Amy Sheldon Watershed Coordinator

1. Amy Sheldon Watershed Coordinator February 3, 2004

3. The Watershed • 454,000 acres (710 sq. miles) • 56 mile main stem • Over 100 miles with tributaries • 21 towns • 40,000 residents

4. Why the White River? • Largest un-dammed tributary to the Connecticut River; • Longest free flowing river in Vermont; • Atlantic salmon restoration river; • Significant recreational resource for residents and tourists -- one of the longest uninterrupted boating runs in New England.

5. 1996 Public Forums • 11,000 mailings • Six listening forums • Over 150 participants • Resulted in seven priority areas

6. Seven Priority Areas • Water quality • Riparian habitat • Streambank erosion • Public awareness of problems • Public access to the river • Point source and non-point source pollution • Maintaining a working landscape (agricultural and forest)

7. Our Mission Our mission is to help local communities balance the long-term cultural, economic and environmental health of the White River Watershed through active citizen participation.

8. 1999 Clean Water Action Plan (CWAP)

9. 2000 U.S. Forest Service Community-Based Watershed Restoration Grant • One of 15 watersheds chosen nationally • 1.2 million dollars over 5 years • Building a long term presence

10. The Partnership Today • Decentralized • Consensus based • Focus on lasting change

12. Our Work Program • Watershed wide assessment; • River restoration; • Economic sustainability; • Outreach and Education; • Stewardship.

13. State of the Partnership • Six functioning stream teams; • Active 11 member board; • 300 volunteers planting trees in the spring; • 30 volunteers collecting weekly water quality samples; • Two full time staff, 1 Summer water quality intern, 2 Assessment Consultants (summer & computer);

14. State of the Partnership • Two partner staff dedicated to restoration projects in the watershed; • Six partner staff assisting with restoration projects in the watershed; • Riparian tree planting program with the conservation district; • Upper River Pilot Project; • Forestry Work Group.

15. USFS Support Total Support = $951,000

16. Accomplishments Assessment • Phase I completed on over 700 reaches – currently being updated to final version; • Phase II field assessment done for 240 reaches.

17. Accomplishments Restoration • Continue to take on new restoration challenges that engage our partners AND benefit the watershed; • 3.5 miles of streambank stabilized and in-stream habitat restored; • 800 volunteers have planted 7,000 trees in 4 miles of riparian area.

18. Accomplishments Economic development • UVM Forestry research; • AMP research with County Forester; • Increased local capacity among contractors; • Created promotional watershed map.

19. Accomplishments Outreach & Education • Topnotch newsletter that people read! • User friendly, inexpensive web page that we maintain and update regularly; • Developing six sub-watershed signs; • Development of six watershed “quests.”

20. Accomplishments Stewardship • 240 contributing members; • Attracting outside funding; • Continue to engage new partners; • Volunteer commitment remains high.

21. Frustrations & Barriers • Achieving balance between community involvement/process & getting things done (restoration projects, riparian planting programs etc.); • Increasing project capacity when outside partners have statewide commitments; • Consistently working on the edge of local and perhaps national experience (first to use the State’s assessment protocol, first to complete different types of geomorphic based restoration projects);

22. Frustrations & Barriers • Disconnect between how we do restoration projects (natural channel design) and “conventional wisdom” of gravel extraction and hard armoring; • Volunteer leadership skills; • Volunteer time – re: community collaborative challenge – getting small business owners to make time for a shared vision when they are working hard on their own businesses.

23. For more information: www.whiteriverpartnership.org