Many moons ago, the Lamoille River — like all rivers — carved a different path than it does today. There’s proof here on these two-dozen acres sandwiched between the banks of the Lamoille and Goose Pond. Seen from above, it’s clear that Goose Pond wasn’t always a pond. The “pond” is the curving remains of the Lamoille River’s old channel, but the Lamoille hasn’t entirely moved on from its old path. After heavy rains, the Lamoille reclaims its old path, overflowing onto the land between the river and pond, creating a vibrant and temporary wetland. This seasonal flooding creates important bird and wildlife habitat, and also helps slow the river to prevent flood damage to downstream homes and roads.
We protected this area with an easement to make sure the Lamoille would always be able to move and change over time, and to make sure that riverside trees and shrubs would be allowed to grow-up naturally, helping to keep soils from washing downstream. The landowner can continue to plant and harvest black walnuts from the land, wildlife have better habitat, and downstream homes and roads are more protected from flooding.
This project made possible thanks to the support and partnership of:
Only accessible for paddlers on the Lamoille River. No public access via the land.
