Out of nearly 100 submissions from non-profits throughout the United States, the Catamount Trail Association (CTA) has been selected as one of the top five organizations to share in Redwood Creek’s commitment to preserve, protect, and provide access to the great outdoors. The general public will be urged to cast their votes for one of these non-profit organizations. At the end of the competition the non-profit with the most votes will be granted $50,000 and the runner-up $10,000. The voting can be done by going to the Redwood Creek Great Outdoor Project website where you can place your vote for the Catamount Trail Association. Please vote and encourage other to do the same.

The VYCC has partnered with the CTA on many projects over the years and would be delighted to see them win this award. From constructing bridges in Stowe and Somerset to maintaining and relocating miles of trail, the VYCC has worked on numerous CTA projects since 1995. Please show your support by voting for them in this contest. It will make a difference for the future of the CTA and potential projects for the VYCC!

To participate follow the link below!

http://www.redwoodcreek.com/greatoutdoors/voting.asp

Crews want to share their experience with you! Attend one of the Open House Presentations put on by VYCC crews at various locations throughout the state. From building trails, to managing Vermont State Parks, to learning about native species, these crews have been busy working on high-priority conservation projects around Vermont and want to show you what it means to work for the VYCC and how the experience has influenced them. Look for and attend the Open House Presentation nearest you!

This round of presentations will be in Charlotte, West Haven, Windsor, North Hero, Salisbury, Stratton, and Norwich. Visit the Open House Presentations website for a complete listing of all times and locations. For more information contact Kate Villa at (802) 434 – 3969 ext. 110 or kate@vycc.org.

Here are a few photos from the first session Start Up on June 14, 2008.

The 2008 field season kicked off last Saturday with our first session Start Up at the West Monitor Barn. Thirteen crews, lead by 26 highly skilled and trained Crew Leaders, spent a day at the Leadership, Education and Training Center before they were sent out to start their first projects together as crews all over the state. These leaders, from all over the globe, have spent nearly one month training and preparing for the summer field season. To learn more about the leaders of these crews visit the Crew Leader Profiles webpage.

*This article is published on behalf of the Mount Mansfield Union High School Crew and was written by MMU intern Thomas Cude.

Here at the VYCC we spent our last three days of May working on a watershed project with UVM students Nikki, Amanda, and Polly. We spent our sunny afternoons measuring and collecting data on the Winooski River. We tested the pH, dissolved oxygen level, temperature, and clarity. We also determined how much pollution was currently in the river by collecting BMI samples. Benthic Macro Invertebrates (BMI) Are tiny bugs that you can see with the naked eye that have no spine and live on the river bed. These BMI samples indicated how polluted the Winooski River was from how resilient the BMI’s were.

For instance, we found a lot of mayflies in the river. This is good because mayflies have a very low tolerance for pollution and, as a result, we determined that the river is not very polluted. One of the main reasons we test the water for signs of pollution is because if a river, pond, or body of water is too full of phosphorous it will over grow the blue-green algae (which is already a problem) and reduce habitat for the aquatic wild life.

Phosphorous is found in feces, soap, and lawn chemicals. These items run off of our farms, lawns, and back yards into our rivers and lakes. This poses a big problem because phosphorous reduces how much oxygen is available and present in the water, which then makes it difficult for aquatic wildlife to thrive.

Thanks UVM for making the end of May a good one. It was a fun and informative outside experience. Learning about how pollution affects our ecosystem, and how to collect data that tells us whether or not a river is polluted, is great to know.