1 00:00:05,407 --> 00:00:07,800 - All right, thank you everyone for joining us today. 2 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:11,190 This is the Changing Communities chat of the conference. 3 00:00:11,190 --> 00:00:13,460 I will first introduce Karl. 4 00:00:13,460 --> 00:00:16,550 He is the Watershed Specialist with the U.S. Forest Service 5 00:00:16,550 --> 00:00:20,470 and will present Vermont's Resilient Right-of-Ways Project. 6 00:00:20,470 --> 00:00:22,310 - Great, thanks. 7 00:00:22,310 --> 00:00:24,150 I know we have a limited amount of time, 8 00:00:24,150 --> 00:00:26,250 so I'm gonna jump right in here. 9 00:00:26,250 --> 00:00:28,690 What I'm gonna speak to you today about 10 00:00:28,690 --> 00:00:32,610 is a project that was done by the Vermont Forest Parks 11 00:00:32,610 --> 00:00:34,450 and Recreation Department. 12 00:00:34,450 --> 00:00:36,820 And this is a landscape scale restoration 13 00:00:36,820 --> 00:00:40,430 grant funded project from the U.S. Forest Service. 14 00:00:40,430 --> 00:00:42,890 The way folks are able to receive these grants 15 00:00:42,890 --> 00:00:47,750 is to scan the state's Forest Action Plan, 16 00:00:47,750 --> 00:00:51,160 which every state has, it's required by the fund bill 17 00:00:51,160 --> 00:00:54,080 and identify some objectives that they have a project 18 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:55,960 that can help meet those objectives. 19 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:59,230 So in this case, Vermont wanted to improve 20 00:00:59,230 --> 00:01:02,210 their green infrastructure capabilities 21 00:01:02,210 --> 00:01:05,640 in both rural and urban areas. 22 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:09,450 And so Elise Schadler and Joanne Garton 23 00:01:09,450 --> 00:01:12,220 were two exemplary staff members 24 00:01:12,220 --> 00:01:15,240 from Vermont's Urban and Community Forestry Program 25 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:16,950 that put this project together 26 00:01:16,950 --> 00:01:18,180 and I was the grant monitor. 27 00:01:18,180 --> 00:01:20,894 So I'm gonna explain to you what they did 28 00:01:20,894 --> 00:01:22,930 and how they did it and maybe some ways 29 00:01:22,930 --> 00:01:25,303 you might take this to your own communities. 30 00:01:26,630 --> 00:01:29,890 So the goal of this project was to develop ways 31 00:01:29,890 --> 00:01:33,180 that we can collaborate in green infrastructure management 32 00:01:33,180 --> 00:01:36,860 across the board, both in rural 33 00:01:36,860 --> 00:01:39,530 and in urban roadside environments. 34 00:01:39,530 --> 00:01:43,440 And the reason they're doing this is because Lake Champlain, 35 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:46,240 like many other large water bodies in the United States, 36 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:50,350 suffers from the influx of nutrients 37 00:01:50,350 --> 00:01:52,090 from a variety of land uses. 38 00:01:52,090 --> 00:01:55,200 And so they have a total maximum daily load 39 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,100 or a TMDL imposed on the lake 40 00:01:58,100 --> 00:02:01,840 to help limit phosphorous runoff into Lake Champlain. 41 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:04,393 So that's how this project kind of began. 42 00:02:05,270 --> 00:02:06,380 So how did they do this? 43 00:02:06,380 --> 00:02:07,990 Well, they had a kickoff meeting 44 00:02:07,990 --> 00:02:10,400 bringing a lot of partners together. 45 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:15,400 They prioritized all of their needs with GIS tools. 46 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:18,190 They developed a number of technical resources, 47 00:02:18,190 --> 00:02:21,330 and those are the ones that I'm gonna explain to you today. 48 00:02:21,330 --> 00:02:24,220 Those included a Green Streets Guide, 49 00:02:24,220 --> 00:02:25,810 a Resilient Right-of-Ways Guide, 50 00:02:25,810 --> 00:02:29,000 a Better Back Roads Manual, 51 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,290 and all of these are available online 52 00:02:31,290 --> 00:02:35,990 to help road managers in these urban 53 00:02:35,990 --> 00:02:38,440 and rural environments to help manage their roads 54 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:41,130 in a green way. 55 00:02:41,130 --> 00:02:43,750 So we delivered all these products to our partners 56 00:02:43,750 --> 00:02:47,400 across the state, looking at 10 different urban 57 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:51,500 and 10 different rural communities as a case study. 58 00:02:51,500 --> 00:02:52,730 And so for each of them, 59 00:02:52,730 --> 00:02:57,110 we developed presentations for those communities 60 00:02:57,110 --> 00:03:00,980 to think about as they continued managing their roads 61 00:03:00,980 --> 00:03:02,123 across the state. 62 00:03:03,500 --> 00:03:06,412 This is a list of some of the partners that are involved. 63 00:03:06,412 --> 00:03:09,430 The Vermont Agency of Commerce and Development, 64 00:03:09,430 --> 00:03:12,873 their State Transportation Agency, the DEC, 65 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:18,380 GIS staff, UVM, the League of Cities and Towns. 66 00:03:18,380 --> 00:03:20,070 And then we had a couple of consultants. 67 00:03:20,070 --> 00:03:23,910 Greenleaf Design, Watershed Consulting LLC, 68 00:03:23,910 --> 00:03:26,490 and Dubois and King that were very helpful 69 00:03:26,490 --> 00:03:28,913 in pulling this information together. 70 00:03:30,150 --> 00:03:32,370 So I'm gonna break this up into two components. 71 00:03:32,370 --> 00:03:36,210 The first of them is an urban component. 72 00:03:36,210 --> 00:03:40,160 So as I mentioned, we looked at 10 urban environments 73 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:42,220 to try and figure out better ways 74 00:03:42,220 --> 00:03:44,683 with which they could manage their streetscapes. 75 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:47,070 So why are we doing this? 76 00:03:47,070 --> 00:03:51,070 Well, the Vermont Clean Water Act required communities 77 00:03:51,070 --> 00:03:55,340 with either three acres of existing impervious surface 78 00:03:55,340 --> 00:03:59,610 or one acre of new impervious surface 79 00:03:59,610 --> 00:04:02,070 to apply for general permits. 80 00:04:02,070 --> 00:04:04,710 There's also communities that have to comply 81 00:04:04,710 --> 00:04:07,480 with the TMDL that I mentioned earlier. 82 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:11,040 And some of these standards could be difficult 83 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:12,640 for communities to uphold. 84 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:16,450 So that's why the state realized maybe they need some help 85 00:04:16,450 --> 00:04:17,750 and some guidance. 86 00:04:17,750 --> 00:04:21,050 Hence, the development of this guide. 87 00:04:21,050 --> 00:04:23,523 So the guide wanted to do a couple of things. 88 00:04:23,523 --> 00:04:27,310 Consider how they could plan for improvements 89 00:04:27,310 --> 00:04:29,910 on their streetscapes and install trees 90 00:04:29,910 --> 00:04:32,140 and other plants materials. 91 00:04:32,140 --> 00:04:33,980 How do they choose the right site 92 00:04:33,980 --> 00:04:38,663 with which to install these green infrastructure techniques? 93 00:04:40,470 --> 00:04:41,870 Importantly, how do they implement 94 00:04:41,870 --> 00:04:46,750 and then maintain these ecosystems in an urban environment? 95 00:04:46,750 --> 00:04:48,360 And this is often a stumbling block, 96 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,080 which I will explain a little bit later. 97 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:53,900 It's not like your traditional road maintenance 98 00:04:53,900 --> 00:04:58,900 that basically requires you to sweep and plow. 99 00:04:58,930 --> 00:05:00,700 And then we gave them some examples 100 00:05:00,700 --> 00:05:03,090 of different success stories across the state 101 00:05:03,090 --> 00:05:04,550 that they could consider. 102 00:05:04,550 --> 00:05:05,870 And all of this was, again, 103 00:05:05,870 --> 00:05:08,273 assembled in a Green Streets Guide. 104 00:05:09,170 --> 00:05:12,080 A number of outreach and training events occurred 105 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:14,710 across the state, whether it was Arbor Day 106 00:05:14,710 --> 00:05:19,620 or urban and community partner conferences. 107 00:05:19,620 --> 00:05:23,030 They had some virtual trainings and conferences 108 00:05:23,030 --> 00:05:26,190 and forums across the state to roll this out 109 00:05:26,190 --> 00:05:29,470 and to get information from interested parties 110 00:05:29,470 --> 00:05:33,960 across the state to customize this training product. 111 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:37,110 So I mentioned 10 municipal communities 112 00:05:37,110 --> 00:05:38,200 were involved in this. 113 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:43,200 The map on the right of the screen shows in light gray, 114 00:05:43,350 --> 00:05:45,730 the Lake Champlain watershed, 115 00:05:45,730 --> 00:05:50,730 which covers about 1/3 to perhaps 50% of the state, 116 00:05:51,060 --> 00:05:53,720 in the left side of the state. 117 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:57,560 And the stars indicate the communities that we worked in. 118 00:05:57,560 --> 00:05:59,100 They're kinda hard to see, 119 00:05:59,100 --> 00:06:01,020 but if you'll scroll through the slides, 120 00:06:01,020 --> 00:06:04,060 you'll see the towns will come up. 121 00:06:04,060 --> 00:06:07,610 There was a team of people involved from the state, 122 00:06:07,610 --> 00:06:10,120 from Vermont League of Cities and Towns. 123 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:12,050 And again, we had a couple of consultants 124 00:06:12,050 --> 00:06:15,340 that worked on this and some graduate students 125 00:06:15,340 --> 00:06:16,910 that were very helpful. 126 00:06:16,910 --> 00:06:19,220 And they prioritized these communities 127 00:06:19,220 --> 00:06:21,883 across the Lake Champlain basin. 128 00:06:22,740 --> 00:06:26,340 They developed an MOU which each community signed, 129 00:06:26,340 --> 00:06:29,640 which would provide them a variety of tools. 130 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:33,120 They received a couple of photo simulations, 131 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:36,730 which would show them what Green Stormwater Infrastructure, 132 00:06:36,730 --> 00:06:40,890 or GSI, would look like in their community. 133 00:06:40,890 --> 00:06:42,910 They reviewed the existing ordinances 134 00:06:42,910 --> 00:06:44,570 that these 10 communities had 135 00:06:44,570 --> 00:06:47,563 to look at some of their public works, 136 00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:51,730 ordinances, and plans that were already in place. 137 00:06:51,730 --> 00:06:53,330 And they met with each of the towns 138 00:06:53,330 --> 00:06:54,960 to give them a final presentation 139 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:57,773 on some potential strategies for the future. 140 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:01,510 And so this is a list of the towns, excuse me, 141 00:07:01,510 --> 00:07:05,040 across the state that were the 10 cities 142 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:07,440 that we were working with across Vermont. 143 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:09,680 And I'll go into a little bit more detail 144 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:11,980 in the next slides. 145 00:07:11,980 --> 00:07:14,950 So I'm gonna go through a series of photo simulations 146 00:07:14,950 --> 00:07:18,610 to show you how we hope towns can consider 147 00:07:18,610 --> 00:07:21,260 using Green Stormwater Infrastructure. 148 00:07:21,260 --> 00:07:24,590 So in this case, an existing street in Shelburne 149 00:07:24,590 --> 00:07:28,322 shows a street with a wide curb, 150 00:07:28,322 --> 00:07:31,750 some green grass, and a fire hydrant. 151 00:07:31,750 --> 00:07:33,250 So what could this look like 152 00:07:33,250 --> 00:07:36,870 if they want to incorporate Green Stormwater Infrastructure? 153 00:07:36,870 --> 00:07:38,750 Well, they would add a couple of bump-outs 154 00:07:38,750 --> 00:07:41,800 into the breakdown lane of this particular street 155 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:43,325 of the parking lane. 156 00:07:43,325 --> 00:07:48,325 Provide some plants and trees to absorb surface water runoff 157 00:07:48,510 --> 00:07:52,300 and absorb the nutrients and water and slowly release those 158 00:07:52,300 --> 00:07:55,300 or treat those in engineered soils 159 00:07:55,300 --> 00:07:57,953 beneath the planting structures. 160 00:07:59,090 --> 00:08:02,820 Here's your traditional parking lot at a, 161 00:08:02,820 --> 00:08:04,520 or it could be a supermarket somewhere. 162 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:06,290 This is in Williston. 163 00:08:06,290 --> 00:08:08,720 So you have a couple of islands in the foreground 164 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:11,430 that show some trees and plantings. 165 00:08:11,430 --> 00:08:13,790 The problem here is those are all elevated 166 00:08:13,790 --> 00:08:16,390 and there's no way for the stormwater, 167 00:08:16,390 --> 00:08:18,700 unless it was extraordinarily high, 168 00:08:18,700 --> 00:08:21,133 to infiltrate that raised basin. 169 00:08:23,660 --> 00:08:28,660 So this one would expand the tree cover and plant cover 170 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:32,300 and create some inlets and outlets based on a topography 171 00:08:32,300 --> 00:08:34,420 of that particular parking area. 172 00:08:34,420 --> 00:08:39,420 So surface water runoff could enter uphill of the structure, 173 00:08:39,790 --> 00:08:43,010 be absorbed in the soils and by the plant materials 174 00:08:43,010 --> 00:08:45,850 in the Green Stormwater Infrastructure. 175 00:08:45,850 --> 00:08:49,030 And then any overflow could exit further down 176 00:08:49,030 --> 00:08:51,060 a slope of the structure. 177 00:08:51,060 --> 00:08:54,120 It creates shade, it creates an urban ecosystem, 178 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:56,060 and it treats stormwaters, 179 00:08:56,060 --> 00:08:59,400 several important ecosystem services. 180 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:02,560 Another example from Williston showing you a corporate, 181 00:09:02,560 --> 00:09:06,240 perhaps an industrial park, which would be changed. 182 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:10,070 So here we, again, take some of that grass area, 183 00:09:10,070 --> 00:09:13,900 add some bump-outs with some bioswales 184 00:09:13,900 --> 00:09:16,260 or some stormwater gardens. 185 00:09:16,260 --> 00:09:20,800 And then again, add some trees in this open grassy area 186 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:25,800 to again, create shade and absorb nutrients and stormwater. 187 00:09:26,310 --> 00:09:29,930 Here's the Bowlerama, which on a quiet day, 188 00:09:29,930 --> 00:09:31,900 has a lot of empty parking places 189 00:09:31,900 --> 00:09:36,170 and not much green infrastructure. 190 00:09:36,170 --> 00:09:39,440 Well, you could improve that by planting some trees, 191 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:44,140 creating a riprap swale to absorb the stormwater 192 00:09:44,140 --> 00:09:46,160 adjacent to the sidewalk 193 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:49,800 and let it filter through these engineered soils 194 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:52,860 into the existing plant material. 195 00:09:52,860 --> 00:09:57,670 You've probably seen this when you hit a store 196 00:09:57,670 --> 00:09:59,910 on an average day, but might only fill up 197 00:09:59,910 --> 00:10:02,170 on the day after Thanksgiving. 198 00:10:02,170 --> 00:10:06,370 Well, let's take some of those often unused parking spots 199 00:10:06,370 --> 00:10:10,390 and create a bioswale adjacent to the parking areas 200 00:10:10,390 --> 00:10:12,100 that are rarely used. 201 00:10:12,100 --> 00:10:14,550 Again, it'll allow the stormwater to filter through 202 00:10:14,550 --> 00:10:17,970 by gravity and be absorbed by trees 203 00:10:17,970 --> 00:10:20,453 and plants adjacent to the parking lot. 204 00:10:22,158 --> 00:10:25,070 And this one here shows a residential structure, 205 00:10:25,070 --> 00:10:28,380 which has a lot of nice plants 206 00:10:28,380 --> 00:10:30,850 and grass in front of the house. 207 00:10:30,850 --> 00:10:33,180 But you'll see on the roof, there's no disconnect 208 00:10:33,180 --> 00:10:37,230 between the roof runoff and the surrounding plants. 209 00:10:37,230 --> 00:10:38,850 So what we would like to do here 210 00:10:38,850 --> 00:10:42,640 is to ask the homeowner to install some gutters 211 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:46,780 with downspouts that connect to a rain garden 212 00:10:46,780 --> 00:10:50,660 and let the water sink in to that plant material, 213 00:10:50,660 --> 00:10:54,430 as opposed to running off onto the street directly. 214 00:10:54,430 --> 00:10:55,850 I think this is one of the last ones, 215 00:10:55,850 --> 00:10:57,970 a suburban street in Essex. 216 00:10:57,970 --> 00:10:59,610 And this will give you a cross section 217 00:10:59,610 --> 00:11:02,360 of what some of these structures may look like. 218 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:05,520 So, as I mentioned, there's a series of engineered soils 219 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:07,190 underneath these plant materials 220 00:11:07,190 --> 00:11:10,970 that allows the water to run in to, be treated, 221 00:11:10,970 --> 00:11:15,108 and then to dump into the existing storm store 222 00:11:15,108 --> 00:11:16,510 once it's been treated 223 00:11:16,510 --> 00:11:18,660 and the nutrients are mostly removed 224 00:11:18,660 --> 00:11:20,763 by the plants and by the soil. 225 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:22,850 What did we learn from this? 226 00:11:22,850 --> 00:11:25,580 Well, one of the big things, as I mentioned earlier, 227 00:11:25,580 --> 00:11:27,793 is that maintenance of this is a concern. 228 00:11:28,830 --> 00:11:31,540 They're not like your typical lawns 229 00:11:31,540 --> 00:11:34,610 or grass that someone can just mow and walk away from. 230 00:11:34,610 --> 00:11:37,270 They the plants need to be tended, 231 00:11:37,270 --> 00:11:41,440 the soils may need to be replaced after a period of time. 232 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:43,630 And some towns are ready to do this, 233 00:11:43,630 --> 00:11:46,310 and some towns are somewhat leery of that. 234 00:11:46,310 --> 00:11:49,460 So it was important to show them what could be done 235 00:11:49,460 --> 00:11:52,203 and maybe what some of their challenges would be. 236 00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:55,260 The second part of this presentation 237 00:11:55,260 --> 00:11:57,263 talks about rural environments. 238 00:11:58,390 --> 00:12:01,780 So what we wanted to do here is to look at towns 239 00:12:01,780 --> 00:12:05,080 across the watershed that may have had 240 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:09,920 some water quality impairments over time 241 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:13,630 and consider ways that some of these rural towns 242 00:12:13,630 --> 00:12:16,040 could better manage their back roads 243 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:18,580 to help improve water quality 244 00:12:18,580 --> 00:12:21,560 and the ecosystems around those roads. 245 00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:22,640 So we looked at the towns 246 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,220 that had adverse water quality reports. 247 00:12:25,220 --> 00:12:28,063 So we phased this in over a period of years. 248 00:12:29,730 --> 00:12:33,268 So this shows that the 10 towns that we worked with 249 00:12:33,268 --> 00:12:37,890 from 2017 to 2020, again, those towns are highlighted 250 00:12:37,890 --> 00:12:39,373 on the map to the left. 251 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:46,440 So again, we produced a product for back roads, 252 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:48,440 roadside stewardship, 253 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:50,950 and this publication is available online 254 00:12:50,950 --> 00:12:54,880 to all communities within the state of Vermont. 255 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:56,540 The elements that we looked at were, 256 00:12:56,540 --> 00:12:59,240 how do we manage the vegetation width? 257 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:01,710 Look at historically significant trees, 258 00:13:01,710 --> 00:13:05,191 look at insect and disease infestations, 259 00:13:05,191 --> 00:13:07,630 the impact of mechanical damage, 260 00:13:07,630 --> 00:13:11,223 agriculture and the different ages of forests. 261 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:15,300 These are some of the issues that we wanna consider 262 00:13:15,300 --> 00:13:17,590 when we're looking at back roads stewardship. 263 00:13:17,590 --> 00:13:19,270 Who manages those roads? 264 00:13:19,270 --> 00:13:22,370 How do they prepare for insect infestations? 265 00:13:22,370 --> 00:13:26,040 How do they mow and maintain these roads? 266 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:29,490 How do they remove water from the roads 267 00:13:29,490 --> 00:13:33,323 at high flow events and things of that nature? 268 00:13:34,300 --> 00:13:37,080 Here's an example of what folks 269 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:39,890 at Vermont Forest Parks and Rec put together. 270 00:13:39,890 --> 00:13:41,090 They looked at the right of way, 271 00:13:41,090 --> 00:13:43,460 which is illustrated in the top right. 272 00:13:43,460 --> 00:13:45,430 The road width in the center, 273 00:13:45,430 --> 00:13:47,810 the cleared right of way in the pink areas, 274 00:13:47,810 --> 00:13:50,740 and then the vegetation width to the far left 275 00:13:50,740 --> 00:13:53,030 and right of the roadway. 276 00:13:53,030 --> 00:13:56,250 And they measured how wide those roadway widths were 277 00:13:56,250 --> 00:13:57,230 in different parts. 278 00:13:57,230 --> 00:14:00,313 In this case, in the town of Hyde Park, Vermont. 279 00:14:01,290 --> 00:14:02,420 So the larger the circle 280 00:14:02,420 --> 00:14:04,963 indicates the larger vegetation width. 281 00:14:05,860 --> 00:14:08,700 And again, part of the manual that was produced 282 00:14:08,700 --> 00:14:11,970 for these folks looked at how they could better deal 283 00:14:11,970 --> 00:14:16,580 with that width which was in general, 49.5 feet. 284 00:14:16,580 --> 00:14:19,810 The travel surface, the cleared zone, 285 00:14:19,810 --> 00:14:22,150 and then the manage of vegetation beyond that. 286 00:14:22,150 --> 00:14:25,700 And that gives you your plus or minus 50-foot width 287 00:14:25,700 --> 00:14:27,463 with which to manage that road. 288 00:14:29,350 --> 00:14:31,270 One of the things that we saw repeatedly 289 00:14:31,270 --> 00:14:34,190 was tree health and mechanical damage. 290 00:14:34,190 --> 00:14:36,430 No surprise in this part of the country, 291 00:14:36,430 --> 00:14:38,110 we get a lot of snow 292 00:14:38,110 --> 00:14:40,190 and we got a lot of snow plow operators 293 00:14:40,190 --> 00:14:44,400 that have to remove that snow for public safety concerns. 294 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:46,560 And they oftentimes bump into these trees, 295 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:49,283 creating all kinds of mechanical damage. 296 00:14:50,230 --> 00:14:52,700 So in this map, you'll see in Stowe, Vermont, 297 00:14:52,700 --> 00:14:54,960 we looked at different parts of the town 298 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:59,620 where we had different degrees of damage 299 00:14:59,620 --> 00:15:02,233 to trees along the roadways. 300 00:15:03,300 --> 00:15:06,310 Again, more illustrations of how that roadway 301 00:15:06,310 --> 00:15:10,630 was impacted by a mechanical damage over time 302 00:15:10,630 --> 00:15:13,750 and how they could perhaps repair that damage. 303 00:15:13,750 --> 00:15:16,540 Can they remove some of those damaged trees? 304 00:15:16,540 --> 00:15:19,860 Can they better instruct their plow drivers 305 00:15:19,860 --> 00:15:21,263 on how to deal with this? 306 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:23,113 We also find that increasingly, 307 00:15:23,113 --> 00:15:27,870 agriculture and hedge rows may impact the roadside area. 308 00:15:27,870 --> 00:15:29,010 So it's important to work 309 00:15:29,010 --> 00:15:33,300 with the landowners that own those crop lands 310 00:15:33,300 --> 00:15:36,530 to help them better manage their crop lands 311 00:15:36,530 --> 00:15:39,050 alongside roadways. 312 00:15:39,050 --> 00:15:42,120 We have Ash trees that are unfortunately succumbing 313 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:44,490 to the impacts of the emerald ash borer. 314 00:15:44,490 --> 00:15:47,580 And we may have some hazard trees in these areas 315 00:15:47,580 --> 00:15:48,943 that have to be removed. 316 00:15:49,830 --> 00:15:54,010 Oftentimes, utilities impact these roadways 317 00:15:54,010 --> 00:15:55,850 and the trees have to be removed 318 00:15:55,850 --> 00:15:58,610 to improve the transport of electricity 319 00:15:58,610 --> 00:15:59,823 or other utilities. 320 00:16:00,730 --> 00:16:02,290 And we have different ages of forests 321 00:16:02,290 --> 00:16:05,680 that have to be managed in some cases, different ways, 322 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:09,520 because oftentimes, a younger forest might succumb to wind 323 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:12,350 or rain events differently than a mature forest. 324 00:16:12,350 --> 00:16:15,813 And all these impacts were outlined in this guide. 325 00:16:16,750 --> 00:16:18,430 Invasive plants is another issue. 326 00:16:18,430 --> 00:16:21,420 We have things like Japanese knotweed, 327 00:16:21,420 --> 00:16:23,723 which is a horrendous invasive plant. 328 00:16:25,500 --> 00:16:27,500 So to help folks manage that better, 329 00:16:27,500 --> 00:16:30,670 we put together a phonology and a management calendar 330 00:16:30,670 --> 00:16:35,000 of the most common roadside invasive plants in Vermont, 331 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:37,860 and gave them an idea of when they flower, 332 00:16:37,860 --> 00:16:39,850 when they leaf out, when they seed, 333 00:16:39,850 --> 00:16:42,580 and when's the best time to mow or in some cases, 334 00:16:42,580 --> 00:16:46,701 treat with herbicides these invasive plants. 335 00:16:46,701 --> 00:16:48,010 And this is just a survey 336 00:16:48,010 --> 00:16:51,600 of East Montpelier showing folks in that town 337 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:54,569 where we found different species of invasives 338 00:16:54,569 --> 00:16:57,040 across the community. 339 00:16:57,040 --> 00:16:58,520 This roadside management 340 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:00,640 and mowing policy would hopefully help 341 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:02,290 some of these folks better understand 342 00:17:02,290 --> 00:17:05,120 different ways to mow those right-of-ways. 343 00:17:05,120 --> 00:17:06,850 And finally, the lessons learned. 344 00:17:06,850 --> 00:17:08,410 There's a lot of different interests 345 00:17:08,410 --> 00:17:10,300 on how to maintain these roads. 346 00:17:10,300 --> 00:17:12,860 Every town has a little bit different capacity 347 00:17:12,860 --> 00:17:15,250 to manage the roads. 348 00:17:15,250 --> 00:17:18,300 Emerald ash borer affects different communities 349 00:17:18,300 --> 00:17:19,770 in different ways. 350 00:17:19,770 --> 00:17:22,670 And this technical guidance will hopefully help them 351 00:17:22,670 --> 00:17:25,200 manage their trees in perpetuity 352 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:27,633 as we face these changing conditions. 353 00:17:28,540 --> 00:17:30,360 Here's a link to some websites 354 00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:32,460 where you can learn more about this project 355 00:17:32,460 --> 00:17:34,510 or download these community guides 356 00:17:36,450 --> 00:17:39,238 and a lot of the partners that were involved in this, 357 00:17:39,238 --> 00:17:42,820 Vermont Parks and Rec and their invasives programs. 358 00:17:42,820 --> 00:17:44,263 I think that's it. 359 00:17:46,420 --> 00:17:47,570 - [Moderator] We have just a few minutes. 360 00:17:47,570 --> 00:17:49,617 If anyone has questions for Karl, 361 00:17:49,617 --> 00:17:52,883 you can put them in the chat or ask them directly. 362 00:17:54,180 --> 00:17:55,250 We have question here, 363 00:17:55,250 --> 00:17:57,010 thank you for the invasive plant phonology 364 00:17:57,010 --> 00:17:58,620 for roadside maintenance guide. 365 00:17:58,620 --> 00:18:00,900 That slide flew quickly. 366 00:18:00,900 --> 00:18:05,113 Is there a time of year that is clearly best for treatment? 367 00:18:06,210 --> 00:18:08,360 - [Karl] Well, that depends on the species. 368 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:13,340 Some plants have a very limited flowering period 369 00:18:13,340 --> 00:18:16,698 followed by a longer seed period. 370 00:18:16,698 --> 00:18:19,870 The basic idea is you wanna remove these plants 371 00:18:19,870 --> 00:18:21,940 before they get to the seed stage. 372 00:18:21,940 --> 00:18:24,760 And those seeds can be distributed 373 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:29,333 either mechanically by wind or rain or by biologically, 374 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:33,730 by birds and other animals. 375 00:18:33,730 --> 00:18:37,430 So it's important to treat them prior to seed stage 376 00:18:37,430 --> 00:18:39,290 so that those seeds don't proliferate 377 00:18:39,290 --> 00:18:41,380 across the environment. 378 00:18:41,380 --> 00:18:42,990 - [Moderator] Thanks, John. 379 00:18:42,990 --> 00:18:45,810 And Karl, if you wanna elaborate on anything 380 00:18:45,810 --> 00:18:48,410 that flew by quickly. 381 00:18:48,410 --> 00:18:50,500 - [Karl] I guess I would encourage folks 382 00:18:50,500 --> 00:18:52,010 to take a look at these guides 383 00:18:52,010 --> 00:18:54,320 and work with your local communities 384 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:58,450 to transfer them to another city or another state 385 00:18:58,450 --> 00:19:01,590 to see if folks in your communities might be interested 386 00:19:01,590 --> 00:19:04,510 in improving their stormwater management. 387 00:19:04,510 --> 00:19:08,130 So Vermont did a real good job and in select communities. 388 00:19:08,130 --> 00:19:09,730 And I hope that that information 389 00:19:09,730 --> 00:19:12,210 can be broadcast far and wide. 390 00:19:12,210 --> 00:19:14,920 That's kinda why I wanted to produce this talk 391 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:17,930 to make folks aware of this and hopefully get it out 392 00:19:17,930 --> 00:19:20,840 into the hands of other municipal road managers 393 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:21,953 across the region. 394 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:24,793 - [Moderator] We have Anika. 395 00:19:24,793 --> 00:19:26,910 I heard about this project from the New York side 396 00:19:26,910 --> 00:19:27,810 of the watershed. 397 00:19:27,810 --> 00:19:31,723 Can you comment at all on working across state lines? 398 00:19:33,510 --> 00:19:35,490 - [Karl] Well, I think this project 399 00:19:35,490 --> 00:19:38,530 could be easily transferrable to New York. 400 00:19:38,530 --> 00:19:40,730 Obviously, they share the same watershed 401 00:19:40,730 --> 00:19:45,730 and the same Lake Champlain concerns that all of us do. 402 00:19:45,990 --> 00:19:48,850 And I think it's a matter of taking the guide 403 00:19:48,850 --> 00:19:52,400 and bringing it to a community on the New York side, 404 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:55,537 Department of Public Works or other staff person to say, 405 00:19:55,537 --> 00:19:57,200 "This is what they're doing in Vermont. 406 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:00,540 Is there a way to use this type of infrastructure 407 00:20:00,540 --> 00:20:02,500 here in New York?" 408 00:20:02,500 --> 00:20:04,650 And maybe there's an opportunity 409 00:20:04,650 --> 00:20:08,870 to use a landscape scale restoration grant 410 00:20:08,870 --> 00:20:11,550 from the Forest Service to pull this off 411 00:20:11,550 --> 00:20:12,620 across the boundary. 412 00:20:12,620 --> 00:20:15,790 So look at your state's Forest Action Plan in New York 413 00:20:15,790 --> 00:20:17,830 and see if there's a connection 414 00:20:17,830 --> 00:20:19,833 to green forest infrastructure. 415 00:20:21,310 --> 00:20:22,390 - [Moderator] We have a comment here, 416 00:20:22,390 --> 00:20:24,680 Vermont Urban and Community Forestry Program, 417 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:26,120 can you share more background 418 00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:29,770 and provide or mail printed copies of both guides? 419 00:20:29,770 --> 00:20:33,390 - [Karl] Yeah, Joanne was the project lead on this, 420 00:20:33,390 --> 00:20:36,070 especially in the rural component and she was terrific. 421 00:20:36,070 --> 00:20:39,263 So follow up on Joanne's lead and use these tools. 422 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:43,190 - [Moderator] Well, thank you, Karl. 423 00:20:43,190 --> 00:20:44,490 - [Karl] Thanks everybody.