Stowe Land Trust poised to protect 83 acres in regional wildlife corridor

November 18, 2023  |  By Waterbury Roundabout 

Stowe Land Trust is looking to buy 83 acres on Megan's Way in Stowe, east of Vermont Route 100 near the Waterbury-Stowe town line. This view is looking south. Photo by Daniel Houghton of Maple Street Media

An 83-acre tract of land on the Waterbury-Stowe town line at “high risk for development,” according to the Stowe Land Trust, which would like to be the buyer to take the parcel off the market to preserve it. 

The land is considered a critical piece of the Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor and the land trust and its partners are looking to raise a final $99,000 by the end of December in order to make the purchase, they say. 

Land trust Executive Director Kristen Sharpless said that the sizable forested property in the heart of the corridor has been on the market for over a year, making it high-risk for development. “We can’t let this opportunity to protect this critical piece of habitat pass us by,” Sharpless said. “It’s now or never. 

The Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor runs east-west along the Waterbury-Stowe border. It is the only viable connection between the Green Mountains and the Worcester Range for wildlife to travel, making it one of the five most important wildlife crossings in the state and a critical part of an international network of connected forest habitats in the northeast, according to the land trust.

“Shutesville Hill is an amazing, critical resource for wildlife,” said Jens Hilke, a conservation planner with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. “It is the only pathway of large, connected forest habitat that links the Worcester Range to the Northern Green Mountains. It’s part of a much larger swath of forest that serves as a connected network across the entire Northern Appalachians. There’s simply no other connector in the region as important for wildlife on the move, especially in the face of a changing climate.”

For more than a decade, local and regional conservation organizations have been collaborating to protect the corridor, one parcel at a time. 

The organizations and agencies involved are together called the Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor Partnership. The group includes the Waterbury Conservation Commission, the Waterbury Lands Initiative, Stowe Conservation Commission, Stowe Land Trust, Vermont Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy, Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation, Vermont Agency of Transportation, two regional planning commissions, and many community volunteers. 

A key challenge is that the many roads, residences and businesses in the corridor have fragmented the forest habitat. Mounting development pressure threatens the ability of wildlife to migrate. Ensuring a safe route through protected blocks of forest is vital to ensuring Vermont’s wildlife thrive for generations to come, Sharpless explained.

The effort has made progress in recent years. Protected land in the Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor has tripled since 2018, thanks to the commitment of a handful of landowners and supporters. 

“We know that our property is just one small chunk of forestland,” said Chris Curtis, who with his wife Tari Swenson conserved 63 acres of centrally located land in the corridor a few years ago. “But we also know that only by being part of a group of like-minded landowners can a patchwork of animal-friendly forestland be assembled. It’s going to take a team effort to make the changes we need.”

This map shared by Stowe Land Trust shows the property it aims to purchase and other protected land in the Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor.

One way landowners can help expand the protected acreage in the corridor is to allow for conservation easements to be created for their property. Some of the organizations involved in the partnership do just that. 

Vermont Land Trust Project Director Bob Heiser said he’s impressed with landowners’ eagerness to ensure that their property continues to provide quality wildlife habitat. “We have been partnering with individuals and families to conserve some of the most important and vulnerable parts of the corridor using tools like conservation easements,” he said.  

The current project however is intended to be a purchase. The nonprofit Stowe Land Trust has already applied for $256,000 in grant funding from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board and it has raised $352,600 from individuals and foundations to help purchase and conserve the property. 

Still outstanding is the final 13% of the total project cost or $99,000. The funds are needed by Dec. 31, and Stowe Land Trust is asking community members to help close the gap. 

More information about the wildlife corridor and about how to donate is online at stowelandtrust.org.