DUMMERSTON — A group of 19 young people with a shared dedication to environmental protections recently cleared three acres of glossy buckthorn from a beaver pond at Deer Run Nature Preserve.
This summer's Youth Empowerment Project, made up of a diverse group of people from 11 towns, provided an opportunity to get outside, do good work, and make new friends in a safe way after a long, stressful COVID-19 lockdown.
For a second year in a row, the Green Mountain Conservancy partnered with Youth Services Workforce Connections Coordinator Michaela Stockwell to recruit hardworking, mission-driven young people.
The crew worked over 900 hours, cutting back a dense thicket of buckthorn and propagating hundreds of willow cuttings where the invasive species had been.
Beaver ponds can create wetlands that are among some of the most biologically productive ecosystems in the world. They also improve the water quality by acting as filters, and they stabilize the water table and mitigate negative effects that come with droughts and floods.
Anyone familiar with glossy buckthorn, however, knows that if left unchecked, the invasive can leave a thriving biodiverse ecosystem seriously impaired by choking out the native plants that provide the food and housing for a vast array of wildlife.
Over nine days, the young environmentalists left their mark on a 5-acre wetland area that is home to many of the preserve's wildlife, including a mother beaver and her new kits, turtles, amphibians, fish, and a myriad of bird and insect species.
The work accomplished by this group gives the native flora and fauna a fighting chance to reestablish themselves and to restore balance to the wetland.
The crew gained a knowledge of the ecological benefits of beaver ponds and wetlands, they honed their teamwork skills, and they had the chance to take their first steps in exploring environmental conservation as a possible career path.