History of Conservation Districts
What other names did the Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) go by?
Soil Erosion Service (SES) and Soil Conservation Service (SCS)
What is Vermont’s state fruit?
apple
How many major river basins/watersheds are in Vermont?
15
Bonus points if you can name them
Name an invasive plant species that is endemic along Vermont waterways?
Knotweed, Buckthorn, etc.
What is the capital of Vermont?
Montpelier
What year were Conservation Districts created by a federal law?
1937
Which Vermont county produces the most maple syrup?
Franklin County
When was the Vermont Clean Water Act passed?
2015
What is Vermont’s state tree?
Sugar maple
What is Vermont’s highest peak?
Mount Mansfield (at 4,393’)
Where was the 1st conservation district created in Vermont?
Poultney Mettowee (in 1940)
What was the 1st wide spread Vermont Agriculture product?
Sheep/Wool
What year was the last time that Lake Champlain froze completely over?
2019
What is Vermont’s state bird?
Hermit thrush
How long is the Long Trail?
272 miles
When did Vermont pass the Soil Conservation Act?
1939 (this enabled the creation of conservation districts in Vermont)
What makes a MFO?
Operates a farm within the thresholds for a Permitted Medium Farm Operation
200-699 dairy cows
300-999 youngstock or heifers
How many lakes and ponds does Vermont have?
808
What is Vermont’s state insect?
Honeybee
What is of significance along the Isle La Mott shoreline ?
Fossils of the ancient sea - remnants of fossilized rock from an ancient ocean, snails, squids, sea sponges. Chasey Fossil Ridge.
Where was the first Soil Conservation District organized?
North Carolina (in 1937 by Hugh Hammond Bennett, sometimes called the father of the conservation movement)
What triggered the shift away from wool to increased dairy/liquid milk production?
Railroads providing direct access to Boston and southern New England.
What year was Lake Champlain designated as a Great Lake and how long did that designation last?
1998. Signed into Law for 18 days, then reversed.
What is Vermont’s state warmwater fish?
Walleye pike
What mammal was unburied in Charlotte and is now in the Perkins Museum of Geology ?
Beluga whale