The land surrounding and buffering Lake Champlain is one of the basin’s most important stewardship responsibilities.  Could Samuel de Champlain still experience the undeveloped Lake Champlain lakeshore?  Will the folks celebrating the 800th anniversary still visit undeveloped lakeshore areas?  Yes and Yes. Thanks to the Lake Champlain Land Trust and our partners, people from all over New England can visit natural areas and public access parks that remain as Samuel de Champlain would have explored them in 1609.  The cliffs of Eagle Mountain remain wild, Gramma’s Island has nesting habitat for endangered birds, the sands of Niquette Bay State Park and Rossetti Natural Area are uninterrupted by structures, and the waterfalls of Mill River Falls are still jumped by the steelhead salmon. (To experience for yourself the Lake Champlain landscape as Samuel de Champlain did in 1609, see our list of 2009 landscape tours at www.lclt.org/ ExperienceLakeChamplain1609.html). 

However our land conservation and stewardship efforts should not be taken for granted.  These Lake Champlain gems remain natural in part because people have acted on their belief that these lands have value as undeveloped natural areas—as a balance to the development found throughout the lake.  Purchasing and saving a property is just the first step.  After we conserve a property we have a permanent obligation to protect and steward these preserves forever.  The Lake Champlain Land Trust is responsible for stewarding dozens of public access parks and natural areas throughout the Lake.  We have protected habitat for dozens of rare species, protected some of Vermont’s best natural communities, preserved historic islands of immeasurable beauty, saved irreplaceable scenic vistas, and protected irreplaceable fossils.  Stewarding Vermont’s unsurpassed scenic areas and natural resources is critical to the health of our economy, our families, our communities, and our wildlife.  We have protected so many places of extraordinary beauty and wildlife habitat - special places that must now be constantly monitored.

Land stewardship takes many forms in 2009.  The land managers and conservation organizations work together to provide low-impact access while protecting the natural and cultural resources on the land.  The Lake Champlain Land Trust stewardship program monitors projects to make sure public lands are accessible and user friendly.   We work with our partners to install bridges over the wet section of the trail, maintain the scenic vistas, or protect the land from irresponsible users.  Humans have introduced many threats to the land surrounding Lake Champlain-- from grazing cows in the streams feeding Lake Champlain to the non-native invasive species crowding out the native species.  Thanks to the efforts of many different organizations, the land around Lake Champlain is increasingly being protected and stewarded.