Tree planting aims to combat Thatcher Book erosion at Hope Davey Park
July 7, 2024 | By Lisa ScagliottiEfforts to address erosion along the Thatcher Brook at Hope Davey Park and improve habitat for wood turtles and other species got a boost recently with a project involving two nonprofit groups, students from Southeast Asia, and Waterbury town officials and volunteers.
Student volunteers from Myanmar plant trees at Hope Davey Park in May. Photo by Taylor Litwin
On May 20, a volunteer crew assembled by PH International (Project Harmony) based in Waitsfield working with the Friends of the Winooski River and the Waterbury Recreation Department planted 120 trees and shrubs in a natural area at Hope Davey where last year’s floods caused additional erosion.
Planting more trees in this location will help combat future erosion, improve the environment for wood turtles and other species, and shade from additional trees could benefit the brook’s ecosystem that includes brook trout, explained Recreation Director Katarina Lisaius.
Most of the volunteers in the group were exchange students from Myanmar through the Burma Youth Leadership Program hosted by PH International. The students had a keen interest in conservation and sustainability and sought to work on a project during their time in Vermont that they could share when they returned to their home country, Lisaius said.
The trees were purchased and the project is managed with funding from a Watersheds United Vermont Woody Buffer grant that the Friends of the Winooski received from the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The $3,425 grant will fund multiple planting programs in the Winooski River watershed, explained Taylor Litwin, Watershed Restoration Project Manager with the river organization based in Montpelier. The planting projects are meant to enhance riparian buffers along the Winooski and its tributaries such as the Thatcher Brook, Litwin explained.
“The species we planted were Aronia, Black Cherry, Chokecherry, Gray Birch, Nannyberry, Speckled Alder and Swamp White Oak – 120 total trees and shrubs in the ground!” Litwin said.
Waterbury's Conservation Commission oversees and supports conservation efforts throughout the town, Lisaius noted. Several present and past members of the commission took part in the project including former chair Billy Vigdor who helped coordinate the outing, she said.
Former Conservation Commission Chair Billy Vigdor and Recreation Director Katarina Lisaius at the Thatcher Brook tree planting. Photo by Taylor Litwin
At the May 20 Waterbury Select Board meeting, Vigdor briefly addressed the board to share the news of the planting effort earlier that day. In addition to thanking the river and cultural exchange groups, Vigdor thanked the board for supporting the master plan project for Hope Davey Park and the Ice Center recreation area which was completed in 2023 with funding that voters approved at Town Meeting in 2022. The plan addressed environmental issues at Hope Davey, including the ecosystem along the Thatcher Brook. Vigdor was on the steering committee for the master plan project.
“It was a lot of fun,” Vigdor said of the tree planting. “I’m really excited by the fact that we’re going to try to protect that riverbank along that brook.”
This summer, town conservation and recreation officials ask the community to give the new plantings a chance to settle in and grow. “If you are in Hope Davey Park, please do not visit the trees. Rather, please view from afar,” Lisaius said. “This year will be the time for the trees to establish and flourish.”
Looking ahead, Lisaius noted that as soon as next year, town officials will look at improving access to the less developed part of the park along the Thatcher Brook as outlined in the park's July 2023 Master Plan.