VT Coverts: News & Publications
Coverts 2013 Cooperator Training Application
Click here to download the application for 2013 Cooperator Trainings.
VERMONT COVERTS STRATEGIC PLAN
Vermont_Coverts_Strategic_Plan.doc
The Coverts Council has been hard at work on the latest strategic plan for the organization. This is a 20K Word document. Have a look and let us know what you think.
Welcome to the 2012 fall class representative, Jeanne Skalka. Jeanne lives in N. Chittenden and works for NRCS.
Welcome Aboard --Coverts Cooperators For 2012
by county:
Addison
Carla and Ted Tighe
Bennington
Joanne Moore
David and Susan Nichols
Caledonia
Alice Allen
Kim Crady-Smith
Barbara and Stan Crane
Richard and Nancy Diefenbach
Lenny Gerardi
Orange
Marc Lefebvre
Ben Wolfe
Orleans
Reed Cass
Allen Clark
Peter Engels
Rutland
Skip Abelson
Paul Davoren
Sue and Dave Priest
Kathy Ross
Rachel Ross
Jeanne Skalka
Washington
David Johnson
Bruce MacDonald
Roland Payne
Windham
Carol Blackwood
Windsor
Charles Davis
Karen Douville
Vermont Woodlands names 2012 Tree Farmer of the Year
DERBY- For the second time in a few short years, a Derby landowner has been selected as the 2012 Tree Farmer of the Year. Allen and Kathleen Yale were honored at the VT Woodlands Association Annual Meeting on March 31 for their outstanding stewardship of their Vermont Tree Farm #415. The property has been a certified Tree Farm since 1978.
The property consists of twenty acres of 53-year old pine plantation and about fifty acres of mixed forest that was heavily harvested just prior to their purchase in 1973, as well as about 20 acres of open hay fields. The primary focus has been on pruning and thinning the pine plantation, but firewood harvest has been used to upgrade the hardwood component.
The acquisition of a band-saw mill about ten years ago has shifted the focus from selling logs to maximizing value added by selling lumber and other wood products.
Additional management objectives include recreation, wildlife habitat, and education. As a retired educator, Allan is right at home sharing his knowledge of and passion for stewardship and the property provides an excellent resource for environmental and woodland educational programs.
Yale is an accomplished wood carver, and since 1991 has carved thirty-two pieces for donation to Vermont Coverts. He has been a VT Coverts cooperator since 1986.
According to County Forester Raymond Toolan, “Allen Yale is one of a small group of landowners that not only cares deeply about the resource and how it is managed but he is committed to helping spread his knowledge and passion to others. Everything about his approach to stewardship screams commitment.”
Members of the public are invited to attend a Tree Farm Tour on Saturday, September 15th from 9am to 3pm. The tour will highlight various aspects of management such as invasives control, bank stabilization, and stream crossings, and include a sawmill demonstration. Assisting Yale for the day’s events will be 2009 Tree Farmer of the Year Trevor Evans and Alan Robertson, VT Tree Farm Co-chairperson. Natural resource professionals from Vermont Coverts, Northwoods Stewardship Center, and Natural Resource Conservation Service will also be on hand.
For information about the tour, visit www.vermontwoodlands.org or call 802-747-7900.
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Vermont Coverts Featured in April 2011 Burlington Free Press! Click on this link:
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011204030301
Vermont Coverts on Facebook
Coverts has joined Facebook offering information from cooperators, university extension staff, Vermont State wildlife and forestry experts, and others. We are easy to find and looking for more friends. Let people know. Thank you.
Can't make some of the workshops?
Check out the calendar for Webinars being held on the Internet that are related to forestry and wildlife! If you do not have internet or high speed, most libraries in Vermont now have high-speed internet computers for your FREE use! Take advantage of these Webinars and make sure to register early!
Pennsylvania Forests Web Seminars
Participants in the online seminar program must be registered and have a "Friend of Penn State" User ID and password. This is free and easy to do.
If you are having difficulty accessing the PA Forests Web Seminar Center during normal business hours (7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. ET), please call us toll-free, 1-800-235-9473 or rnrext@psu.edu. If you're having trouble accessing the site after hours or have a Friend of Penn State account login question, please contact the Penn State ITS Help Desk, 814-863-1035, helpdesk@psu.edu. Or you can contact Allyson at abm173@psu.edu.
See Calendar for more information about webinar registration
Awards
Vermont Coverts presents two awards each year. One award is presented to an outstanding Coverts Cooperator who through action on their own land, within the Coverts network, and within their communities exemplifies the Coverts mission and goals. The second is awarded to a person who is not a Cooperator but exemplifies and demonstrates strategies to further the mission of sound forest management and wildlife stewardship in Vermont.
| Coverts member award | Year | Non-Coverts award |
|---|---|---|
| Susan Depeyst | 1991 | Kim Royar |
| David Clarkson | 1992 | George Weir |
| Steve Parker | 1993 | Bill Guenther |
| Hank Paynter | 1994 | |
| Allen Yale | 1995 | |
| Thom McEvoy | 1996 | Mollie Beattie |
| Alan Calfee | 1997 | Ruffed Grouse Society |
| 1998 | David Brynn | |
| James Engle | 1999 | |
| 2000 | Northern Woodlands Magazine Steve Long Virginia Barlow |
|
| 2001 | Connie Motyka | |
| Allen Yale | 2002 | Scott Darling |
| Douglas Murray | 2003 | Darby Bradley |
| Robert Lloyd | 2004 | Tom Decker |
| 2005 | John Austin | |
| Farley Brown | 2006 | Putnam Blodgett |
| Glenn Macy | 2007 | Jamey Fidel |
| John Whitman | 2008 | Nate Fice |
Awards Recieved at 25th Anniversary Celebration
The following Coverts Cooperators and non-Coverts members recieved carvings, identified below, by Alan Yale, Derby, Vermont, in recognition of their contributions to Coverts. Coverts member awards are now known as David Clarkson awards and non-member Coverts awards are known as James Engle awards.
David Clarkson award Year James Engle award
John Whitman 2008 Nate Fice
(Fox diving in the snow) (swimming loon)
Barry Lawson 2009 Patricia Ayers-Crawford
(Landing Mallard Drake) (half bufflehead drake)
Peter Upton 2010 John Elder
(swimming beaver) (Marsh wren)
Sidney Craven 2011 Annette Smith
(gray squirrel) (red squirrel)
Vermont Coverts Logowear is Still Available
VTCoverts Fleece Long Sleeve
VTCoverts Fleece Vest
VTCoverts Tee Shirt & Cap
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Children's Books About Trees, Woodlands and Their Creatures
(mostly New England)
Check out the children's books on the Links and Resources page! Thanks to Anne Dannenberg for putting this children's bibliography together!
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New Vermont Wetland Rules Available
The Agency of Natural Resources has released the new Vermont Wetlands Rules . You can also visit www.anr.state.vt.us
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Coverts Receives Governor's Award
Vermont Coverts' project Helping Forest Owners Plan for Woodlands in Their Estates has been selected to receive recognition in this year’s Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence and Pollution Prevention. Thom McEvoy put together the nomination. Thanks Thom!! A nice feather for our cap during our 25th year. An awards presentation took place in Montpelier on May 3 at 4:00pm.
The following comment was made during the award ceremony:
Vermont Coverts Woodland for Wildlife had its origin 25 years ago as the Coverts Project, a UVM Extension program. With 46 million acres of forests in VT, 80 % of which are in private ownership, the program sought to educate forest owners about managing their forest lands for wildlife – in addition to other uses. This was accomplished through training “Cooperators” to serve as local opinion leaders in their communities on all forest-related subjects.
In 1996 VT Coverts became incorporated as a non-profit organization, with a modest budget and a mission that includes a focus on helping landowners plan for woodlands in their estates. Forest lands owned by families that do not have long term generational plans are often sold to the highest bidder, or divided or converted to non-forest uses. Without adequate planning, larger forest parcels are in jeopardy of becoming smaller, fragmented, with loss of habitat value. VT Coverts does not lobby or publish position statements on forest policy issues. Aside from 3-day initiation workshops offered twice a year (to groups of 20-30), all of the organization’s education efforts are initiated, developed and delivered by trained Cooperators in their communities.
VT Coverts has trained over 450 Cooperators. Since 2003, Cooperators have offered more than 30 workshops, reaching out to nearly 400 forest owners. Similar programs have been adopted in at least 14 states. Today Vermont Coverts is one of the most highly regarded conservation organizations in the state. We congratulate VT Coverts on its upcoming 25th anniversary of educating forest owners on management for wildlife.
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Estate Planning for Forest Landowners Brochure Available
The document "Estate Planning for Forest Landowners: What Will Become of Your Timberland?" has been finalized an the electronic version was posted on the web. This document replaces the September 1993 document of the same name. The link to the pdf document is: http://www.srs.fs.fed.us/pubs/31987. For more information please contact Neal Bungard at the US Forestry Service at nbungard@fs.fed.us.
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Last Updated: Mar 24, 2013