CorpsTHAT Crew- Vermont

Program Year: 2022
Project Partners: Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests, US Forest Service
Program Dates: June 11, 2022 – July 9, 2022
Leader(s): Karina Baker and Maria Escobar Stull
Ages of Corps Member: 18 – 25

The purpose of  the CorpsTHAT 2022 Crew was to provide conservation work with the US Forest Service in  the Green Mountain National Forest (GMNF) region of Vermont. The GMNF is over 400,000 acres in central and southwestern Vermont and the CorpsTHAT crew got to serve in a few different parts of the forest: Out of the Rochester Ranger District for the first three weeks and out of the Manchester Ranger District for the last week. The majority of the crew’s work for GMNF focused on Habitation Restoration as there was some damage caused by hikers’ swaying off trails and by invasive plants. The crew got to restore and rebuild different parts on several trails. When the crew were stationed in GMNF, they  got to meet several passionate US Forest Service employees, such as botanists, land managers, and a watershed manager. There also was another conservation crew in Vermont at the sametime (Vermont Youth Conservation Corps-VYCC) and they  worked on the same project with the CorpsTHAT Crew  for a day. It was a great way for all people who have passion for nature to work together regardless of any disability or language barriers.

Project Accomplishments

• 7 members hired
• 100+ hours of environmental education
• Over 30+ hours of recreation
• Over 700 hours of work
• 7.8 acres of land improved
• 40+ 10-gal bags of invasive bags collected
• 9 10-gal bags of trash collected
• 253 willow trees planted for erosion control
• 3 miles of trail improved
• Built 28 brush-in structure
• Built 7 apron drains
• Maintained  1.6 miles  of corridor
• Painted 27 signs

Tupper Terraces – Green Mountains National Forest

The crew went to the Tupper Terraces and collected garbage from the surrounding area. In total, they collected trash in 6 ten-gallon trash bags and successfully removed them from Tupper Terraces.

Robert Frost Trail – Green Mountains National Forest

The crew went to Robert Frost Trail where willow stakes were cut from trees and put into buckets (13 buckets in total). Those stakes were then put into ground by the Robert Frost Trail. The stakes will grow into willow trees and help control the soil erosion along the river. During this projected, the crew installed over 250 willow stakes at the trail and we improved 5 acres of land that week.

Bingo Brook Road – Green Mountains National Forest

For this project, the crew worked with a crew with the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps to pull over forty 10-gal bags of Wild Chervils on Bingo Brook road. Together, they cleared an area of around 120,000 ft (2.8 acres) of Chervils to allow other native plants to thrive.

Deer Leap Trail – Green Mountains National Forest

This trail was the crew’s favorite projects, and the view at the top made their daily hike even more worth it! They cleared trail’s canopy and also built 28 brush-in structures to keep hikers on trail and 7 apron drains to reduce erosion damage from water running down the trail.

Hapgood Pond – Green Mountains National Forest

For the crew’s last few days they  got to help the recreation center at GMNF to break down their old picnic tables, cleaned corridors (the space between the trail and the shrubs around), trimmed the overlaying branches of trees, cleared the vegetation that was outgrowing over the pavement paths, and painted signs.