Waterbury landowner protects 111 more acres of wildlife habitat on Shutesville Hill

July 31, 2020 | By Lisa Scagliotti

A black bear photographed last year at home in the forest on Whitney Blauvelt’s Waterbury property that was conserved in June. Vermont Land Trust photo.

The Vermont Land Trust this week announced that another 111 acres of forestland has been conserved in the Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor between the Green Mountains and the Worcester Range. 

The area straddling Waterbury and Stowe serves as an important wildlife region in Vermont where conservation groups have been working to protect connected parcels of forestland habitat. 

The latest property to be conserved from development lies to the west of Vermont Route 100 in Waterbury on the border with Stowe. Landowner Whitney Blauvelt in June sold a conservation easement for the largely forested land that has been in his family for some time, according to the land trust announcement. The group noted that the easement was significantly below the property’s appraised value, although it did not say what the easement price was. Town land records list the land appraisal for the 111.4 acres at $362,000. 

The Blauvelt tract (in red) adds to protected lands in the Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor. Source: Vermont Land Trust.

Blauvelt’s property sits along a high-priority wildlife crossing -- a focus for conservation organizations in the area. In conserving his land, Blauvelt has joined other landowners and community members working to protect this unique stretch of connected forestland.

Blauvelt said he took the step to protect both the forestland and the animals that live there. The land trust shared a photo of a black bear on the tract which also happens to border the aptly named Black Bear Run, a road into a residential development in Stowe adjacent Blauvent’s property.

“I’m a tree-hugger. Forests, and the wildlife therein, need to be protected,” Blauvelt said.  

The newly conserved acreage will now be counted along with the more than 450 acres in this same corridor that have been conserved since 2018 by the Stowe Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy, and the Vermont Land Trust. Along with community members, these conservation organizations have raised over $500,000 in their ongoing effort to protect this ecologically significant habitat, the land trust said.

While much of the land in this area is sparsely developed, busy north-south Route 100 cuts through the corridor, posing a challenge to wildlife traversing the nearby forests, wetlands and open meadows. Wildlife Crossing signs are posted along this stretch of highway to alert motorists to watch for animals on the move. 

The collective of public and private interests involved with the conservation efforts in this area is known as the Shutesville Wildlife Corridor Partnership. It consists of conservation commissions in Waterbury and Stowe, the 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. 

More information is online at stayingconnectedinitiative.org/shutesville.