New parcel added to Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge!
Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge: A celebration!
Thirty Two acres of beautiful grassland bird habitat saved in Hadley, MA, beneath the Holyoke Range on October 25, 2012.
This $1 million project was orchestrated by the Kestrel Land Trust (KLT), the Trust for Public Land (TPL), the office of U.S. Congressman John Olver, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USF&W) and private donors.
Today's event celebrates this recent addition to the Refuge and also highlights the work of Representative Olver who has been a key spokesman for wildlife and farm preservation in New England and all over America. Thank you, Congressman Olver!
In this area of Moody Bridge Rd./Fort River in Hadley, MA, over 300 acres altogether has been rescued from development for grassland birds.
Speakers at this event, in order of appearance:
--Kristin DeBoer, Executive Director of the Kestrel Land Trust (KLT), Amherst, MA
413-549-109; info@kestreltrust.org ; kestreltrust.org
--Page Knudsen Cowles, Chair of the national board at the Trust for Public Land (TPL) (617) 367-6200; tpl.org; massachusetts@tpl.org (Also present are Clem Clay, Peter Jones and Kevin Eddington, local staff for TPL)
--Honorary Guest: U.S. Congressman John Olver
--Patrick Comins, Chair of the Friends of the Conte Refuge & Director of Bird Conservation for Audubon Connecticut; (203) 264-5098; pcomins@audubon.org
--Andrew French Project Leader of the Conte Refuge for U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
413-548-8002, ext. 111 ; andrew_french@fws.gov
--Judy Eiseman, Executive Board of the Kestrel Land Trust (kestreltrust.org)
Videography and editing by Robert A. Jonas, Executive Board of the Kestrel Land Trust
(emptybell.org) Menu music licensed to Robert A. Jonas by SmartSound.
Volunteering at Sylvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. Section 2, Group 8, 12/5/2018
Our team volunteered at the Sylvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge Fort River Division in South Hadley, MA working to mitigate invasive plant species that crowd out native plants important to local wildlife. We used common forestry tools such as hand shears, loppers, and an Extractagator to cut and remove three types of invasive plants: bittersweet, autumn olive, and buckthorn.
Cynthia Boettner from the US Fish and Wildlife Service served as our guide and coordinator, and we would like to give her a special thanks for dedicating time and effort to this noble cause. Also, thank you to Meg Bradley from the US Fish and Wildlife Service who aided with our volunteering.
To learn more about the Sylvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge visit their website at:
Music: Playful, iMovie Sound Effects
Removing Invasive Species With the Silvio O.Conte Refuge. Section 2, group 6, October, 2017
We removed invasive species at the Hadley, MA site of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. Many thanks to Brad and Ben for taking us out and showing us how to properly remove these species that threaten our forests’ biodiversity.
Music: Playful- Theme Music iMovie
Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge
00:01:23 1 Areas
00:01:38 1.1 Connecticut
00:02:19 1.2 Massachusetts
00:03:40 1.3 New Hampshire
00:04:07 1.4 Vermont
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- Socrates
SUMMARY
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Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge was established in 1997 to conserve, protect and enhance the abundance and diversity of native plant, fish and wildlife species and the ecosystems on which they depend throughout the 7,200,000-acre (29,000 km2) Connecticut River watershed. The watershed covers large areas of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut. It contains a great diversity of habitats, notably: northern forest valuable as nesting habitat for migrant thrushes, warblers and other birds; rivers and streams used by shad, salmon, herring and other migratory fishes; and an internationally significant complex of high-quality tidal fresh, brackish and salt marshes.
The refuge works in partnership with a wide variety of individuals and organizations to provide environmental education, to encourage and support appropriate habitat conservation and management on public and private lands, and to protect additional habitat.
The refuge has three cooperative visitor centers: in Colebrook, New Hampshire; at the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, Vermont; and Great Falls Discovery Center in Turners Falls, Massachusetts.
The refuge is named for Silvio O. Conte, a late, longtime member of the United States House of Representatives for Massachusetts who worked to preserve and protect the environment.
Western MA Invasive Species ID & Removal
For our civic engagement project, we chose to work at the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge to remove invasive plant species along the trail in Hadley, MA. We chose this project because we thought it would be a great opportunity to get involved and give back to our local community. We learned about the problems that bittersweet, multiflora rose, and Japanese barberry cause to the native species in the area, and learned about the tools needed for proper removal. Removing them is important so that the native species are able to survive in their natural environment. Learning that this refuge is wheelchair accessible motivated us to work even harder on the trail, as we wanted to create an enhanced experience for individuals with disabilities who don’t always get the opportunity to appreciate nature.
U.S Fish and Wildlife Service halts demolition of Hadley Bri-Mar stable
The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service has temporarily halted its decision to demolish a building in Hadley that houses barn swallows.
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar Designates Connecticut River as National Blueway
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar signs the Secretarial Order as part of the America's Great Outdoors initiative that establishes the Connecticut River as the first in a system of National Blueways. This Blueway designation for the Connecticut River watershed was achieved through the work of many partners and will result in economic and ecological benefits up and down the river. The entire Connecticut River is a part of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish & Wildlife Refuge managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Local organization protests demolition of abandoned stables in Hadley
Members and supporters of the Save Our Swallows group gathered in Hadley Saturday to protest demolishing an abandoned stable building at the Fort River Division of the Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge.
Local organization working to save colony of barn swallows in Hadley
The colony nests in an abandoned stable on the refuge, and the group called Save our Swallows says it is threatened with demolition by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.