The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Conservation Group will again be providing Brook Trout fry for stocking from our hatchery in Morgan. Our fish are provided free to the public, for stocking only in beaver ponds in the NE Kingdom – VT F&W Dept. District 5. All stocked beaver ponds must be freely accessible to the public.; no private ponds, no fish to NH or Canada. These fry should not be stocked over wild brook trout populations. We will need accurate information about where you plan to stock when you arrive.

Our first stocking weekend will be April 6th and 7th, from 7:30 AM to 9:30 AM. We will continue every weekend, same time, until all fish are gone.

Fish are carefully packed in plastic bags with water charged with oxygen. Bring a cooler to keep the fish cold, and also ice to help keep them cold.
Our hatchery is located on the Elliott Acres Road off Route 111 in Morgan.

Read for more, including the story of Meg’s first buck!

VTFWCG Spring 2021 Newsletter

The call came to members of the VTFW Conservation Group in late March of 2020 – if you find a
dead, tick-covered moose or a bloody bed filled with ticks while you’re out wandering around, get the
word out. UVM Researcher, and former VT Dept of F&W Board Member, Cheryl Sullivan needs those
moose ticks to continue her tick management research. (Read about her efforts here)

Female ticks (the big ones gathered and shown here) are placed in chambers to lay eggs so that there are larvae for experiments

Always ready to assist with projects, our members stayed alert. In April, a few folks from the Averill
contingent found ticks on the ground. Cheryl was called and the ticks were picked up.

Ms. Sullivan also was able to find several herself, writing in April, “I have been up there several times
including yesterday (what a beautiful day) when I finally was able to get my hands on some after putting
on the miles. I cut a fresh bloody track and followed it up until the going got rough then back down until
I ran out of snow picking up the dropped ticks along the way.”

Moose track and ticks (note the blood)

She reports that the earlier snowmelt this year may have good for any heavily parasitized moose and
unfortunately it may also good for the ticks for this coming fall if the area continues to have a high
moose density.

If you’re interested in getting involved in more grassroots conservation work, reach out to a director!

Tick laying eggs in the lab

VTFWCG Submits Comments to VTF&W on Draft Management Plan

Comments as submitted are below. We encourage all members to submit their own comments after reviewing the plan- they are due 12-15-19. See the plan here: https://vtfishandwildlife.com/BMU-draft-plan

Get involved!

Re: Border Management Unit LRMP

Mr. Morin,

We are writing to provide comments on the Long Range Management Plan of the Border Management Unit. Our membership is made up of concerned hunters, trappers, and anglers primarily from Essex, Orleans and Caledonia counties who support policies that promote conservation, environmental education, and outdoor activities.

We support maintaining as much of the road system on the Bill Sladyk WMA as possible to accommodate outdoor enthusiasts of all abilities, as well as to distribute hunting pressure more evenly. Well maintained roads with crowns and properly sized and maintained culverts contribute greatly to water quality and fish habitat/passage. This should be an immediate priority with very limited closure of these roads, rather than closing them until some unknown future date.

Obtaining an official right of way off of VT Route 114 to Averill Mountain WMA, with suitable parking roadside, should be a priority as well. This will serve multiple user groups and is a significant safety concern.

Properties that are managed by the Fish & Wildlife Department, and designated as “Wildlife Management Areas”, should be actively managed as the name implies. We would like to see as much of the land in the BMU actively managed as possible. With the exception of wetlands, shore land areas, and other appropriately restricted areas, we think more active management on the remaining lands will benefit wildlife populations.  It is important to maintain forest openings, particularly the Ben Cole clearings, to provide habitat for woodcock, ruffed grouse, snowshoe hare, and white-tailed deer. There should be more early successional habitat than the 4% proposed in the plan; Conservation Design recommends at least 5%. With regard to the Reserve Area, we feel this should not exceed the Conservation Design recommendation of 15% Old Growth Forest, a target we feel should apply within the unit rather than considering the region.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of VTFWCG members,

Walt Driscoll, Secretary

VTFWCG

PO Box 207, East Charleston, VT 05833

The ruffed grouse is an iconic game bird of Vermont that is widely recognized and enjoyed by hunters and non-hunters alike, but wildlife biologists are concerned that grouse populations across the Northeast have declined over the past 30 years.

This trend has prompted ruffed grouse research on potential causes, including emerging disease threats and habitat loss.  Recently, West Nile Virus has been implicated as a significant contributor to population declines in Pennsylvania.

Vermont is set to participate in a multi-state research project to determine the distribution, prevalence and potential impact of West Nile Virus on ruffed grouse across their range in North America.

The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department needs grouse hunters to collect blood and feather samples from the ruffed grouse they harvest during the hunting season in Vermont.  A kit with instructions, sampling supplies and necessary mailers will be provided to participating hunters, making the sampling collection quick and simple.

If you are interested in helping with this important conservation effort please contact:

State Wildlife Biologist Chris Bernier at (802) 289-0628 or by email at chris.bernier@vermont.gov.

Our Summer 2019 Newsletter went out to members last week, here it is.

VTFWCG Summer 2019 Newsletter

May 22nd, Northeast Kingdom-

Eight docks in seven lakes were re-installed for the summer by members of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Conservation Group, in cooperation with VT Dept of Fish and Wildlife and Desrochers Crane Service. These docks are at fishing accesses at Averill, Norton Pond, Island Pond, Seymour Lake, Salem Lake, Lake Memphremagog (South Bay and Strawberry Acres) and Crystal Lake.

Many hands, and a crane, make for light work.

When you’re at a fishing access this summer and use a dock, remember that these things don’t happen by accident. The access comes from years of hunter-angler excise payments, the docks are installed by local volunteers and the area is perpetually cared for by the Dept.

Please respect and appreciate how good we have it!

Quite a crew- maybe it was the cold water that turned the beards white?

Members of the VTF&WCG are teaming up with Trout Unlimited, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, Kingdom Trails Association, The Connecticut River Conservancy, and the Town of Burke to plant trees along the East Branch of the Passumpsic River.

This is a BIG planting!  There are 100’s of tress and shrubs to be planted!

We can now confirm the planting project is on for May 8,9, and 10!  It is less than a month away, so we’re starting now to our volunteers lined up.  Plantings start at 11:00 on the 8th and then a 9:00 the remaining 2 days. On the night of the 8th, after an afternoon of planting, show up at the Burke Publick House at 6:30 pm for a kick off celebration pint night. Working? Show up Wednesday afternoon to do what you can!

The stretch being planted is about 1/4 mike upriver from the dam removal project from 2017. Park in the Kingdom Trails parking area, cross the road and proceed over the snowmobile bridge behind East Burke Sports. Bring gloves, a shovel and a five gallon bucket if you can.

Contact Matt Breton at mattbreton@gmail.com for more information or if you plan to volunteer and put “River Project” in the subject line

Also, please share this with folks you know that might be interested in helping out!

The Brook Trout Fry are ready to be stocked in local beaver ponds!

The hatchery will be open at 7a.m. on Saturday April 13th for you to pick up fry- we expect a crowd, so please be patient.

Bring a kid or two along- help connect them to conservation!

When you get your fry to the beaver pond you are planning to stock, place the bag in the water where you can monitor it for 20-30 minutes to let the temperature adjust. Then open the bag and let some of the pond’s water in to circulate, then release the fry.

Please remember to stock these brook trout in remote beaver ponds and not in locations where wild trout already exist.