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West River Trail Annual Greetings

We’ve been busy at Friends of the West River Trail during 2023!

Our Lower Section Steering Committee and a group of other dedicated volunteers have been working actively to repair flood damage, improve drainage along the trail, add new benches, clear down trees, and remove invasive vegetation to help restore ecosystem health on the Riverstone Preserve.

We experienced significant flooding this year, necessitating bringing in an excavator and additional rip-rap to repair the trail in places. While we depend a lot on volunteers, carrying out some of this work takes money, and costs keep going up. 

Please consider a year-end donation to Friends of the West River Trail – Lower Section to support this work.

Here’s how we’ve been putting your support to work:

Through periodic work parties, we’re continuing our work to remove invasive plants from the 22-acre Riverstone Preserve. Following professional services several years ago to remove a variety of non-native plants, including oriental bittersweet, multiflora rose, buckthorn, black swallowwort, and Japanese knotweed, we have been out there controlling the residual seedings of these plants that appear. It’s so satisfying to see that native plants are coming back! We are proud that the Vermont Land Trust and other conservation organizations are pointing people to the Riverstone Preserve to see how successful invasives management can be!

We’ve added a couple more benches along the trail, and we have another in the works. These amenities are making it easier for the trail to be enjoyed by older trail users—yes, some of us are getting older!

We’ve improved the access down to the trail from Fox Farm Road, following severe flooding, and we have further improvements planned.

We’re continuing regular trail maintenance, removing down trees, and dealing with some of the challenging drainage problems. We’re trying to do this in a way that protects some rare plant species found along the trail.

We hope to announce shortly a significant addition to the Riverstone Preserve. Our long-term goal is to obtain full ownership or control of the entire Lower Section corridor—from the Marina Restaurant to Rice Farm Road—giving us the ability to enhance recreational access and further protect the ecosystems along here. (A local botanist has identified more than 650 plant species and 120 fungi along the trail and on the Riverstone Preserve!)

And we are working with other organizations in the region in an effort to create a network of linked trails along the Connecticut River and extending into New Hampshire.

A study is being done this fall by a civil engineer (funded by a sizable local donation) to create a prioritized list of action items to ensure that the trail stays in good shape as climate change ushers in an era of more severe storms and flooding. This study will inform the improvements we make to the trail and help us be confident that our funds are well spent.

To be able to continue this important work on the trail and to take advantage of land acquisition and easement protection opportunities as they come along, we need your support. Please consider a year-end donation.

Please consider supporting these efforts. You can donate online at https://westrivertrail.org/donate/

Thank you and best wishes for a healthy and safe 2024.

Lower Section Steering Committee – Friends of the West River Trail
Jason Cooper, Brattleboro
Peter Doran, Brattleboro
Elia Hamilton, Newfane
Matt Mann, Brattleboro
Malcolm Moore, Marlboro
Steve Shriner, Brattleboro
Jesse Wagner, Dummerston
Mark Westa, Brattleboro
Kathleen White, Brattleboro
Alex Wilson, Dummerston

Friends of the West River Trail is a nonprofit (501(c)(3) organization that is 100% volunteer run. Those of us on the Lower Section Steering Committee are your neighbors in Brattleboro, Dummerston, Newfane, and Marlboro—working to provide critically important recreational opportunities for our community.

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Vermont through the eyes of Hollywood

The Vermont Historical Society’s Amanda Gustin will present “Vermont vs Hollywood, 100 Years of Vermont in Film”.

The event will be held on Sunday, Dec.10 at 1:30 p.m. at the South Londonderry Depot, located on West River Street at the intersection with Route 100, immediately south of the West River Bridge.

“Vermont versus Hollywood: 100 Years of Vermont in Film” is a Vermont Humanities Council program hosted by Weston Historical Society and co-hosted by the Friends of the West River Trail and the Londonderry Arts & Historical Society.

Vermont has been a featured location in Hollywood movies for nearly a century. It has represented many different ideals during that time, and its portrayal reflects both Vermont’s own history, as well as that of America.

The talk is free, open to the public, and accessible to those with disabilities. For more information, contact Bob Brandt at rbrandt840@aol.com.

Image from the film “Way Down East” courtesy of the Brandon Reporter.

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Help Maintain the Trail: Adopt an Acre

Do you love the West River Trail?  Would you like to volunteer to help maintain the trail in a meaningful way?  If so, read on!

The Friends of the West River Trail (FWRT) are launching a new volunteer opportunity called “Adopt an Acre”.  There is a lovely 26 acre parcel of land that the trail runs through called the Riverstone Preserve, that includes an interpretive trail, called the Sibosen Trail. FWRT owns this property on which we have a conservation easement with the Vermont Land Trust.

In our Land Management Plan, we pledged to mitigate and control the invasive plants on this property. For several years, with the help of grant funds from the NCRS, we have hired Long View Forest to professionally treat the invasives. We have also been manually pulling the seedlings that continue to emerge, during monthly volunteer work days. Much of the 26 acres continues to need professional treatment, but there are 6 one acre or smaller parcels that can be managed manually, and we are looking for teams (families or groups of friends or individuals) to adopt the parcels. We estimate each parcel may take the equivalent of 8-16 hours per season (depending on how many people are sharing the work) and you may want to do it in 2-hour sessions. It can be a fun way to spend a couple of hours in a lovely place. If you are interested in “Adopting an Acre”, please contact the FWRT Steering Committee at lowersection@westrivertrail.org. We will provide training on identifying invasives, and how to use an app on your phone to show you the boundaries of your parcel, and where you are on your parcel in real time. We hope to hear from you!

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Two Trail Workday Opportunities on Sunday 9/24

Calling all trail volunteers for two workday opportunities on Sunday, September 24th.

Workday #1 Morning: Pull Invasive plants on the Riverstone Preserve
Sunday, September 24, 9 am – 11 am

Workday #2 Afternoon: Dig and rake out ditches and culverts on the West River Trail
Sunday, Sept 24, Noon to 3 pm

Volunteer workday details below: 

Workday #1 Morning: Pull invasive plants on the Riverstone Preserve
When: Sunday, September 24, 9-11 AM
What: Pulling (mostly) oriental bittersweet seedlings. We’ll teach you how to identify the invasive plants, if you haven’t done this before.
Where: Meet at the west end of the Sibosen Interpretive Trail, where it meets the West River Trail. It’s about 1 1/2 miles from the Marina Trailhead and from the Rice Farm Rd Trailhead. You can also get there by parking at the Fox Farm Rd, trailhead, and walking down the access road to the WRT, turn left and you’ll soon see the sign for Sibosen Trail on the right. Biking in from the trailheads gets you there more quickly, if you’re able to do that.
What to bring: Water, work gloves, insect repellant, snack if needed.

Workday #2 Afternoon: Dig and rake out ditches and culverts on the West River Trail
When: Sunday, Sept 24, Noon to 3 pm
What: Digging and raking out ditches and culverts
Where: Meet at the Marina Trailhead at noon. 
What to Bring: Work gloves, insect repellant and a metal rake if you have one, but we will have extras on hand. Sandwiches and drinks will be provided. 

For more info and to tell us you’re coming, please email us at lowersection@westrivertrail.org. 

Thanks and we hope to see you there!

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Invasive Work Morning on the Riverstone Preserve

Please join us for a work morning on the West River Trail. It’s a pleasant way to spend a couple hours in a lovely place. All are welcome!

We’ll teach you how to identify the invasive plants, if you haven’t done this before.

For more info and to tell us you’re coming, please email us at lowersection@westrivertrail.org. Thanks and we hope to see you there!

When:  Sunday, September 24, 9-11 AM
What:  Pulling (mostly) oriental bittersweet seedlings
Where:  We’ll meet at the west end of the Sibosen Interpretive Trail, where it meets the West River Trail. It’s about 1 1/2 miles from the Marina Trailhead and from the Rice Farm Rd Trailhead. You can also get there by parking at the Fox Farm Road trailhead, and walking down the access road to the WRT, turn left and you’ll soon see the sign for Sibosen Trail on the right. Biking in from the trailheads gets you there more quickly, if you’re able to do that.
What to bring:  Water, work gloves, insect repellant, snack if needed.

To learn more about Asiatic Bittersweet and other invasives visit the Vermont Invasives website.
Asiatic bittersweet is a deciduous, woody vine that climbs saplings and trees and can grow over 60 feet in length.
The alternate, elliptical to circular leaves are light green in color and 2-5 inches long.
Small, inconspicuous, axillary, greenish-white flowers bloom from May to early June. Oriental bittersweet closely resembles American bittersweet (Celastrus scandens). The main difference: Celastrus scandens has flowers and fruits at the terminal ends of branches; Celastrus orbiculatus has flowers scattered along the entire stem.
The small globose fruits are green when young; ripen to yellow; then split to reveal showy, scarlet berries that persist into winter.

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Join the West River Trail Work Morning August 27

Please join us for a work morning to pull invasive plant species on the Riverstone Preserve! We need your help! This is fun, rewarding and important work. Please come!

When:  Sunday, August 27, 9-11 AM
What:  Pulling (mostly) oriental bittersweet seedlings
Where:  We’ll meet at the west end of the Sibosen Interpretive Trail, where it meets the West River Trail. It’s about 1 1/2 miles from the Marina Trailhead and the Rice Farm Rd Trailhead.  You can also get there by parking at the Fox Farm Rd, trailhead, and walking down the access road, to the WRT, turn left and you’ll soon see the sign for Sibosen Trail on the right. Biking in from the trailheads gets you there more quickly, if you’re able to do that.
What to bring:  water, work gloves, insect repellant, snack if needed.

We’ll teach you how to identify the invasive plants, if you haven’t done this before.

For more info and to tell us you’re coming, please email lowersection@westrivertrail.org. Thanks and we hope to see you there! It’s a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours, in a lovely place.  

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Invasive Catch of the Day

A lovely morning was spent pulling Oriental Bittersweet on the Riverstone Preserve, with 6 volunteers, on Sunday, July 23. 

Here’s Alex Wilson (a West River Trail Steering Committee member) displaying the largest, longest bittersweet root pulled out that day!  Mostly we pull small seedlings, but occasionally we find a whopper! 

If you’d like to help out, the next work day will be Sunday, August 27, from 9-11 AM.  We’d love to see you there! 

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Trail Work Day Sunday July 23, 9-11 am

Seeking Volunteers for a Work Day Sunday, July 23, 9-11 AM.

What:  Pulling bittersweet seedlings and a few other invasive species on the Riverstone Preserve.

Who: Anyone interested in being outdoors, learning about invasive plants and helping to keep invasive plants under control on the Riverstone Preserve.

Where:  Meet at the north Sibosen trail head (just south of the Fox Farm Access road) at 9 AM. 

What to bring:  a water bottle, hat, sunscreen, insect repellant, work gloves, and snack if needed.

Questions and RSVP:  please contact lowersection@westrivertrail.org

We’re going to work in areas we worked a few years ago, on the western end of the Riverstone Preserve. Because of the great work we did, the seedlings that are growing there now are small and easy to pull.  We will have professional treatment done on the areas we’ve been working on last fall and earlier this summer, where the bittersweet has grown so thickly, it is not possible to take care of it manually with volunteers. 

We will talk about the option of “adopting” a plot of land on the Riverstone Preserve that will be yours to monitor and pull the invasive plants.  We anticipate it would only take one whole day a summer to do this, or you could choose to make several trips for a couple of hours each time.  Dan Healey of Long View Forest may be there to talk more about this and show you how to use an online map to know where your plot’s boundaries are. Mike Duffy, a local botanist, may also be there to help you identify the invasive plants or other plants you observe and wonder about. 

Please come!

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Trail Work Day: Sunday June 25

Please join us for a workday on the West River Trail on Sunday, June 25. 

When: Sunday, June 25 from 9 am -11 am. 
Where: Meet up at 9 am at the south Sibosen trailhead. There is a sign identifying the interpretive trail. It’s about 1 1/2 miles from the Marina trailhead.
What: Help clear invasives 
What to bring: work gloves, water, sunscreen, insect repellent. 

To RSVP and for questions:, please reach out to us at lowersection@westrivertrail.org

The May workday was a lovely day to be out on the Riverstone Preserve. Six volunteers joined in to pull Bittersweet. We worked hard, got a lot accomplished and learned a lot from each other about plants, birds, and local nature. 

Huge thanks to our May workday volunteers! Photos include Eric Reines, Jesse Wagner, Eric Pofcher, Mike Duffy and Dan Drish. The fallen tree is covered with the piles of bittersweet we pulled, letting the roots dry out and die, rather than throwing them on the ground where they could reroot. 

We will be hosting invasive work days monthly through the fall–and will announce them on this website and our west river trail facebook page. Hope you will join us!

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Invasive Plants Workday at the Riverstone Preserve

Dame's Rocket

Happy Spring! Come join other volunteers to learn to identify and pull common invasive plants on the Riverstone Preserve.

Workday details:
When: Sunday, May 21 from 9 am to 11 am
Where to meet up: The South Sibosen trailhead at 9 am. There is a sign identifying the interpretive trail. It’s about 1 1/2 miles from the Marina trailhead.
What to bring: Work gloves, water, sunscreen, insect repellent. 
RSVP and for questions: lowersection@westrivertrail.org

We will be hosting invasive work days monthly from now through the fall–and will announce them on this website and the West River Trail Facebook page. Hope you will join us!