Zack Woods Pond Protected (a loon nesting site)

The following note is from Kate Wanner, a project manager for the Trust for Public Land, about the protection of Zack Woods Pond in Hyde Park where loons have nested for the past 20 years or so.  Kate navigated the land acquisition process, not an easy task for lakeshore property.  Sue Premo, a VLRP volunteer, initiated the long-term protection of this special place and perservered in making sure the right people were brought into the process.   I assisted Sue as part of the Friends of Zack Woods Pond.   Happy Holidays. 
Eric Hanson, VLRP coordinator

From Kate Wanner, Trust for Public Land

"I wanted to share the good news that we just closed on the last piece of Zack Woods, protecting a total of 393 acres in Hyde Park & Wolcott, VT as an addition to Green River Reservoir State Park. I want to thank everyone for their help with this project, especially Sue Premo and the Friends of Zack Woods for their tireless work to conserve this property, educate the users who were inadvertently harming the natural resources, and improve the water quality and visitor experience through site improvements and outreach.

The Friends of Green River Reservoir were also essential to the conservation of this land, and will be an important partner to the State in the future management of the property, protection of its natural resources, and education of its users.

Morrisville Water & Light, the Judkins and the Harris family deserve our sincere appreciation for their patience in the long process, their regular clean-up of the refuse dumped on the properties, and their willingness to work with us to permanently conserve their land for the public to enjoy.

Lastly, a big thank you to Kate Willard and many other staff at the State of Vermont for working with us these past three years to secure the federal funding and three sources of state funding, and deal with title, survey and appraisal issues, all in the midst of staff shortages, budget shortfalls and being shuffled around to different offices after losing their state office in Waterbury to Hurricane Irene.

As we previously discussed, we would like to celebrate the conservation of Zack Woods with an event out on the property in the spring. We'll be in touch with more details in a few months.

These precious loon chicks, photographed on Zack Woods Pond by Phil Etter, appreciate all you do and wish you a happy holidays!"