Walking along the Montpelier bike path between Shaws and Montpelier High School, you’ll find yourself following a chain link fence between you and the river. The fence is covered in virginia creeper and poison ivy, so you don’t even want to brush up against it. You look through the trees and brush to the other side of the river, and it’s not much better. You see state parking lots, backing right up to the river, with about only ten feet of buffer. It’s not what you’d call accessible, and as you travel further down stream, it’s not much better. There is a small park and boat put-in marked by a canoe statue with a mural, but it rarely sees use, as most people would not recommend so much as touching this water. From the Bailey Street bridge, you can look down into the water and see a plethora of trashed items in the shallow water. All of these features have one effect – people can’t use and appreciate the river.
School St. Bridge, Montpelier.
Unappealing rivers like this are a result of centuries of abuse. This causes a cycle evident in almost every river town in the United States. The rivers are channelized, built up, polluted and trashed, and because of this, people don’t want to and can’t enjoy the river. Because of this, not enough people care about the river, so there aren’t enough people working to improve the river – whether that be through their vote or their actions.
Not everywhere is like this though. At the end of the bike path, around the corner from the sewage treatment plant, you’ll find Montpelier’s favorite swimming hole – the Dog River Fields. This stretch of river, a little over a kilometer long, is teaming with people all summer long. Why? There are trees. There aren’t buildings and roads suffocating the river. The people long for natural rivers. This loved stretch of river is just a few minutes drive or bike ride outside of Montpelier, but the simple act of leaving a little space for it to breathe can breed a whole new love and appreciation for the rivers.
Sam Brondyke is a senior at Montpelier High School. As a sophomore, he was a student in Face the River, a hands-on class kickstarted by Vermont River Conservancy in which students get their boots muddy studying the abiotic, biotic, and cultural aspects of rivers. Sam spent fall 2024 doing a Community Based Learning internship with Vermont River Conservancy – investigating dams with an expert engineer, getting out on-the-ground with our Stewardship Manager, and writing a series of blogs to share reflections on how his hometown Montpelier community relates to local rivers.