTDOORS
Friends of Coburn Pond Awarded $1,600 Grant from
The New England Grassroots Environmental Fund
The New England Grassroots Environment
Fund has awarded a $1600 one-year grant to
the Friends of Coburn Pond for outreach and
program development. Having protected a
favorite community resource—the six-acre
Coburn Pond swimming hole, also known as
“Trojan,” after Twinfield’s mascot—the
Friends of Coburn Pond seeks to protect public
access in perpetuity.
Friends of Coburn Pond began in 2005 as a
citizen’s action group organized to protect the
well-loved, historic, six-acre swimming hole
on Coburn Road in East Montpelier from
being filled in as constructed wetlands. The
76-acre property that contains Coburn Pond
had been purchased by the Vermont Agency
of Transportation (VTrans) in the 1980s for
the purpose of “wetlands mitigation.” To
“compensate” for wetlands slated to be
destroyed during the expansion of four highway
segments along US Route 2 from Cabot
to Danville, VTrans proposed filling in the
swimming hole and excavating south of the
pond to construct wetlands.
Using the Act 250 legal process, a group of
citizens documented decades of “Existing
Use,” and discovered that the Agency
(VTrans) knew of this use since the time of
purchase. Over an arduous four-year Act 250
process, to which the Town of East Montpelier
Selectboard and Planning Commission were
also parties, an agreement was made to allow
wetlands to be constructed for only one highway
segment south of the Coburn Pond
swimming hole. The water quality of the
pond and its shoreline were to be protected by
Act 250 because of well-documented
“Existing Use” by vigilant members of the
central Vermont community, several environmental
attorneys and other professionals who
offered pro bono consulting services, several
grants from the New England Grassroots
Environmental Fund, the Vermont Natural
Resources Council, and numerous members
of the central Vermont Community who made
donations and continue to support the work to
preserve Coburn Pond for public access in
perpetuity.
“Friends of Coburn Pond” received the
most recent $1,600 GROW grant from the
New England Grassroots Environment Fund
(NEGEF) to help with outreach as they
expand into a new phase of organizational
development.
The excavation and carefully designed
plantings of the constructed wetlands south of
Coburn Pond took about two years, followed
by a five year monitoring period that ended in
the fall of 2017. While Friends of Coburn
Pond awaits the final report from VTrans, the
group is looking for more stakeholder participation
to develop a management plan and
work with the Town of East Montpelier to
conserve the property and protect public
access.
People who use the pond and surrounding
property for swimming, picnics, fishing, dog
walking, horseback riding, winter recreation,
meeting up with friends, and various other
activities are being sought to engage with the
process of planning for the future of the pond
and surrounding property. The next meeting
is scheduled for November 15, 2018 in East
Montpelier. For details, please contact Renée
Carpenter at 454-7303.
The New England Grassroots Environment
Fund (Grassroots Fund) seeks to energize and
nurture long term civic engagement in local
initiatives that create and maintain healthy,
just, safe and environmentally sustainable
communities. To find out more about the
grant-making activities of the New England
Grassroots Environment Fund, visit: www.
grassrootsfund.org.
For more information about Friends of
Coburn Pond, visit: https://www.facebook.com/
groups/121684841230804/?ref=bookmarks.
Vermont’s Rifle Deer Season Starts Saturday, Nov. 10
Hunters are gearing up for the start of
Vermont’s traditionally popular 16-day rifle
deer season that begins Saturday, November
10 and ends Sunday, November 25.
A hunter may take one buck during this
season with at least one antler having two or
more points one inch or longer. A point must
be one inch or longer from base to tip. The
main beam counts as a point, regardless of
length. Spike-antlered deer, mostly yearlings,
are protected during this season.
“There are more deer in Vermont than there
have been in recent years with the greatest
numbers of deer found in the southwestern
and northwestern regions of the state,” said
Deer Project Leader Nick Fortin.
Vermont’s regular hunting licenses, including
a November rifle season buck tag and a
late season bear tag (for Nov. 10-18), cost $26
for residents and $100 for nonresidents.
Hunters under 18 years of age get a break at
$8 for residents and $25 for nonresidents.
Licenses are available on Fish & Wildlife’s
web site and from license agents statewide.
Fish & Wildlife urges hunters to wear a
fluorescent orange hat and vest to help maintain
Vermont’s very good hunting season
safety record.
A 2018 Vermont Deer Hunting Guide can
be downloaded from the department’s website
at www.vtfishandwildlife.com. The guide
includes a map of the Wildlife Management
Units (WMUs), season dates, regulations, and
other helpful information.
Hunters who get a deer on opening weekend
of rifle season can help Vermont’s deer
management program by reporting their deer
at one of the biological check stations listed
below that will be staffed from 9:00 a.m. to
7:00 p.m., unless the store closes earlier, on
November 10 and 11: Marty’s Sports &
Gunsmithing – Bennington; Jericho General
Store – Jericho; St. Marie’s – Swanton;
Wright’s Enterprises – Newport; Keith’s
Country Store – Pittsford; R&L Archery –
Barre; Guilford Country Store – Guilford;
Barnie’s Market – Concord; A&B Beverage
unters rearing fr ernt’s traditinally ular
v. - rifle deer seasn are urged t ear
hunter range hats and vests.
– Grand Isle; Singleton’s Store – Cavendish
Biologists are collecting middle incisor
teeth from November season deer in order to
evaluate regional differences in ages of bucks
as well as to help estimate population size,
growth rate, health, and mortality rates. Each
tooth will be cross-sectioned to accurately
determine the deer’s age, and the results will
be posted on the Fish & Wildlife website next
spring.
Hunters who don’t make it to a biological
reporting station are asked to obtain a tooth
envelope from their regular reporting agent.
Write your name, Conservation ID number
and date of kill on it. Remove one of the
middle incisor teeth, being careful to include
the root. Place the tooth in the envelope and
give it to the reporting agent.
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page 16 The WORLD November 7, 2018
HUNTERS!
Chances are your best wildlife friend is the farmer
whose land you’ll e hunting Saturday morning.
Please mind your manners. eave his fences
alone, close the gates and don’t drive onto his
fields. Rememer your great outdoors is nothing
more than his ackyard. e knows every ledge,
odd shaped tree, straight ash and est ucket
hanging maple out there. e watches over his land
day and night, making him one of the est and
cheapest game wardens the State has So think
aout him when you’re uying groceries for camp.
Take some real butter to help out the camp cook,
plenty of aot cheese, and a couple gallons of
ooth rothers milk to get the oys started in the
morning. uy dairy products with local laels and
support the farmers who have een feeding your
uck all summer. e careful and have a good hunt
this Saturday.
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