In the spring of 2007, the Willowell Foundation hopes to begin a

Valley Clayplain reforestation initiative that will eventually return

more than twenty acres of wet, difficult farmland to its natural state as endangered Valley Clayplain forest.

 

When the Willowell Foundation purchased what is now the Willowell Land in the summer of 2005, it was roughly 50% forest and 50% field. For the last 5-10 years, the fields had be hayed by neighboring farmers to keep them clear of brush and to take advantage of their incredible fertility. Willowell is committed to preserving the agricultural heritage of the property, and plans to keep much of this acreage open for vegetable farming, haying, and a potential pasturing operation. We hope to preserve and enhance our soils and use our land sustainably for many generations to come.

 

In keeping with our commitment to sustainable ecological land use, we at Willowell are also committed to preserving endangered habitat so that the plants and animals that enrich our lives and share our space in the world may continue to flourish as our most treasured neighbors. During our time at the Willowell Land, we have recognized its importance as both a wildlife “corridor” that allows movement from place to place for large animals, and as an intrinsically rich home for many animals, birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians and plants. We believe that our own health is inextricably linked to the health of the ecosystem around us, and strive to improve its health in as many ways as we can.  

 

One means that we will use to improve the health of the Willowell Land is our Valley Clayplain Reforestation Initiative. Set to begin in the spring of 2007 with a small, pilot reforestation project on one acre of open field and along our eastern border with Pond Brook, this initiative will be the start of a long-term stewardship project that will aid in the comeback of Vermont’s rare Valley Clayplain forest.  Willowell is already home to a small pocket of Valley Clayplain that will be expanded and enriched by this project.

 

Plans are underway in this restoration and education effort. Our hope is to involve students of all ages from the many public schools that we work with in our restoration efforts in order to learn and teach together about the importance of the Valley Clayplain.

 

 

Valley Clayplain forest, also known as oak-hickory forest, is a rare, endangered forest type found only in the Champlain Valley of Vermont. The name, “clayplain,” is actually short for clay-soil lake plain—alluding to the extremely fertile clay soils, warm valley climate, and poor drainage that characterize this forest type. Agriculture in Valley Clayplain soils is much more successful than in any other soil type in Vermont, which is why farming is still the most prevalent land use in the Champlain Valley.

  

Despite its alter ego as “oak-hickory forest,” more species of tree, shrub and vine grow naturally in the Clayplain forest than in any other forest type in New England, and many of them are found only in Clayplain forests. Tree varieties found here include: shagbark hickory; white, bur, and red oaks; red, silver and sugar maples; black, white and green ash; and American elm, beech, basswood, white pine and hemlock. In addition to its extensive variety of trees, the Clayplain forest is rich with a diverse variety of herbs and shrubs, some of which only occur in the Clayplain forest.

 

Valley Clayplain forest also provides excellent habitat for wildlife,    

A snapshot of Willowell’s existing Valley Clayplain forest. Photo <c> EKWB (2005).

 

True to our commitment to educating the public about sustainable, ecologically sound land use practices, as well as to preserving our forested land for the future generations to enjoy, we at Willowell hope to return a percentage of our land to its native Valley Clayplain forest over the next several years as well as to sustainably steward our existing Valley Clayplain forest.

 

 

There are several ways to get involved in the Valley Clayplain Forest Project at Willowell. These include:

 

 

 

 

Land

Conservation

 

 

 

 

 

 

Valley Clayplain Forest Project

“Shall I not have intelligence with the earth? Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself?”                                                       --Henry David Thoreau

including an abundance of insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, like the bobcat who left this track (left) in the Valley

Clayplain forests at the Willowell Land. These creatures are drawn to

the Clayplain forest by the  abundant food, landscape diversity, warm climate, and the

 Pictured at right is the Redheaded

Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus),

denizen of the Valley Clayplain forest.

 

The Valley Clayplain forest is an incredibly rich ecosystem, including hundreds of species of plants and animals (humans included). It makes up a huge part of the native ecosystem of the southern Champlain Valley, and serves many functions including water and air purification and natural pest control. But the Valley Clayplain, which once extended over more than 220,000 acres, is now extremely rare here. Large patches of this forest type are even more rare, with most encompassing only 20 or 30 acres.

 

Though many animals do spend most or all of their annual cycles in the Clayplain, the relatively small size of the forest fragment on the Willowell land means that many species (especially larger animals such as moose and bear) are rare visitors here, merely passing through the forest to access neighboring properties or to feed seasonally. When corridors between pockets of Clayplain and larger habitat areas are destroyed, animals are unable to move safely through their former home ranges and are squeezed into smaller and smaller habitat areas. This leads to confrontations with humans, a weakened gene pool due to interbreeding, and a stressful quality of life that undermines breeding populations.

 

Development and town expansion are the greatest threat to these Clayplain patches, as the population of people in the Champlain Valley continues to increase.  The preservation of existing Valley Clayplain forest land and the reforestation of lands that have been damaged is crucial to the survival of the Clayplain and the many species that depend on it.

nearby water and wetlands that are most often found near the Clayplain. Of particular importance is the presence of the redheaded woodpecker, a bird rare to Vermont, in these forests.