Back in the day, before City Market had a Rally for Change, they celebrated Valentine’s Day by raising money in February for the Intervale Center. For a dollar, you could put your name on a heart and post it in the windows at the front of the store. It was always so fun to see the windows filling up with love from our community back to the Intervale Center.
We are so grateful to be a part of what makes Burlington so special and to feel the love every day from all of you. In this newsletter, we share ways for you to connect more deeply with the place we call home and engage more intentionally with the broader network of organizations that is commitment to Vermont’s farms, land and people.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
You will always be at the heart of our work, and we HEART you.
Become a monthly supporter of the Intervale Center!
You will provide dependable funding we can rely on to help us take care of Vermont’s farms, land and people while simultaneously allowing us to spend less time on future appeals. Plus, we’ll only ask you to renew your gift once a year. It’s a win-win! $5-$10/month makes a difference.
We hope you’ll join us as a new monthly donor!
Give online at www.intervale.org/donate and choose “monthly”
On the Blog
Wildlife Tracking Guide in the Intervale
Wildlife Tracking is an exciting activity during the winter – especially with freshly fallen snow! That’s why we partnered with VT Fish and Wildlife to create the Wildlife Tracking Self-Guided Walk, right here at the Intervale. Bring your family and begin your less than a half mile walk at the first trailhead and unravel the fascinating stories that you’ll find in the tracks of red fox, weasel, fisher cat and more!
As you visit the eleven information stations throughout the Calkins loop, you can learn all about the animals through pictures, text and a QR code that you can scan with your mobile device to watch trail camera footage and outdoor classroom style videos.
So, come on down to the Intervale and love the land with us!
“From July through September, I hung 25 cameras over 10 separate transects on both sides of the Winooski River. I had a rotating crew of masked, socially distant helpers – most of whom had more experience (and more responsibilities limiting their availability) than me. Together, we carefully selected places where we could collect images of animal behavior around a waterway, a hedgerow, a trail, or an agriculture field. We noted details about the habitat where we hung each camera, including the presence of food sources such as mast species or small animals, whether or not there were invasive plants, how disturbed/intact/restored the ecosystem was; and we noted specifics about the location of each camera, including the direction they were facing, their height from the ground, and their distance from a human-interest feature like a trail or a powerline. There were a lot of stakeholders, a lot of cameras, and a lot of questions, and we hoped that by tracking a lot of variables we could answer at least some of them.”
From the voice of our Land Stewardship Research Associate, Lina Swislocki, read on here.
Job Openings at the IC!
Food Access Assistant
The Food Access Assistant will work alongside the Land Stewardship team and the Gleaning and Food Rescue team and will work in all aspects of the Peoples Farm, Peoples Garden, and Abenaki Heritage Garden maintenance, strategic planning, and evaluation. An ideal candidate has experience in community building and program development, passion and knowledge for community gardening, food access and/or indigenous food crops, is self-motivated, personable, and a team player. A full job description and instructions to apply can be found here.
Nursery Propagation Coordinator
The Propagation Coordinator is responsible for high quality tree and shrub propagation at our native nursery. The Coordinator will work with the Conservation Nursery Manager to forecast production targets, produce top quality trees and shrubs, manage greenhouse production, and support the broader production goals of the Nursery. An ideal candidate has nursery or farm experience, greenhouse production experience, the ability to work outside in various weather conditions, and the ability and desire to work with a team and provide leadership in the field.
A full job description and instructions to apply can be found here.
Upcoming Workshops from our Partners
NOFA-VT
Winter Conference 2021
February 7 – March 4, 2021
Join NOFA-VT for an incredible month-long series of events with many different opportunities for online learning, gathering, and movement building!
Vermont Healthy Soils Coalition
Soil Health and Community Resilience: Stories from the North
February – April 2021
Join the Vermont Healthy Soils Coalition and Littleton Food Co-op for a six event deep dive into building healthy soils and resilient communities focused on the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and North Country of New Hampshire!
