Working together to keep the Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor open and safe so Vermont wildlife can thrive now and into the future.
IMAGINE…
A mother black bear and her cubs are making their way down to Route 100 from the Green Mountains. They’ve eased through a thread of forest and wetlands and wait by the road as cars zoom past. Finally, it is quiet. The mother crosses, the cubs follow, scrambling up a bank on the other side just before a tractor trailer crests the hill. The family continues east, staying within the cover of the woods.
In the near distance, a dog barks, a car winds up a drive, a lawnmower hums. As night falls, they follow a stream to another road, amble across, and slip back into the forest heading up to the Worcester Range. Just like generations of bear before them, they’ve journeyed safely through the protection of the Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor.
Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor Partnership
The Corridor: A Critical Connection in Central Vermont
Wildlife corridors are bands of forest habitat that are large and intact enough that they provide animals with an important bridge between larger blocks of habitat.
The “Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor” crosses Route 100 on the Waterbury-Stowe town line and is the only viable connection between the Green Mountains and Worcester Range. It is one of the five most important wildlife crossings in the state and a critical part of a international network of connected forest habitats in the northeast.
Protecting this corridor ensures that wildlife will be able to move freely across Route 100 and our region to find suitable habitat over the course of a year, individual lifetimes and generations.
Where is the Shutesville Wildlife Corridor?
The Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor includes a Highest Priority Connecting Forest Block that links the Green Mountains and Worcester Range along the Stowe – Waterbury town line.
Threats to the Corridor
The Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor is at risk of being lost forever due to:
- Fragmentation or breaking up of forest cover within the corridor due to human development such as roads, driveways and land clearing for houses and other structures.
- Intrusive activities associated with residential and commercial development such as domestic pets, outdoor lighting and noise.
- Increased traffic volumes and speeds along roadways – particularly Route 100.
- Barriers to wildlife movement such as fences and guardrails.
Strategies for Protection
We can work together to:
- Permanently conserve the most important and vulnerable parts of the corridor by working with willing landowners to apply tools such as conservation easements.
- Further incorporate the corridor into municipal and regional plans in order to minimize negative impacts of new development within the corridor.
- Share information with property owners within the corridor about its importance and what individuals can do to help keep the corridor open and safe.
- Make road crossings along Route 100 safer for wildlife passing through the corridor.
Who We Are: Collaborating Partners
Local, regional and statewide organizations are working together along with landowners and concerned citizens, to keep the corridor safe and open:
- Stowe Conservation Commission
- Waterbury Conservation Commission
- Stowe Land Trust
- Vermont Land Trust
- The Nature Conservancy
- Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission
- Lamoille County Regional Planning Commission
- VT Department of Fish & Wildlife
- VT Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation
- VT Agency of Transportation
Please join us today in ensuring that wildlife can move safely through our landscape for years to come.
Contact
For more information contact Bob Heiser, Vermont Land Trust, at (802) 861-6404 or bheiser@vlt.org.