OutdoorsVT 4-24-09

Herricks Cove festival offers outdoor family fun

One of the top outdoor events of the year is scheduled for Sunday, May 3, when the 10th annual Herricks Cove Wildlife Festival is held in Rockingham to “celebrate the wonders of wildlife.”

This event, by all accounts, offers a great opportunity for outdoor family fun and education.

The day-long event begins with an early-morning bird walk, but most events are scheduled 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Herricks Cove.

Herricks Cove is located at the confluence of the Williams and Connecticut rivers, and is noted for its birding opportunities. Designated as an Important Birding Area, Herricks Cove offers important habitat for waterfowl and songbirds, and provides a staging ground for migrating ducks, geese and warblers.

This year’s event is expected to feature live wolves, owls, eagles and reptiles — a sure bet to fascinate kids of all ages in addition to presentations, activities and tours.

Things get started with a guided bird walk at 7:30 a.m. Other activities get under way at 10 a.m.

The day is billed as an event that brings together wildlife, nature and outdoor enthusiasts.

There will be a forest exhibit, and guided nature walks, nature presentations, crafts and workshops will be held throughout the day. Some of the events on the schedule include:

? The Southern Vermont Museum will be there with hawks at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

? Live animals from Squam Lake Science Center will be shown at 10:30 a.m. and noon.

? Jim Andrews will feature amphibians, including a turtle workshop at 11 a.m.

? Jerry Snyder will feature butterflies at 11:30 a.m.

? Brian “Fox” Ellis will give a presentation about the “comic misadventures” of Lewis and Clark at 1 p.m.

? The Vermont Institute of Natural Science will offer a presentation on hawks and owls at 2 p.m.

? Jake the Snake of AMOS Natural Science Education Services will feature a 9-foot boa constrictor at 2:30 p.m.

? And Atka, a wolf from the Wolf Conservation Center, will be featured at 3 p.m. Other events will be held throughout the day.

Families will be able to take nature walks with Meg Moynihan.

Also, a presentation will focus on the “Ways of the Woods: People and the Land in the Northern Forest.”

There will also be food and live music, and the event will be held rain or shine.

Finding Herricks Cove can be tricky. It is located off Route 5 less than 3 miles north of Bellows Falls.

From Interstate 91 northbound, take Exit 6 onto Route 5. Continue past the intersection with Route 103, down the hill, across the Williams River to Herricks Cove Road on the right, then follow the signs. From I-91 southbound, take Exit 6 onto Route 103, take a left onto Route 5, down the hill, across the river and right on Herricks Cove Road.

There is no charge to attend, but contributions will be accepted with a suggested donation of $2 per person or $5 per family.

For more information contact Ascutney Mountain Audubon at 722-3355, The Nature Museum at 843-2111 or staff@nature-museum.org, or the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department at www.vtfishandwildlife.com.


Seyon Lodge

The Vermont State Parks is offering a bargain for people wanting to experience Seyon Lodge State Park and get away from it all with the creature comforts of home.

Located in the middle of Groton State Forest, and home to Noyes Pond, Seyon Lodge features some of the best early-season brook trout fishing destinations is offering people a preseason deal.

Sorry for the blatant ad, but this sounds like a deal a lot of people might be interested in.

Between now and June 18, a two-night, midweek stay at Seyon Lodge is priced at $65 a night with all meals and full-day boat rental included. Even taxes are covered in this price.

That boat will come in useful; should you simply want to tool around Noyes Pond or cast for brook trout, that is highly recommended.

The State Parks calls it Vermont’s only public fly-fishing trout pond and has been named one of the best brook trout fisheries in Vermont by Steve Hickoff and Rhey Plumley in their book, “Flyfishers Guide to Northern New England.”

“Early and late season is the best time to fish Noyes Pond,” according to the book. “The emergence of the giant mayfly, in late May and early June, can be dramatic and brings many, sometimes large, beautifully colored brookies to the surface.”

Seyon Lodge State Park offers a season fishing pass granting unlimited fishing and boat rentals that will be on sale for $89 through June 1. After that, the price is $95.

Not an angler?

No problem.

“The excellent fishing is not the only draw at Noyes Pond,” Hickoff and Plumley write. “The setting is quietly beautiful. You’ll often hear the whistle of a peregrine soaring on the wind currents high overhead. Or you might see a loon dive beneath the surface of the pond, holding its breath for what seems an impossible amount of time.”

Sold?

Contact Seyon Lodge State Park at 584-3829, or find more information online at www.vtstateparks.com.

Darren Marcy is a local outdoor enthusiast. His Web site is www.DarrenMarcy.com. E-mail him at darren@darrenmarcy.com.

Tweetin' on Twitter, or Whatever

I'm taking this Web 2.0 or Social Networking, or wasting time over and over again to the next level.

One of the things I want to do is expand my horizons in the world of outdoor writing as well as possibly find new eyeballs that might be interested in reading some of mine.

To that end, I've been jumping into the online world deeper than ever. I've had a blog and Web page in one version or another for about four years. Now, I have a Facebook page, a spot on CamoSpace, and, last but not least, a Twitter page.

You'll see the link to my Tweets (as I'm told they're called) on the side of this blog.

Soon, I will get around to adding links to my Facebook page (Darren Marcy Outdoors) and CamoSpace site (Darren Marcy) as well as a link to my other blog with the Rutland Herald (www.rutlandherald.typepad.com/outdoorsvermont).

Look me up and let's connect. I'm always looking to meet new people, particularly people with a passion for the outdoors.

OutdoorsVT 4-17-09

Vt. State Parks propose increase in camping

Fido is going to have to pay more to camp in Vermont State Parks in 2009.

It’s going to be more expensive to camp in a Vermont State Park this year if a fee increase goes through as proposed by the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.

State Parks Director Craig Whipple says the fee increases are an effort on the part of the State Parks to keep up with the cost of doing business because the costs to run the parks increase $200,000 to $300,000 every year due to inflation.

The fee increase proposal is set to go into effect June 1. While the increased costs are only some of the proposed changes, camping fee increases will be among the most noticeable changes for visitors to state parks.

With the exception of remote areas, the department is proposing to eliminate $14 sites and add a $2 fee for nonresidents — two of the changes people will notice.

The new camping fees will be $16 for residents for a standard tent or trailer site, and $18 for prime sites.

A lean-to site will go for $23, with prime lean-to locations priced at $25.

Those prices are for up to four people per site. The additional-person charge will be increased by $1 to $5 per person.

Nonresidents will pay $2 more per night for all camping sites.

The designation of a “resident” follows the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department’s definition as a person living in Vermont with no other residences for at least six months.

Fee increases will even affect your pooch, which will be charged $1 per night.

There are other changes, but those are the highlights.

There will be detractors who claim the proposed increase is just another example of government excess. Some will go as far as to call it a tax increase.

But growing costs are a fact of life and Vermont’s State Parks are still a bargain.

Consider day-use fees. My family of four, with one kid too young to be assessed an entry fee, pays $8 for the day.

Try going to a movie — even a matinee — for that.

A night of camping will go up, but a night with the family is priceless. There is little better than cooking hot dogs over a fire and roasting marshmallows with your kids. We’ll be doing that this summer and a couple of dollars won’t dissuade us from that little adventure.

Whipple says the proposal to increase the fees is part of the State Parks’ philosophy of supporting the parks system to the point that is feasible and reasonable.

He said that charging fees is a simple reality in order to sustain the parks’ operation, but fees should not become a deterrent for people.

“Our fiscal approach here is to balance all those things and not set fees too high, but not to apply any more pressure than necessary on the general fund. Our effort is to make the park system as self sufficient as possible without the comprising our purpose.”

In 2007, the day-use fees were adjusted slightly, but Whipple says it has been a while since camping fees had been adjusted.

Whipple said day use has been declining at state parks but he doesn’t expect this round of fee increases, if enacted, will deter people.

“It’s an educated guess, you never know for sure,” Whipple said. “In the past there have been some larger incremental increases and it’s shown a modest decline in usage. It shows you’ve gone too far too fast.”

But today’s economy has people looking for cheaper, closer-to-home recreation options.

“Camping is still a relatively inexpensive camping option,” Whipple said. “People are looking for ways to spend their down time and leisure time. We’re hoping people stay close to home and use their state parks.”

That seems to be happening, he said.

About 45 percent of State Parks visitors are Vermonters and reservations are up about 5 percent this year, Whipple said.

With the fee increase, Vermont will still be competitive with nearby states, Whipple said.

“We did as close a comparison as we could for 11 northeastern states,” he said. “We’re about in the middle any way you work it.”

Let’s face it. Camping remains one of the most affordable ways for a family to spend time in the great outdoors. A small fee increase won’t keep most people home or prevent a family from going camping.

This increase deserves our support.

But whether you agree, you have an opportunity to comment on the proposed changes.

A public hearing will be held at 5 p.m. Monday, April 27, at the Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation Conference Room in Waterbury.

Written comments can be mailed to Craig Whipple, Director of State Parks, 103 S. Main St., 10 South, Waterbury, Vt., 05671. Comments can also be e-mail to craig.whipple@state.vt.us.

Details of all proposed changes can be found on the State Parks’ Web site at www.vtstateparks.com, scroll down and click on Fee Increases.

Darren Marcy is a local outdoor enthusiast. His Web site is www.DarrenMarcy.com. E-mail him at darren@darrenmarcy.com.

NEOWA Member

Well, I guess I'm officially a member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association. Submitting my application materials during the organization's annual meeting a week ago and I've received word that it was accepted and I should expect my membership packet in the mail soon.

I'm looking forward to that.

I've been kicking around the idea of joining the NEOWA for a year or so, but wanted to wait until I felt like I truly belonged.

I didn't want to have to work hard to meet the minimum requirements for eligibility. Now that I've been writing my weekly outdoor column for the Rutland (Vt.) Herald for more than a year and regularly sell other freelance work, I decided it was time.

I'm proud to be able to call myself a member of the NEOWA.

OutdoorsVT 4-10-09

Avoid wet trails through Memorial Day

It’s that wonderful time of the year again. Spring is finally coming to Vermont.

The snow is largely gone, temperatures are finally beginning to turn seasonal and there is green beginning to show.

Unfortunately, while the temperatures often provide great hiking weather this time of the year, the ground often isn’t ready.

Mud season is a time of the year when hikers and bikers are itching to set boot or tire to trail, yet the trails fight back with mud.

The Green Mountain Club is asking hikers to refrain from hitting the trails that are muddy until they firm up, usually by Memorial Day weekend.

Staying off muddy trails will protect fragile areas and prevent erosion.

The Green Mountain Club and trail volunteers work throughout the warmer months to repair trail damage as well as perform preventative maintenance.

Hiking when the trails are muddy can set back efforts, causing more damage and negating previous work.

And the higher elevations are where the trails will remain muddy the longest. It’s possible to start out on a dry trail that quickly becomes a mud bog.

Some hikers will try to skirt muddy areas by walking on the vegetation on either side, causing the hole to widen and increase the size of the problem.

Fortunately, there are plenty of lower-elevation hikes that offer early-season hiking opportunities ranging from dirt roads to recreation paths.

A list of possible hikes can be found on the Green Mountain Club’s Web site at http://www.greenmountainclub.org/.

Check with the Vermont State Parks, the nearest U.S. Forest Service ranger district office or the local municipality for suggestions and warnings about trails under each jurisdiction.

Some areas should be avoided, including Camel’s Hump, Mount Mansfield, Stratton Mountain, Killington Peak, Jay Peak, and Lincoln Ridge from Mount Ellen to the Appalachian Gap.

Also avoid high-elevation conifer forests, sticking to hardwood forests at lower elevations and south-facing slopes will dry sooner than northern exposures.


Pine Hill Park
The Pine Hill Park folks are back at it with a slate of work days to improve the trails.

The first public work day is set for 9 a.m. Sunday, April 26. Work will focus on the front entrance area and back to Elephant Rock.

Pack some cookies to share if you’d like and organizers say chocolate bribes might be available for those who show up.

The second work day is set for 9 a.m. May 16 with the focus on hauling in lumber for bridge projects followed by trail work on Lonely Rock and Strong Angel trails.


ATV club grant
The Birdseye Mountain ATV Club has announced it has received a $10,000 trail grant from the Polaris TRAILS Committee of Polaris Industries.

The grant will be used to improve Trail No. 2 up to Betsy’s Balcony and build a new trail across the top of the Birdseye Mountain ridge towards the Dome.

The new trail will be called “Polaris Run.”

The ATV club hopes to have Polaris Run ready by July 18.


Half marathon
A new half marathon is set for April 26.

The Middlebury Maple Run — The Sweetest Half is scheduled to kick off at 9 a.m. Sunday, April 26, from Porter Medical Center.

The USA Track & Field-certified course will feature traffic control and water stations until 12:30 p.m., after which runners continue at their own risk.

Runners registered by April 15th will get a free T-shirt.

The race will award the first-place male and female finisher in open and master divisions, as well as three places in six age groups.

A pre-race pasta buffet will be held 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. the previous night and registration and packet pickup is at 6 to 8 p.m. The cost for the buffet is $12.99.

For more information, log on to http://www.addisoncounty.com/ and click on the link at the bottom, right part of the screen, or call 388-7951, ext. 2.


Floyd Landis
The 2009 Tour of the Battenkill will be held April 18-19 with one high-profile rider scheduled to compete.

Floyd Landis, who won the Tour de France only to be stripped of the title after testing positive for a banned substance, is set to compete with Team OUCH out of Oakland, Calif., after sitting out his two-year ban and having hip-resurfacing surgery.

In all, 22 professional teams are scheduled to compete in the professional invitational event. Dubbed “America’s Queen of the Classics,” the Tour of the Battenkill boasts a 124-mile course with 16 dirt sections beginning in Cambridge, N.Y.

In all, more than 2,000 racers are expected for the two-day event, which organizers claim makes it the largest road cycling race in the United States.

For more information, log on to http://www.tourofthebattenkill.com/.

Darren Marcy is a local outdoor enthusiast. His Web site is www.DarrenMarcy.com. E-mail him at darren@darrenmarcy.com.

The Great Hook-Baiting Scandal

Saturday is the trout season opener in Vermont, a holiday of sorts for hard-core anglers who have waited all winter for the chance to drown a worm with the hope of landing a rainbow, brown or brookie.

Also, Gov. James Douglas and Fish & Wildlife Commissioner Wayne Laroche will celebrate the season opener at 11:30 a.m. at Marshfield Reservoir fishing access area, 2 miles east of the village on Route 2.

There will be youngsters on hand along with their parents or mentors. Douglas and Laroche will be fishing with them and coaching the young anglers as well as talking about the importance of fishing in Vermont.

Let's just hope there isn't a repeat of last year's hook-baiting scandal.

A year ago, I watched footage of Douglas fishing on opening Saturday on the evening news. At one point, I was amazed as the governor reeled in his line, raised his rod and swung his bare hook back toward a man wearing a Fish and Wildlife shirt who promptly baited his hook for him.

I later found out this was Laroche.

I was amazed and told Rutland Herald outdoor editor Dennis Jensen knowing he would get a chuckle out of it. When I told Jensen, he was more than amused. He wrote a column about it, which spread far and wide. Douglas ended up being vilified in several national publications.

Mr. Laroche, please leave the governor's hook alone.

Governor, put your own worm on. You should also be prepared. What if you accidentally catch a fish? You wouldn't want to embarrass yourself in front of all those kids.

What Direction Will This Blog Take?

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the purpose of this blog.

For a while now, I've been regurgitating news that I thought to be interesting, or maybe even useful.

But it struck me. I'm doing something that others are already doing, and, in fact, they're doing it better. (Look for a post soon on what I believe to be some of the best sources for regular -- daily -- outdoor news on a countrywide scale.)

So, I'm thinking, what can I offer that isn't already out there in several locations?

The quick and dirty answer is my opinion. Nobody else is printing my opinion on things, or sharing with the world news about my successes and failures as an outdoor writer.

That's the direction I'm going to be leaning. Until I get it figured out for sure, I'd expect fewer offerings here than what I've been posting.

OutdoorsVT 4-3-09

DVD features New England’s reptiles, amphibians

The spring peepers are about to begin their peeping and with it comes another spring to Vermont.

The world of reptiles and amphibians don’t often get the attention that other wildlife species garner.

Snakes, frogs and salamanders just aren’t as sexy as deer, turkeys and bears.

Certainly it has something to do with their size and that they aren’t obvious like a deer standing in a field or a moose in a bog.

But, in their own way, amphibians and reptiles are fascinating critters and worthy of study and appreciation.

And, now is the time to learn more about these animals and their habitats.

If the peepers haven’t already started their serenade, they will soon in a vernal pool near you.

And while many species of amphibians and reptiles may be abundant in places, others are nearly impossible to find unless you know exactly where and when to look. Because most of us aren’t herpetologists, most of us don’t know when or where that is.

A newly released interactive DVD will help.

“Rattlers, Peepers & Snappers,” is the result of a collaboration between wildlife videographer and editor Vince Franke and Jim Andrews of Middlebury College.

The DVD was four years in the making as Franke videoed all over New England when time allowed in between his other projects and when the various species were active.

Now complete, the DVD includes three hours of video coverage of all 52 breeding species of amphibians and reptiles in New England.

While aimed at resource professionals, naturalists, teachers and students, the DVD would be of interest to anybody who appreciates wild critters, their habitat and the challenges biologists face in protecting sensitive species.

Franke said one of the keys to the production was the knowledge of Andrews, who has been the driving force behind the Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas at Middlebury College.

“He’s very knowledgeable and he’s focused on educating people on amphibians and reptiles and what we can do to reduce our effects on them,” Franke said.

A one-hour presentation, culled from the three hours of video footage on the DVD, will be aired at 7 p.m. Sunday on Vermont Public Television.


The DVD

This DVD, while not organized just like a traditional paper field guide, supplies much of the same information but with video, interviews and an ease of use that, in some ways, surpass a standard field guide.

Speed is one advantage. If you know what species you’re looking for, you can be watching a video of an expert herpetologist discussing the species within seconds.

You can learn about its distribution, whether it is common or rare, habitat needs, visual identification, and listen to its vocalizations in about the same amount of time it would take to find the species in a guide and start reading.

The program is divided into two sections: one for amphibians and one for reptiles with videos, field adventures, species specific information and videos and quizzes for each.

The camera work is incredible, a result, Franke said, of the expertise of his guides and having a lot of patience at times.

Two Vermont species – the five-lined skink and the timber rattlesnake, both of which are found in Rutland County – are so rare that few have ever seen them.

Alcott Smith led Franke to some timber rattlers, finding some large rattlers and, later, footage of fall babies.

“The most humbling thing about the rattlesnakes is they were just sprawled out sunning in the forests,” Frank said.

The skinks, Franke said, were even more of a challenge because they are hard to find and fast moving when they are found. He said the key was to go to an area where they had been seen before and then waiting for hours.

“The skinks took a while to film,” he said. “I think it’s pretty unique footage. I don’t think there’s much footage out there of five-lined skinks in our area. It’s great to be able to show that to people.”

Because of the way it’s designed, you don’t lose anything by watching the segments out of order allowing the viewer to hit the things most interesting to them or most appropriate to learn about a specific species as needed.


Big honor

Editing the three hours of footage into the one-hour show for VPT this Sunday was difficult, Franke said.

“It was a bit of a challenge but I realized what would work best was to show the field trips,” Frank said.

Even then, there was too much video, so he pruned the field trips, each featuring an expert in the field, down from 15 to nine.

“The field trips allowed people to go along and find out where these critters were and let these experts explain things in their own way,” Franke said.

The DVD has been released to wide acclaim including an honor in an international film festival.

“Rattlers, Peepers & Snappers” will be given an honorable mention for Scientific Content at the 32nd International Wildlife Film Festival on May 9-16.

Franke said it’s quite an honor because the film festival draws entries from the British Broadcasting Corporation, National Geographic, Animal Planet International, and the Nature series on PBS.

“All the big producers are there,” Franke said. “It is nice to get recognized by the scientific community.”

Check this DVD out.

Keeping a kid’s attention in today’s video-game world is difficult. A DVD like this one gives a parent a fighting chance and it will be fun and educational for everyone.

“Rattlers, Peepers & Snappers” is $24.95 and is available from Peregrine Productions at www.rpsdvd.com.

Darren Marcy is a local outdoor enthusiast. His Web site is www.DarrenMarcy.com. E-mail him at darren@darrenmarcy.com.