Volunteers celebrate work done to restore ash trees in Vermont

SOUTH HERO, Vt. (WCAX) - Monday was Earth Day, and some in our area took it as a chance to get outside and tend to an at-risk ecosystem.

The South Hero Land Trust held a volunteer work party at the recreation park next to Folsom Elementary School. The rec park is home to five acres of ash woodlands which are at risk of perishing in the next five years.

The land trust started a restoration project at the park to protect the future of the area by planting seedlings.

For Earth Day, volunteers spent time doing maintenance on last year’s seedlings and removing invasive plants like buckthorn and honeysuckle to give the plants a chance.

“The stewardship of these areas goes beyond just conserving them, it takes active stewardship. So when we have people get out and be involved, that’s really awesome, because it’s more work than one person can do, so we try to get the community involved,” said Guy Maguire, the director of the South Hero Land Trust.

Maguire says he hopes the efforts at the site encourage volunteers to go back to their own backyards to plant some native trees or remove some invasive species.

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