Carbon Neutral Is A Scam, Go Plant A Tree!

Am I the only person who sees through this poop? Everyone's so worried about going carbon neutral, carbon credits and carbon dioxide causing global warming. Hello, trees take carbon dioxide out of the air an replace it with oxygen, an non-greenhouse gas. We don't need fancy companies to sell us carbon credits, or celebrities to sell us on the value of going carbon neutral. Plant some trees and shut up already! The fact is we've deforested so much of the earth that the trees that are left can't keep up. If people worldwide planted one tree for everyone they cut down, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. Although emissions from the burning of hydrocarbons (fossil fuels) did get us here quicker.


The value of a tree goes way beyond what importance humans may place upon it. Take a stroll through the woods sometime and you will see what I mean. A pile of evergreen cones shaved by a red squirrel here, the remnants of bitternuts and a gray squirrels cache there. The torn up ground under an oak tree where a deer was using its hooves to rake acorns. A big hollow up a dead tree where a raccoon has chosen to raise its family.


Every tree tells a story about the environment in which it resides. Stunted from lack of sun, or drowned by too much water. Witches broom from overbrowsing by deer and moose. Uprooted by wind an wet soils. Fire marks, and porcupine chewed. There are those that sprout various barbed wire out each side marking the edge of an old pasture.


Trees serve humans in many ways. They can be planted as windbreaks or for shade, depending if you want warm in winter or cool on summer. Fruit trees provide food and steady income for some. Others are planted to restore or preserve lake and streambanks. Trees give us clean air and quality lumber.


If anyone's bought lumber recently they understand the toll natural disasters take. Wood has to come from somewhere and if the supply doesn't go up, the prices will. I guess its what humans get for trying to create permanent fixtures in an impermanent, and everchanging world. This is why planting trees is important and demonstrates foresight.


If you plant a tree today its performing future community service. you are helping your kids, grandkids, and their kids, to have clean air in the future. Our forests act like big scrubbers taking in carbon dioxide, and releasing oxygen. Please plant a tree today and do some future community service.

OK Verdemontis, Red Will Blog On, Just Not As Often

Thanks Matt and J.D. for you kind words. Verdemontis you make one heck of a point, why not just post less often? Between nights and weekends I should be able to come up with the time for a post or two a week. The root of the problem is I have this love/hate relationship with technology. I love the ease with which technology allows people to stay in touch, communicate, and share ideas and perspectives. But I hate having to sit inside at the computer to do it. Makes me feel kind of caged.


I'll be back at it soon, first I've got to fillet the 60 or so bullpout I caught the other night. Some for my grandfather, parents, in-laws, sister's family, and other sisters family. Right now they're in water filled tubs that I keep changing the water in. I swear it makes them taste even better. There's a reason they call bullpout the fillet mignon of the fish world.

The Last Rednalsi Post Ever, I Think

After a short life in the blog world, its time for rednalsi to move on. I've enjoyed it, and learned a few things. I just hate spending so much time at the computer when the weather is so beautiful outside. Too much gardening and nature to enjoy. Maybe I'll become a winter blogger. Who knows? Good luck to all and thanks to those who've checked out Rednalsi Of Vermont. Blog on.

Third World Vermont, A Conspiracy?

What if the everyday involvement in our lives by the government was aided by unseen influence of the private sector (business)? Based on our needs for money and profit, these external forces could shape American society and their self-interest. Case in point, the consumer perpetuating nuclear family. What we're looking at is the destruction of communalism by instilling "possessive individualism", which down the road leads to good capitalism and consumerism.


Communalism is when neighbors and communities work together, interact, and communicate. When you know your neighbor, you know how bad the times really are. Divide and conquer, if people are talking to each other they're not divided. This is how communication undermines the control of large populations, but how would someone stop people from having conversations? What if another means of communication were available, an artificial means of providing information (or disinformation) to people? Now they know all of what's going on so they don't have to leave their homes and talk to their neighbors.


Enter the newspaper, radio and the television set. What if one could influence and control media? Knowing that it's the means by which people who lead busy productive consumer driven lives working for the private sector stay informed? They rely on the media as a means of communication to know how their neighbors are doing, because they never see them anymore. The public believes in the freedom of the press, and trust that because its free, it's without influence and truthful. The question you ought to be asking is who owns the media, and are you willing to let the media tell you how your neighbor is doing, instead of asking them yourself?


Individualism promotes self-reliance and a self-first attitude that puts people, families, communities, and states in competition with each other. People compete for better educations, to get better jobs, to make more money. the goal of every parent is to help their kid get ahead. In our modern democratic society you are judged more by the money you make than your worth to the community in which you live.


Municipalities compete for state funding, and states compete for federal funding. They compete by conforming most to what the government higher up wants. Often times the federal government forces mandates on the states by threatening to withhold federal funds. The drinking age in Vermont would still be 18 if the federal government hadn't threatened to withhold transportation money from the states that didn't raise the drinking age to 21. This leads to the question of a government of, by, and for the people. So if government isn't acting in our best interest, who's interest are they acting in? Ever hear of a lobbyist?


Obviously our government doesn't act in the best interest of labor, otherwise among the other industrialized nations of the world, we wouldn't stand alone with South Africa in tolerating ancient union-busting devices. The right to strike is lost when there is fear of permanent replacement workers. The decline in strikes in the U.S. is paralleled by a decline in workers income. Labor hasn't been helped by its negative portrayal in movies, or media where it's labeled as a special interest. Years of support for labor by communities has eroded, when in fact the interests of labor are the interests of communties.


If striking workers are replaced and left with no job, is that not heading them down the road to welfare? What about kids having kids, and teenage mom's on welfare? Is it right to make the true costs of bearing a child out of wedlock clear, by letting them be felt when they are incurred, namely at the child's birth? Many people harp on welfare because they think these are lazy, unmotivated people. Maybe some are, maybe they're not, but is it right to deprive their kids the means to survive, better themselves, and potentially one day lead a normal life off welfare? By punishing the poor instead of helping them, are we not continueing the cycle of poverty?


What about interjecting a religious issue such as wedlock into government? What about separation of church and state? This is where you have to wonder about the roles of religion and government. The encouragement of religious enthusiasm has a long history within the psychic processes of counter-revolution. It has long been used to tame the masses, breeding the chiliasm of despair. The desperate hope for some world other than this one, which can offer little.


Religion is where many people get their beliefs and values. Let's take for example christianity which is the predominant religion in the U.S. Christianity dictates that in this life people must work hard, to get to the next life (heaven), in which they will be rewarded. Whether or not heaven really exists, religion helps to disspell the notion that people control their own destiny.


In this way everyday Vermonters are being exploited the same as is done to people in the third world. The difference is that the exploitation and control is unseen in the U.S., because it is so buried and ingrained in our culture. How many average citizens realize the multitude of ideals that are the foundation of American society, actually shape and mold up into controllable workers. If the system that is supposed to be of, by and for the people is truly not, hasn't our nation been built upon a lie?

Stupidification Of America

The downfall of the public education system is that public schools must accept all students within their district. Totally unlike private schools who can pick and choose who they take. Not only are there more kids with disabilities than ever before, but also behavioral and emotional issues. This is why school budgets keep going up, requiring more and more taxes.


Essentially we are requiring our teachers and school administrators to not only lead the horse to water, but make it drink as well. Coupled with unfunded federal mandates such as No Child Left Behind, it puts our schools between a rock and a hard place. More time is being spent dealing with behavior, leaving less time for instruction. What results is what I call the stupidification of America.


It's hard to be positive when you spend more time trying to convince a kid why they need to learn math, than teaching how to do the problem. With more households having both partners work, kids are coming to school looking for attention they should be getting at home. We are asking schools to educate our kids, and double as substitute parents as well. Parental accountability is the heart of the issue.


I don't believe in losing civil liberties, but I don't believe everyone should be able to breed either. I know a couple who is getting divorced and putting their kids in a foster home, that's not right. Some end up foster homes or with relatives because parents are in prison. Then there's the kids having kids. A lot of these youth end up misguided, lacking direction and positive role models.


I submit that education issues are community issues that need to be solved by the community. Problem is these kids get bounced around from school district to district, never settling long enough to truly get an education. All while having negative impacts wherever they end up. The whole thing is a viscious cycle. Educators get burnt out, childeren's education is impaired, and the general public and taxpayers say enough is enough.


Fundamentally a solution needs to be sought to appease all. Most importantly is the future of our society, which first and foremost depends on our youth. If our kids lag behind, so will our country in the future. Kids today don't appreciate our history. Kids today seldom do homework. Kids today talk back to adults. Kids today, put down one another constantly. I fear for the future of America

Great White Hunter #1, Another Hunter

It was a moonlit November morning, and I was making my way to my treestand. I slowly closed the door to the pickup, and loaded a round into the chamber. It was a lever action 30/30 Winchester, the gun that won the west. I loaded up the magazine and my revolver as well, a single action .357 magnum Ruger Blackhawk. I travel heavy, as I tend to not like running into coyotes at night alone. They’re awful big up this way.


My treestand was nothing special, just a wooden ladder of fifteen feet made of driftwood, and roped to a tree. The trail after entering from the rear of an alfalfa field, proceeds through wet ground to the edge of a more open swamp. In the dim light I could barely make out the outlines of my bait piles as I slowly made my way past. The pears had been pawed over recently which I took as a good sign, as the pile is next to active rubs and scrapes. This was back when you could do that sort of thing, before worries of chronic wasting disease prompted its discontinuance.


Opening day of rifle season in Vermont is a special time, a long year in the making. The snow covered ground was covered with occasional ice crystals that broke under my weight with a resounding crunch. The pale light reflected off of everything white, which at this point most all was covered by snow. Panting as I climbed, my breath formed huge clouds in front of my head lamp. The stand squeaked and rubbed a bit as I climbed, but I made it up without incident. I wiped the snow from the platform and hung my gear bag on a tree branch. Now came the fun part.


I had used a scent drag covered in deer estrous on the way in, but now it was time to get serious. I sprayed myself head to toe with earth cover scent, and squirted some no-bait apple gel down the backside of the tree. I took the scent drag, reapplied estrous and hung it as a scent wick out on a branch a little bit out from me. Lastly I took out a bottle of estrous gel and a popsicle stick, and spread some of the scent on little pieces of branches, bar, and leaves that I dropped to the ground nearby. It wasn’t as dark now. Slowly the sky began to fill with color as the sun peeked over the Green Mountains.


With the sunshine came a bit of warmth, about 7am the sun finally popped up over the ridge to my east. That’s about when I heard it. Far away at first, but getting louder, it seemed to be coming much closer. The frost had not left the ground yet and the rustling of frozen leaves made a racket that contrasted the quiet morning. It was coming straight for me, sounded like it was walking right down my trail. The steps were regular, slow here, then a quick step there. My mind raced, another hunter, what a bummer!


So I turned my back and waited for the person to kick out a deer in front of me as they went by. Instead they came up behind me, circled, and stopped a few times. By now I was irritated, it was just plain rude to walk all around a guys tree stand while he’s using it. So I turned around fully expecting to give someone a lecture on hunting ethics and etiquette right then and there. Nothing could prepare me for the surprise.


There stood a four point whitetail buck at sixty yards, and he was looking right at me! Reacting fast, I swung my gun to my shoulder and aimed. My elevated position gave me advantage over the deer who had to negotiate thick brush and fallen trees. The first shot was at his heart, and as I squeezed off the shot I saw a small sapling disintegrate. That’s all it took and the deer was off.


I shot again as he stopped to duck under an overhang, he kept going. Running broadside at eighty yards, two more shots, deer still running strong. Another shot quartering away hundred yards thru a break in trees, deer not stopping or slowing. I climb to the ground to examine my first shot, I clearly wasted that sapling. Second two shots weren’t located but I followed the trail the deer took and couldn’t find any blood or indication of a shot. Then “Bang!” on the other side of the swamp. I followed the trail a bit longer then circled back to my tree stand and got my gear. I hiked back out to the road in time to see another hunter going by with a deer in the back. He pulled up and asked, “did you hear all them shots?”


I looked straight into his eyes and said, “Certainly did, some jerk a couple trees over from me blazing away at a squirrel!” He says “yes, but the shots scared this deer out in front of me. It came walking out of the swamp and stopped in the middle of the old railroad bed. I drew up and shot, he dropped there.” My deer in the back of another hunters pickup, what a bummer.

Toxics In Lake Champlain

Toxics include many different substances that produce negative effects, usually on human health. Knowledge is incomplete with regards to many of these toxics and the control strategies are complex. Toxics include trace metals, synthetic organic compounds (such as DDT), dioxins, and PCB's. The primary toxin of concern in Vermont has been mercury.


The source of half the mercury in the Lake Champlain basin comes from outside the basin via the jetstream and lower level winds. Mercury is a concern in Lake Champlain because it is a toxic that bio-accumulates in individuals as it proceeds up the food chain. Mercury is stored in the fatty tissues of animals and remains indefinately.


The cycle starts when micro-sized planktonic organisms ingest the mercury while they feed on the bottom, and are then eaten by small minnows. Predatory fish like Walleye and Northern Pike, eat many of these small minnows and build up mercury in their own tissues. This is why the State of Vermont has had to post health advisories for childeren and women of childbearing age. Another Lake Champlain food chain that is affected by mercury starts with Myces.


Myces are a freshwater shrimp that feed on the bottom during the day and rise up in the water column at night. When they rise they are fed upon by schools of Rainbow Smelt, who are the number one forage of Lake Trout. This is why the health advisories also pertain to Lake Trout. What if humans are not the ones at the top of the food chain? That's when we find dead loons, herons, osprey, and eagles that test high in mercury.


Besides mercury, there is concern about high levels of manganese and arsenic in Outer Mallets bay. These contaminants settle to the deepest parts of the bay near the Champlain Islands. It is a very protected bay and only real influx of water is from the Lamoille River. The manganese has been attributed to runoff from old talc mines in Johnson, Vermont. The arsenic is believed to have originated from an old lead smelter to the north that regularly vented its pollution over the Lamoille river valley.

Age, Gender and Vermont Politics

It's a well known fact that young people vote less often than older people, and it's dissappointing. There exists tremendous opportunity for a bunch of young people to get together and work toward a common goal. Right now the environment and the future are serious concerns for young people. They need to stand up and say here, this is what we want our future to look like.


Many college students actively participate in politics and elections, whether as a part of their curriculum or not. Campuses are a good place for political involvement because students usually have time. What cannot be overlooked is not all young voters are in college. There are are many who serve in the military, have jobs, families, and cannot commit time to be active participants in the political process.


A youthful pro-future political leader is needed to challenge people at the grassroots level, to get out and vote. This person would have to be honest, hardworking, true to heart and really care about young people. It also means a serious investment of time, something that few youth today seem willing to make.


In Vermont, women seem to be more actively involved in politics than thoughout the rest of the country. In a small state such as Vermont, issues and character are important, and many females have built strong platforms. I didn't realize until visiting the statehouse how many women there are in the legislature.


It's unfortunate that nationwide there is less participation by women. I think that a lot of places haven't developed as socially. There is still a strong sense that a woman's place is in the home. Other reason's I've heard for less participation by women include busy raising families and lack of education. This is exactly why more women need to vote, be active, and make their voices heard.

Moose Bog and Trout River, Adventures With Dill

So for some odd reason I got to thinking about all the times I'd been to Moose Bog up in Ferdinand. It's my favorite kettle bog, which is basically a pond that has a floating mat of sphagnum moss around its edges. The middle is the open water of the pond. These are actually one of the least safe type of bogs because of lack of tree roots throughout. I'll never forget the first time here, it was a college field trip for natural history of Vermont and the pitcher plants had turned purple from the frost.


There was also this guy in class whose name was Dill, and he was from New Jersey. Dill was a good guy, but a notorious clutz. Our prof. gave us all a lecture on bog safety, encouraged us to go explore. He gave one stern warning though. "Don't go out to the edge of the bog and start jumping up and down." Those of us who had bog trotted before knew bogs were spongy, and we could bounce a little bit to make plants nearby quake as well. A kettle bog is a bit different in that, when you walk out to the edge and bounce, it creates waves along the edge of the sphagnum moss.


I was right in the middle of trying to take a picture of an otter swimming across the pond when all of a sudden I heard a shout, and then yelling. I turned to my left to see a group of students rushing toward the edge of the bog. Yep, Dill had disregarded our prof's warning. Went right out to the edge, and jumped up and down. The howling was Dill, who had broke through the mat of sphagnum, and was in the bog literally up to his armpits. There was much cussing involved as everyone had to take pictures, before pulling him out. Soaking wet, and smelling very bad, Dill was blessed with his own seat in the van on the way home.


Now, same natural history of Vermont class, different field trip. This time our prof. had taken us to Montgomery to sample invertebrates in Trout River. It was before the bridge was damaged in the flood, and posted signs went up everywhere. This was my first time here, and I had heard great things about the river. Pretty easy task, those with rubber boots turn over rocks, while everyone else sits downstream with sampling nets waiting in the current. I had never realized how much life there really is under the rocks, so this was a real eye-opener. This trip is also when I began to take an interest in fly-fishing.


It was late October, but the weather was cold and breezy. Our prof. advised us to be careful, as the rocks along the edge are slippery. Yep, you guessed it. No sooner had the words come out of his mouth when a loud splash came from from the back of the group. Followed by a couple more splashes as Dill struggled to get back up. This probably should've ended the excursion, as nobody wanted to deal with hypothermia setting in. A quick survey revealed between everyone we had enough dry clothes at the van for Dill to change into. Instead of heading back, Dill already wet, stumbled down the middle kicking things up as he went along. We emptied our nets into sample jars and skeedaddled, out of there quicker and with more samples than we probably would've had otherwise.

Late Winter On Champlain Brings Waterfowl Delight

The late ice on the north end of Lake Champlain, has been affording some spectacular birding opportunities. Common and Hooded Merganser, Goldeneye, and Mallard ducks among others in large numbers. With cold temps allowing the ice to remain it concentrates waterfowl along the edges in open water.

The Lake Champlain has risen, and floodplain wetlands are loaded with wood ducks. With snow covering the land time and again Canada geese can also be seen congregating in wet spots in agricultural fields. Seems like the weather caused them all to pause, and think twice about headed north.

Incidentally its just about last call for getting nest boxes out to be used this season. Whether intended for waterfowl, bluebirds, or bats, they'll be looking for homes soon. Don't forget about the road when you're starring off the side looking at signs of spring!

Vermont A Paradise For Rockhounds

For such a small geographical state, Vermont has a very complex bedrock geology. As such, a very diverse mineral and stone industry arose in Vermont as economic deposits were worked throughout the state. The sheer diversity of resources that have been extracted from within the earth in the Green Mountain state is astounding. The following is the best I can help with affixing a mineral resource to a certain geography. By no means is it all inclusive, but is helpful in finding your own samples.
Serpentine is supposedly a good luck rock. Found in Lowell, and Eden, Vermont, it is a dark green rock, sometimes called green marble or verde antique. It is related to the minerals that are found in asbestos, mined here beneath Belvidere Mountain. There are defunct copper mines in Corinth, Vermont. This was where a majority of the North’s copper came from during the civil war.
There is one farmers field in Barton, Vermont which yields amethyst crystals, but no one knows whose. Barre, Vermont is still known for its thriving granite industry. The Rock of Ages quarry is internationally known. Ludlow, Vermont is home to talc that they use to make Johnson and Johnson baby powder. 80% of J&J talcum powder is from Vermont. Plymouth, Vermont was the scene of a brief gold rush after the one in California. The farmers decided instead of prospecting they could make more money going back to being farmers. This town also has garnets in some bedrock. Garnets form 1600 feet straight down where there is greatly increased heat and pressure.
Proctor, Vermont is known for its white marble, which continues to be extracted today. Fair Haven and Castleton, Vermont have many slate deposits, especially around Lake Bomoseen. Button Bay State Park, in Vergennes, Vermont is famous for its clay concretions called “buttons” and fossils. Charlotte and Shelburne, Vermont have deposits of so-called Zebra Marble. Really a black slatey shale with white veins of calcite, sometimes called picture rocks. This is because of their tendency as the rock is worn over time to reveal “pictures”. All one needs is imagination, and time. Stowe, Vermont has a rock formation ironically called "stowe formation" that has huge inclusions of fools gold (iron pyrite) which is present in a graphitic phyllite. Colchester, Vermont is the home of our only Jasper mine. Red stone with metallic hematite in cracks and fissures throughout.
Milton, Vermont has Dolostone, which was quarried on the right of the last turn before the straightaway to Sandbar State Park. Most of the stone removed was used to fill the causeway between Milton and the Islands. South Hero, Vermont has fossils such as those at Lessors Quarry owned by UVM. Grand Isle, Vermont has an old railroad grade that goes through it where coal can be found where it fell off a rail car. Same for many other locales in Vermont.
Isle La Motte, Vermont is the home of the Fisk Quarry. This is where the black marble in radio city music hall comes from. Swanton, Vermont is home to a particular type of Red Dolostone commonly called red marble. The one and only quarry has been the subject of recent fraud activity.

The Lake Carmi Bog, A Black Spruce Woodland Bog

Bogs are a wetland, kind of like a floating sponge. Sphagnum moss is what makes up the sponge and provides a place for flowering plants and trees to spread roots. I’ve heard #’s of acres for the Carmi bog’s size between 160 and 230 acres. A bog is a type of peatland. Peatlands form where decomposition is slow and typically moss (peat) accumulates.

New layers of moss, shrubs, and trees grow where other plants have died and been pushed further down underwater into the peat. The bog is a sterile environment where no bacteria grows and nothing breaks down because of the acidity of the water. The sphagnum moss in the bog gets its nutrients from rainfall, which it replaces with hydrogen ions giving the water its acidity.

The Lake Carmi Bog was formed in a shallow bay of the lake after the last ice age 10,000 years ago. The bog at Lake Carmi is a state natural area, and is classified as a black spruce woodland bog. Named for the dominant older growth vegetation, these trees inhabit cold air drainage sites like the bog, and our highest peaks, such as the krummholz on Mount Mansfield. The discoloration of the water in bogs is tannins that together with the acidity preserve most anything that goes into a bog.

Ancient peoples have been found preserved in Europe, and a book from 1000 AD was recently discovered in Ireland. Peat harvested from bogs is used as fuel in Ireland still, and to fire electrical plants in Russia. The Canadians drain and chop bogs to be sold in the USA as peat moss for the horticulture industry. The reason that a woodland bog is the safest to walk in, is there are so many trees and shrubs that have overlapping root systems to support the weight.

In the Lake Carmi bog are carnivorous pitcher plants. Because the bog is so nutrient poor, this plant has adapted to feeding on bugs to get the energy it needs to produce flowers. Two berries also in this bog, are high bush blueberry, and small cranberry. The two tree species are Black Spruce (looks like x-mas tree) and Tamarack. There is also heath, rhodora, Labrador tea, sheep laurel, bog rosemary, and hares tail cotton grass.

Major threats to the bog both relate to a changing water table. If a beaver were to dam and flood the bog it would alter the environment. If the bog were drained, or water level to drop, it is at risk of fire as the dried peat will smolder. One of a peatlands most important functions is to store rainfall and slowly release water into the watershed. There has been recent work with using peat lands to treat wastewater.

The Vermont Trivia Challenge

Vermont for generations has stood for something different. A unique sense of place intermixed with beautiful nature throughout. Products that are Made in Vermont, are noted for high quality. It is a land of myth, lore and legend.

Vermont has a long and colorful past from which to draw upon for inspiration. During the first two major wars of the fledgling United States, a major theater of operations was the “silver dagger” of Lake Champlain.

Many times the course of United States History was shaped by events or persons from within the Green Mountain state. Vermont continues to be on the legal frontier with laws going before the U.S. Supreme Court that conflict with the U.S. Constitution.

Questions
1. The territory that was to become Vermont was originally claimed by what two states?
2. What was Vermont’s first Governor One-eyed Tom’s real name?
3. The Green Mountain Boy flag had 13 stars on a blue square in the corner, with the rest being this color?
4. This Vermonter captured Fort Ticonderoga in the name of “the Jehovah and the Continental Congress“, whose cannon and stores were sent to aid General Washington in Boston?
5. Ethan Allen died returning to his homestead in Burlington with a sled load of hay from his cousin Ebenezer’s place in this town?
6. This fort was built opposite Fort Ticonderoga on the Vermont side of Lake Champlain?
7. In Native American, what does Winooski mean?
8. This river was supposed to be named Lamotte, but someone forgot to cross the t’s?
9. The Vermont State bird is?
10. The Vermont State insect is?
11. The Vermont State flower?
12. This native american tribe inhabited the Vermont region long ago?
13. What year did Vermont become a state?
14. How many years did Vermont spend as an independent republic?
15. The northern most action of the civil war occurred here on October 19, 1964?
16. Where were a majority of Vermont’s troops committed to civil war action October 19, 1964?
17. Vermont recently took this large predator bird off of its endangered species list?
18. Proctor, Vermont is known for this stone industry?
19. This former Vermont governor ran for president but failed to receive his party’s nomination?
20. Barre, Vermont is known for this stone industry?
21. This is the USA’s eighth best Walleye fishery?
22. From what town in Vermont does Red Marble (Red Dolostone) come from?
23. Name one of Vermont’s three mountaintops that have alpine communities?
24. Black Marble like that at Radio City Music hall comes from what town?
25. Name an Island in Vermont’s inland sea?
26. What Canadian province is just north of Vermont?
27. Name a state park in Vermont’s northeast kingdom?
28. What Canadian seaway is just north of Vermont?
29. What compass direction does Lake Champlain flow?
30. Name of the british governor general who failed to destroy Benedict Arnolds fleet but shelled a small island in the pursuit?
31. This state is to the west of Vermont?
32. What runs from a maple tree?
33. This state is to the south of Vermont?
34. What do you turn maple sap into by boiling it?
35. The “Kingdom” is what compass point corner of Vermont?
36. What annual fishing derby is held on Lake Champlain during father’s day weekend?
37. St. Anne’s Shrine in Isle la Motte is the first site of one of these in Vermont?
38. Who led the Green Mountain Regiment at the Battle of Hubbardton?
39. This is the civil war commander from Addison county whose Vermont troops broke Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg?
40. Started a thriving scale business in St. Johnsbury and was governor at start of civil war?
41. Was the largest causeway in the world until one opened on Lake Pontchartrain in the south?
42. This Native American tribe recently received state recognition in Vermont for the second time, the first time it was repealed by Governor Thomas Salmon?
43. Who was the first treasurer of the state of Vermont?
44. He won the battle of Plattsburg for the Americans during the war of 1812?
45. Name of Governor/General who failed to destroy Commodore MacDonough’s fleet during the war of 1812?
46. Man for whom Lake Champlain is named?
47. What year did Samuel D. Champlain discover Lake Champlain?
48. Number of years Vermont was an independent republic before becoming a United State?
49. What was the sum of money that finally persuaded the State of New York to give up its opposition to the new State of Vermont?
50. Benedict Arnold scuttled his fleet on shores of this county, Vermont’s wettest?
51. What is Vermont’s capital?
52. What was the name of the Allen families land speculation enterprise?
53. The Cabot Creamery is one of Vermont’s largest producers of this dairy product?
54. Beneath this peak on Vermont’s Long Trail is now a defunct asbestos mine?
55. This is Vermont’s only poisonous snake?
56. It is legal not to wear these in a Vermont State Park, but you must put them on if someone complains?
57. Recent energy projects in Vermont have made use of this farm waste, turning it into energy and compost?
58. Before the Civil War Vermont was dependent on sheep farming for this animal product?
59. Springfield Vermont is historically known for this type of industry?
60. The coming of this in Vermont ended an era of water-based commerce like the sailing canal boats on Lake Champlain?



Answers


1.New York and New Hampshire.
2.Thomas Chittenden.
3.Green.
4.Ethan Allen.
5.South Hero.
6.Fort Independence.
7.Onion.
8.Lamoille.
9.Hermit Thrush.
10.Honey Bee.
11.Red Clover.
12.Mohawk, Iroquois, Algonkquin, Soloki/Abenaki.
13.1791.
14.Fourteen.
15.The St. Alban’s Raid
16.Winning the Battle of Cedar Creek, which is painted on the statehouse wall.
17.Osprey
18.White Marble.
19.Howard Dean.
20.Granite.
21.Lake Carmi.
22.Swanton.
23.Mount Mansfield, Camel’s Hump, Mount Abraham.
24.Isle La Motte at the Fisk Quarry.
25.Cedar, Fish Bladder, Kellogg, Savage, Woods, Knight, Dameas, Hen, Butler, Burton, Mosquito, Grand Isle, South Hero, North Hero.
26.Quebec.
27.Stillwater, Boulder beach, Ricker Pond, Seyon ranch, Maidstone, Brighton.
28.St. Lawrence.
29.North.
30.Sir Guy Carleton, and the island became known as Carleton’s Prize.
31.New York.
32.Sap.
33.Massachusetts.
34.Maple syrup/sugar.
35.Northeast.
36.The LCI or Lake Champlain International.
37.Catholic mission or French settlement.
38.Seth Warner.
39.George Stannard.
40.Erastus Fairbanks.
41.The Colchester/South Hero Fill.
42.Abenaki.
43.Ira Allen.
44.Commodore Thomas MacDonough.
45.Prevost.
46.Samuel D. Champlain.
47.1609.
48.15 years.
49. $30,000
50.Addison County.
51.Montpelier.
52.Onion River Land Company.
53.Cheese.
54.Belvidere Mountain.
55.Timber rattlesnake.
56.Clothes.
57.Manure.
58.Wool.
59.Machine tool.
60.Railroad.

Let Me Tell You About My Lake.........

Lake Champlain is an everchanging creature. It is calm and serene, and on a clear day you can see forever. The next it may be a foggy torrent of wind and waves crashing upon shore. A boater's paradise, a fisherman's dream, nestled between two of the worlds oldest mountain ranges to the east and west.


It was covered by retreating glaciers around 10,000 years ago, and inhabited thereafter by native americans. "Discovered" in 1609 by Samuel D. Champlain, it was tugged between the french and british till the states took form. As always before, and during the first two wars to face the United States (Revolution and 1812), Lake Champlain was an important invasion route both north and south.


In it today swim Lake Sturgeon, a relic of many years. Alongside with new comers like White Perch and Double Crested Cormorants. Its ecology and water quality have changed as a result of human use. It is also the jewel of the regions aquatic recreation, drawing quite a large gas driven flotilla. A couple annual bass tournaments are held here, because of its notable smallmouth bass.


Water quality issues are surfacing because of human issues; shoreland development, wetlands loss, agricultural runoff, stormwater runoff and erosion within watersheds. Invasive species like zebra mussels, purple loosestrife, water chestnut, and eurasian milfoil that are spread by humans. The list goes on and on.


We need to separate between the science of managing Lake Champlain, and the politics. Sounds so simple doesn't it? If we apply ourselves now we can have results in the future, maybe in time for our grandchildren.

For Positive Change Take Kids Fishing

Free fishing day is just around two months away. Fishing is such a worthwhile pasttime to introduce kids to. You've got the suspense element, never knowing what may bite your line. You've got the social part, chatting it up with others enjoying the same activity, You've got the thrill seeking element when the bobber dips under or you feel a tug on the line. You've got the planning/preparedness part when you dig worms, gather tackle and lines, and sharpen hooks. The icky part when you bait or take something off your hook.

Whether young or young at heart, everyone can enjoy fishing. There's no club dues, little skill involved, just a hook, line and bait and anyone can be an "expert". Fish are a renewable natural resource, especially if one practices catch and release. Fish can tell you about the health of the lake, from lamprey marks, to black spot, to yellow grubs, and that nasty sarcoma that affects Northern Pike.

Our state benefits from the money tournament and recreational fishing bring. The future of our aquatic ecosystems lies with youth who grow up respecting their delicate balance. Kids who understand why excess soap, wastes, and chemicals don't belong in our waterbodies.

I implore any and all, young and old alike, take a kid fishing. Its some of the best community service you can do. Help preserve our waterbodies, get a kid off the street, off the couch, away from the video game system. Help wrestle tomorrow's leaders from the grip of the television set, and affect positive change.

Prepare Youth For Changing Future

It seems like man and nature are locked in a never-ending struggle. One tries to create permanence, the other is constantly changing and evolving. Nature is ruled by impermanence, its processes such as erosion, weathering, plate tectonics and wildfires, are but a few examples. For everything that is destroyed a new resource is created. Everything in nature is cycles with highs and lows, food is scarce populations dwindle, when plentiful, populations soar.

What seems to be chaos is really orderly fluctuations. Man has no fluctuations. Just onward and upward in what is termed exponential growth. When resources run out a population crash is to be expected. We need to get the message of sustainability to the kids now before it's too late. Youth today lack important connections that previous generations had the benefit of. Connections to the earth, their communities, and society in general.

They lack a sense of place, not knowing where they fit into the big picture. The kids are the future, it must start with them. Change happens from the ground up in the hearts and minds of our American youth. We need to instill in them a mindset that they are a valuable part of our communities. That their opinions and ideas are respected, and matter. Only our kids will be able to save us from ourselves. Please promote sustainability.

Blame Corportations For Unresponsive Government That Forgets The People

Our American society is like a runaway train. Everything is moving so fast we never have time to step back, and look at the big picture. We concentrate on our strengths so much we overlook our own weaknesses. It's time to re-asses Our own Central Intelligence Agency website confirms this; www.cia.gov/publications/html to see for yourself. We have the highest military expenditures of any nation in the world. We have the most number of incarcerated persons in the world. We also lead the world in illicit drug use.

There is a third world developing within the U.S. As the divide between wealthy and middle class grows, more working class families are becoming working poor. All a result of inflated costs of living, and high taxes due to out of control government spending.
Our government of by and for the people, has become a tool of the rich and powerful. Tax-cuts for the wealthy allow the rich to get richer at the expense of people who have work harder to earn a living. Our taxes pay for our government to use its military to make the world safe for American corporations. We trade soldiers lives for business overseas, that makes the rich, richer.

Where is the benefit to the common man? If the future of American industry is overseas, what is to be the future of the American people? What jobs can they expect to have in this outsourcing, do business at the lowest cost, world? Goods may get cheaper, but if Americans are without gainful employ, how will they be able to afford those goods?
I blame corporations for being greedy and pursueing the almighty dollar at any cost.

I blame our government for being unresponsive to the needs of the people. I blame politicians who vote based on party lines and special interest money, instead of their constituents desires.
I challenge politicians and government to fully fund education rather than spending all our money on defense. I challenge corporations and business to provide American workers with livable wages and meaningful employ. I challenge ALL Americans to end the cycle of voter apathy, and send a clear message to our government by voting in record turnouts.

It is time for change.

On Being A Vermonter

What does it mean to be a Vermonter these days? Is it residing in the state? Is it that your family has been here for generations? Do you have an in-depth knowledge of Vermont's formitive years as the Republic of Vermont? There is no litmus test for real Vermonters these days. Anyone can call themselves what they want, it's a fascade really. Real Vermonters are typified by what they endure. The reality is Vermont is a state of many hardships.

Stephen A. Douglas besides debating Lincoln was a native of Brandon, Vermont. His famous quote went "Vermont is a great place to grow up, provided you leave shortly thereafter." This is as true today as the 1800's when Vermont first started loosing its native son's and daughters. Vermont began documenting a loss in the 1820's as canals opened the way to the west.
Today we lose Vermonters because of economic disadvantage.

Wages are low, good jobs and gainful employ are few. The costs associated with living here are outrageous. The problem is Vermont is dominated by low paying service jobs because we are a "tourist state". These jobs are most often seasonal, and very few come with benefits. We need winter and summer clothes, fuel and transportation costs drive up other goods. We need heat in winter, and energy year-round, very little of which comes from here in Vermont. It is a lose, lose situation.

There is the problem of land and taxes here in Vermont. Land is sold at the premium development price here, that often Vermonters are unable to buy into. People who want to put up a house, have a couple kids, maybe a small farm, are being crowded out by McMansions and Condo's. On top of this you add some of the highest property taxes in the nation. Not to mention our sales and excise taxes.

Vermont is dominated by a consumer economy, there is a trade imbalance across our states borders. We produce all sorts of specialty products for export, but need to import nearly all the things we require to live here. The Yankee tradition of making do has gone by the wayside and we've moved on to bigger, better, even broadband, in the backwoods.

What have we lost along with those landless son's and daughters? Look around, the signs are everywhere, community is what has suffered. When a town needed something done they pitched in and made it happen. Now its who's the low bid, and where can we get grant money or aid. Local control used to be something Vermonters prided themselves in, but now most of our decisions are being made in Montpelier and Washington. How many can say they like the decisions that are being made?

As a youth I had but one dream and that was to grow up, live, and die, in the town I was raised. My future in Vermont is questionable. I'm getting married this year, and Vermont is a hard place to start out. All I ever wanted was to be near my family, and now it feels like I'm being forced out by the economic costs of being a Vermonter.

A "True" Vermonter

If your birth certificate lists any town in Vermont, you may be a true Vermonter.

If your family used to own half the town, and now you live with your parents on two acres in a trailer, you may be a true Vermonter.

If you've ever veered your car toward an animal in the road, you may be a true Vermonter.

If you've ever given a tourist completely wrong directions, you may be a true Vermonter.

If you don't ski and crawl under a rock to hide from winter, you may be a true Vermonter.

If you see snowy weather as opportunity to make money pulling tourists out of ditches, you may be a true Vermonter.

If nothing but real Vermont maple syrup if for you, you may be a true Vermonter.

If you're up to your eyeballs in bills, and you're wondering how you're going to pay your taxes, you may be a true Vermonter.

If you know the start dates of turkey, crow, duck, goose, deer, bear and moose seasons, you might be a true Vermonter.

If your car is rusting out and your still making payments on it, you may be a true Vermonter.

If you slide a rowboat out on last ice in front of you to go ice fishing, you may be a true Vermonter.

If you shoot fish, you may be a true Vermonter.

If you know there are spring and fall mud seasons on the Long Trail, you may be a true Vermonter.

If you make money off of tourists, you may be a true Vermonter.

If you think a trip to the dump is a shopping trip, you may be a true Vermonter.

If you love coming up with things to define true Vermonter, you may be a true Vermonter.

If you ever wonder what it takes to be a true Vermonter, you might just never be a true Vermonter.