In 2016, we worked with the Downings in Craftsbury to establish a riparian buffer on their property along the Whitney Brook and Black River. The site had long been cropped as a continuous silage corn by a local farm with inadequate buffers and manure setbacks. The land changed hands and through this project, we were able to work with the new landowner to address his goals of improving the properties natural resources. We planted 1000 stems of seven species & 600’ of willow fascines on close to six acre area.

The buffer is on average 50’ wide by ~3,800’ of river frontage. Due to the sandy soils, recent land management practices and limited buffer width with woody vegetation, the area is sensitive to erosion and movement from the channel instability in the river system. As the Black River Geomorphic assessment states, this area should be considered a high priority for a buffer planting project which will reduce the input of sediments and nutrients for the field to the stream and possibly prevent loss of access of the farmer to the distant section of field.

 As a part of our leadership of the project, OCNRCD managed the following tasks:

• Developed planting and stewardship plan
• Project bidding and contract selection
• Ordered and coordinated tree and shrub delivery
• Conducted survivability monitoring