Highlights

14 05, 2026

In Honor of Oberon

2026-05-14T15:16:57-04:00May 14th, 2026|Highlights, News|

It is with heavy hearts we share the news that Oberon, our respected and beloved Barred Owl ambassador, passed away on Tuesday, May 5. Oberon served at NorthWoods longer than any current staff member—she came to live with us in 2006, after being struck by a vehicle and rehabilitated at the Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences. Unable to be returned to the wild, she spent two decades at NorthWoods as our wildlife ambassador, teaching thousands of visitors around the region about the wonder and importance of our avian neighbors. Oberon [Read More...]

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30 01, 2026

Mast & Crop Tree Release in the Spitzer Forest

2026-01-30T16:44:32-05:00January 30th, 2026|Forest Stewardship Institute, Highlights, News|

If you find excitement watching grass grow, you might get really excited watching trees grow! As we manage the NorthWoods Demonstration Forest, we have to think in “forest time,” understanding that trees can live for hundreds of years and ecological processes can take decades, centuries or longer to unfold. In forest time, most of our Demonstration Forest is still very young. Last summer and fall we worked in one of these young stands of ~40 year old hardwood trees that started growing after heavy logging in the 1980s. NorthWoods manages [Read More...]

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25 11, 2025

Messy Work: Restoring with Complexity

2025-11-25T12:15:57-05:00November 25th, 2025|Conservation science, Highlights, News, Watersheds|

This past fall, the Conservation Services Crew worked with partners at the Memphremagog Watershed Association (MWA) to complete a restoration project on a severely eroding tributary of the Clyde River. This involved building numerous woody structures to improve the health of the brook, including check dams to stabilize an eroding gully and over thirty beaver dam analogs to enhance and restore the wetland floodplain, reduce phosphorus, and improve habitat for existing native brook trout and landlocked salmon populations. Conservation Services Crew Leader Alice Weis reflected on the restoration strategies employed in [Read More...]

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6 11, 2025

Improving Recreation Access: Black Mountain

2025-11-06T14:35:57-05:00November 6th, 2025|Conservation Corps, Highlights, News|

Last October we reported on the first stage of work done by our crews on the access trail to the base of the climbing area on Black Mountain in Averill, VT. This October, our Conservation Corps Professional Trail Crew finished their 2025 season completing the final stages of this unique and collaborative access trail. Black Mountain is located in the Kingdom Heritage Lands, on property owned by Weyerhauser, and is especially unique not only because of its location but also because of the geology, and unique recreational opportunities, the mountain has to [Read More...]

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29 09, 2025

Westmore Mountain Challenge 2025

2025-10-01T09:04:45-04:00September 29th, 2025|Highlights, News|

The 9th annual Westmore Mountain Challenge is in the books! (Earlier posts said 8th - oops! We've been having so much fun all these years we lost count!) Congratulations to all of our participants - you did it! Whether you hiked 3 mountains or 5, it is quite a feat and an amazing job well done on a beautiful day. Thank you for joining us and supporting NorthWoods and all that we do! Check out the overall 2025 Westmore Mountain Challenge Timing Results (thanks IronWoods Adventure Works!) for Marathon and 20-mile [Read More...]

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25 08, 2025

A Look at Building Sustainable Trails

2025-08-25T12:03:52-04:00August 25th, 2025|Conservation Corps, Highlights, News|

What is sustainable trail building? We are all familiar with the concept of sustainability—systems which can last over time—a term most often used in regards to the human relationship to the environment, society and economy. In relation to trails, building or modifying a trail to be sustainable can look alot different depending upon where the trail is and what pressures it is being exposed to. On the trails NorthWoods most frequently works on here in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, some of the largest pressures to consider are impacts from water [Read More...]

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5 08, 2025

Celebrating Tales and Trails

2025-08-05T15:07:59-04:00August 5th, 2025|Highlights, News|

On Saturday, July 12, we welcomed partners and community members to campus for a Summer Celebration. Local children's author Natalie Kinsey shared stories about her youth growing up on her family's farm, and using the stories she heard passed down to her as inspiration for her books. She also brought a number of her grandmother's amazingly detailed quilts to share with the audience, including the Canada Geese quilt which inspired her book by the same name. Visitors were able to chat with staff and volunteers from Adaptive Sports Partners and [Read More...]

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30 05, 2025

Signs of Spring: Wild Turkey

2025-05-30T14:30:53-04:00May 30th, 2025|Highlights, News|

One of the iconic signs of spring in our region is the sight of wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo), scratching through stubbled corn fields—usually with one or two strutting toms showing off their blushing red, white, and blue heads in an attempt to entice a flock of hens. Wild turkeys are native to eastern forestlands, but were extinct in Vermont by the late 1800s due to habitat loss and overhunting. In the 1950s and 60s, thanks to conservation and relocation efforts, largely fueled by hunters, populations began to rebound, and this iconic [Read More...]

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22 04, 2025

Sign up for Summer Camps!

2025-04-22T12:27:35-04:00April 22nd, 2025|Education, Highlights, News|

Summer Camp Registration is OPEN! We have camps for all sizes- from littles through teens. Give your child a fantastic summer experience: swimming, paddling, hiking, mountain biking, camping, and learning about the beauties of nature -- large and small. Check out the full list of our NorthWoods Camps in East Charleston and and Mountain Bike Camps in East Burke:   Browse Camps

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30 12, 2024

How We Built and Paddled a Wooden Canoe in 5 Easy Steps

2024-12-30T16:16:25-05:00December 30th, 2024|Highlights, News|

by Luke Thompson Step 1. Acquire forms It was January in the North East Kingdom and a few days into what would later become known as “the ice storm of ’98.” Jayson Benoit and I were heading out on a mission to buy a slightly used set of canoe forms north of the border in Quebec. Canoe forms are a series of canoe cross sections made of void free plywood that attach in line along a rigid strong-back to form the shape of a canoe. This particular shape had evolved [Read More...]

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Hours

Office: Monday – Friday, 8am-4pm

Trails: Sunrise to Sunset, 7 days a week.

Mailing Address

PO Box 220, East Charleston, VT 05833

Get in Touch

Email: [email protected]

Main Phone: 802.723.6551

Office & Administration ext: 301
Conservation Science & Forestry ext: 302
Education & Outreach ext: 303
Conservation Corps ext: 304

Or visit our Contact page for more ways to get in touch with our staff.

Website Development

Funding for the development of this website was made possible in part by the Rural Business Enterprise Grant through the Vermont Community Loan Fund from USDA Rural Development.
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