La Platte River Watershed Education Project

The La Platte River Watershed Education Project is a project of the Lake Champlain Land Trust, a non-profit organization working to protect Lake Champlain since 1978.

The focus of the La Platte River Watershed Education Project is Shelburne River Park in the heart of the La Platte River watershed. Our public access park protects important wildlife habitat and provides a great public access spot to one of the best canoe and kayak trips on Lake Champlain. Park your car, unload the kayak, and float one mile on the La Platte River's flatwater to the Shelburne Bay section of Lake Champlain! Please Contact Us if you would like to report any wildlife observations, questions, or concerns.

The Shelburne River Park offers the perfect on-site demonstration area for helping educate everyone about the La Platte River Watershed. We have divided these solutions into the following categories:

1. Saving key natural areas
2. Restoration of river corridors and riverbanks
3. Removing non-native species
4. Recreation
   

Shores of lower La Platte

Paddling the La Platte in June

(1) Saving Key Natural Areas
With help from our conservation partners, the Lake Champlain Land Trust bought and permanently protected the Shelburne River Park in 2004. Shelburne River Park was a high priority conservation spot as it linked to other conserved lands both upstream and downstream along the La Platte River Greenbelt. The Town of Shelburne has worked toward permanent conservation of this critical wildlife habitat and water quality buffer since the 1970s. The Lake Champlain Land Trust was pleased to partner with the Town of Shelburne to purchase this extraordinary public access park and wildlife habitat area. With the help of the Town of Shelburne Conservation Fund, the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, and numerous community members, we saved this park in 2004. We removed the dangerous dilapidated structure on the parcel in 2005. We hosted a ribbon cutting, featuring Governor Douglas and others, in 2005. We installed a permanent canoe and kayak launch and began an ecological restoration and education effort, thanks to a Lake Champlain Basin Partnership Program grant (http://www.lcbp.org).

In 2006 we increased our efforts to remove invasive plant species throughout the river corridor buffer zone. We also restored the lawn area as a picnic site and educational signs will soon be installed in the park itself.

(2) Restoration of river corridors and riverbanks
Our park is one part of a larger wildlife migration corridor along the La Platte River. Part of our demonstration efforts include the physical location of lawns and cleared areas far from the banks of the La Platte River. By re-establishing a forested conservation buffer along the banks of the La Platte River, we ensure that migrating mammals such as bobcat and mink are able to use historic migrating paths. Our forested conservation area is not fertilized or sprayed with chemicals or other lawn treatments and/or potentially toxic materials. For tips on maintaining your lawn without excess fertilizers and chemicals, please see http://www.lcbp.org/lawn.htm

Maintaining our forested conservation area helps to shade the La Platte River. Learn more about maintaining these shaded conservation buffers:
http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/live/g1557/build/g1557.pdf
http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/nps/documents/FINAL-BuffersforCleanWaterBrochure.pdf

The larger La Platte River wildlife corridor contains a diverse mix of wetland and upland natural communities and fifteen different rare or uncommon plant species. Wildlife remains abundant within the entire La Platte River corridor. With great foresight, a large portion of the La Platte River corridor has been protected. The river corridor is a great place to see belted kingfisher, great blue herons, and several kinds of ducks and birds like the woodcock, gray catbird, song sparrow, and ruffed grouse. In addition to the bobcat, mammals found along the La Platte River include mink, beaver, deer, long-tailed weasel, short-tailed shrew, and black bear. Two state endangered fish species, the Channel Darter and Stonecat, are also found in the La Platte River. Recent reports from kayakers include owls perched in the towering Silver Maple in the lower section and Spotted Gar in the water under the railroad bridge.

(3) Removing non-native species
One of the easiest ways landowners can help protect Lake Champlain is to remove non-native species from their land. Also known as exotics or nuisance species, these troublesome species compete with and jeopardize native plants and animals and may also hinder various recreational and economic activities. In the La Platte River and greater Lake Champlain Region, there are both aquatic and terrestrial examples of nuisance plants and animals.

The various residential and industrial land uses have left the river banks with a tangled mix of native and non-native plants. As part of one of its Volunteer Work Days, the Lake Champlain Land Trust cleared most of the invasive Japanese Honeysuckle and Buckthorn species from the river protection buffer zone. The continued crowding of native plants by these troublesome invaders can still be seen within the rest of the Shelburne River Park.

To learn about specific aquatic nuisance species in the Lake Champlain Basin, please see the following site of the Lake Champlain Basin Program: Aquatic Nuisance Species in Lake Champlain http://www.lcbp.org/nuissum.htm .

1. While most invasive plant species reproduce and spread rapidly, the Lake Champlain Basin Program offers several simple ways to help slow the proliferation of non-natives:
   Inspect all recreation equipment (canoe, kayak, paddles, fishing gear) for plant material both before and after using the water.
2. Purchase only native plants for your home landscaping
3. Do not release exotic plants or animals into the wild

For a complete list of tips to stop aquatic species, refer to the Lake Champlain Basin Program factsheet:
Aquatic Invaders: You can Help Stop the Spread Today! www.lcbp.org/PDFs/ANS_Invaders.pdf
Also check-out the group of Vermont Invasive Patrollers organized by the Water Quality Division of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). This group of invasive species watchers is organized to monitor Vermont water bodies and report to the DEC. Everyone is welcome to join! Be a VIP: Vermont Invasive Patroller!http://www.anr.state.vt.us/dec/waterq/lakes/htm/ans/lp_vip.htm

Native plants such as Silver Maple, Red Maple, and Green Ash will soon replace the non-native species, protecting both the riverbank and the species that live there. Please stop back to see the progress of our restoration efforts.

(4) Recreation
Plants and animals are not the only ones who will benefit from the La Platte River Watershed Project; humans will have many opportunities to enjoy the river.

In 2006, the Lake Champlain Land Trust restored an area of the Shelburne River Park and built a canoe and kayak launch, currently open to the public. With convenient parking off Route 7 just north of the Shelburne Village, kayakers can launch and travel the approximately one mile flatwater float to the southern tip of Shelburne Bay on Lake Champlain. (During certain times of the year one may need to meander around fallen trees.)

Walkers in the Village of Shelburne can easily walk north and picnic at Shelburne River Park-- with a new sidewalk to make the trip easier in 2008. The future interconnected recreation path will also cross the La Platte River right in front of Shelburne River Park.

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