WORLD 012622

Income Tax
Preparation
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Sharon Man Captures Rare Ice Circles In the White River
NOFA-VT Announces 40th Annual Winter Conference, Dream into Being
The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont
(NOFA-VT) announced their 40th Annual Winter Conference,
Dream into Being, is happening February 17th through March
5th both online and on farms around Vermont. Registration is
now open!
NOFA-VT’s winter conference brings together hundreds of
farmers, homesteaders, gardeners, land managers, educators,
students, producers, policy-makers, and activists to learn,
connect, organize, and celebrate the movement toward a more
economically viable, ecologically sound, and socially just
agricultural future.
This year’s conference is mostly online with over 40 workshops
and panel discussions, a featured speaker series, trivia
night, film screening, and more. The conference also offers
opportunities to connect in-person at outdoor socials on local
farms where participants can gather around bonfires, meet up
with friends, do outdoor activities like skiing and sledding,
and go on farm tours.
This is the fortieth year NOFA-VT is organizing their winter
conference and the second year of offering it virtually.
What began as an annual meeting of farmers in a church basement
in Montpelier in the eighties has transformed into a
landmark event for New England’s agricultural and food community.
Pre-pandemic, the conference attracted over a thousand
people to UVM’s Davis Center for a three day in-person
event.
Vermont Fish and Wildlife Partners with Association of
Vermont Conservation Commissions On Updated
Handbook to Tackle 21st Century Challenges
The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department is pleased to
partner with the Association of Vermont Conservation
Commissions (AVCC) to announce a new handbook designed
as a resource for Vermonters serving on municipal conservation
commissions.
According to the department, approximately half of
Vermont towns and cities have an active conservation commission.
These local groups of volunteers take on a wide
range of projects, from removing invasive species on town
lands, to raising funds for conservation deals, to leading birding
outings in their communities.
“We are incredibly grateful to the Vermonters who dedicate
so much time and effort towards conservation in their communities,”
says department conservation planning biologist
Jens Hilke. “Conservation commissions can be the backbone
of local efforts to protect fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats.”
The AVCC first published the document that serves as
inspiration for this current handbook in the 1990s, to help
volunteers sustain town conservation commissions.
Recognizing that it was time for an update, the AVCC
Program Gives Scoop On Animals
Kids 8-18 can gain a better appreciation of different farm
animals through a virtual learning opportunity offered by the
University of Vermont (UVM) Extension 4-H program this
winter.
Animal Scoops will be presented via Zoom on four consecutive
Tuesdays from 5-6 p.m., beginning February 22nd.
Enrollment in 4-H is not required to participate.
UVM Extension 4-H educators will teach the sessions,
sharing information on the animal of the day through fun
activities such as videos, trivia, recipes and hands-on exercises.
Dates and topics are Delve into Dairy (February 22),
• • •
By CompassVermont.com
Michael Miller from Sharon was kind enough to share with
Compass Vermont the images of an ice circle he captured in
the White River, just below White Brook Road in Sharon.
Brian Jackson, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who has dedicated
his career to the study of snow and ice, told the Smithsonian
that “ice circles occur when moving water forces ice to slowly
rotate.
“What’s happening here is shear—when on one side of the
ice you have water that’s moving faster than on the other side,
causing the ice to rotate,” Jackson says. “The result is an eddy
current, like a whirlpool.”
The meteorologist explains that there are two ways for ice
circles to form. The first happens when there’s ice in a stationary
area but a change in water speed due to a topographic
force, such as a bend in a river, causes the ice to rotate until it
forms the shape of a circle.
The other instance occurs when a hunk of ice breaks off
of an ice sheet that’s located in a rotation zone. “The water
surrounding it will cause it to rotate, naturally forming into
a circle as any pointy edges start to grind down as they brush
against the surrounding ice,” he says.
While they are indeed a unique thing to see in nature, odds
are most Vermonters won’t mind them going away if it means
spring is on the way.
CompassVermont.Com is an independent publication
founded by a native Vermonter, providing non-editorial news
and stories presented in concert with the culture, mindset, and
values of the Green Mountain State.
“The beauty of an online conference is the accessibility,”
said Zea Luce, NOFA-VT’s Events & Engagement
Coordinator. “After last year’s conference we heard from
many busy farmers, parents, and other attendees who were
thrilled to connect and learn from one another from the comfort
of their homes, without the hassle of travel or lodging.”
“Whenever I attend a NOFA-VT conference, I always
come away feeling so grateful to be a part of this community
that NOFA-VT supports, nurtures, and holds together,” said
Ryan Fitzbeauchamp, owner and farmer at Evening Song
Farm in Cuttingsville, Vermont. “Somehow, even when the
conference is virtual, I take away the same joy in being connected
to this wide community of growers, gardeners, educators,
activists.”
“This year’s conference theme, Dream into Being, is an
invitation to dream big together: to get bold about naming the
future we all long for– and need,” said NOFA-VT’s Executive
Director, Grace Oedel. “After what we’ve all gone through
these last two years, it’s never been more important to come
together and imagine new ways of growing food, feeding our
communities, stewarding our land, taking care of our home,
and building a more resilient food system.”
Registration for the conference is offered at a sliding scale
of $0-$150 dollars. The conference is free for Black,
Indigenous, and people of color.
See full event details at nofavt.org/conference.
• • •
• • •
began work on this second edition handbook in partnership
with department conservation planning staff in the Community
Wildlife Program.
In addition to a complete revision of the existing chapters
on basics like starting a new conservation commission and
creating a budget, the new edition includes sections on digital
communications, partnering with outside organizations, and
fundraising. These additions will help conservation commissions
meet modern challenges, such as reaching new audiences
and tackling climate change.
As former AVCC board chair Nancy Everheart writes in the
new handbook’s foreword, “conservation has never felt more
urgent – and this handbook will help inspire and support the
people who help make it happen.”
“We’re especially excited to showcase examples of success
stories from across the state that demonstrate how conservation
commissions dreamed up and accomplished ambitious
conservation projects,” adds Hilke. “Each chapter includes
several of these inspiring stories.”
The newly revised handbook is available online on the
AVCC website.
Horsin’ Around (March 1), Got Your Goat (March 8) and
Don’t be Sheepish (March 15).
Preregistration is required by the day before each session to
receive the link to join the program. To register, go to https://
go.uvm.edu/animalscoops. Kids may choose to attend any or
all sessions.
If requiring a disability-related accommodation to participate,
please contact UVM Extension 4-H livestock educator
Wendy Sorrell at wendy.sorrell@uvm.edu or (802) 651-8343,
ext. 513, by February 1.
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January 26, 2022 The WORLD page 7