P.O. Box 254 | Bristol, VT 05443 | tel. (802) 453-7728 fax. (802) 453-7729
visit us: http://www.familyforests.org
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VFF Workshops and Events &Hogback Community College CoursesWe usually hold VFF workshops & events rain or shine, but sometimes weather conditions will cause us to cancel a workshop. We ask that you call the VFF offices (453-7728) the morning of the workshop in case of rain, snow, or high winds. We will leave a message on the answering machine if the workshop is cancelled. Visit our Events Gallery to see the programs we've offered in the past! Click on the titles below for in-depth course descriptions and registration information for current and up-coming courses: General VFF Workshops and Events
Hogback Community College Courses Hogback Community College (HCC) is a loose but energetic confederation of teachers and learners in the Five-Town Forest of northeastern Addison County, Vermont. Our goal in forming HCC is to create a true community college—one that celebrates and sustains this community by offering a diverse, changing array of useful and attractive courses. These 1- and 2-credit (16-32 hours of instruction) courses offer in-depth explorations on the subjects they cover.
GAME OF LOGGING TRAINING PROGRAM, Fall 2013
The Game of Logging training program combines Scandinavian logging techniques with the latest systems for working safely around trees. We cannot overstate the value of these courses. We have participants who’ve used chainsaws for 30 years prior to taking GOL Level I say that the course changed the way they work in the woods. FALL 2013 Cost per training session level: $170
Location and directions: All 2013 GOL workshops will be held at The Waterworks Property, which is located on Plank Road in Bristol. From the traffic light in downtown Bristol, head north 0.6 miles on North Street. Turn left (west) and drive 3.5 miles. You will see the Waterworks parking lot on your right (north). We look forward to seeing you at the workshop! Please contact VFF if you have any questions. How to Register: Download the registration form here. On it you’ll find detailed information about the registration process, including fees, cancellation policies, directions to course meeting sites, etc. Please complete the registration form and mail with payment to VERMONT FAMILY FORESTSto the address indicated on the form. We will hold your payment until we reach the minimum number of students required for offering the course. If we have already reached the course’s maximum student capacity by the time you submit your registration, we will place you on a waiting list.
GAME OF LOGGING TRAINING PROGRAM, Spring 2014The Game of Logging training program combines Scandinavian logging techniques with the latest systems for working safely around trees. We cannot overstate the value of these courses. We have participants who’ve used chainsaws for 30 years prior to taking GOL Level I say that the course changed the way they work in the woods. Spring 2014 Cost per training session level: $170
Location and directions: All 2013 GOL workshops will be held at The Waterworks Property, which is located on Plank Road in Bristol. From the traffic light in downtown Bristol, head north 0.6 miles on North Street. Turn left (west) and drive 3.5 miles. You will see the Waterworks parking lot on your right (north). We look forward to seeing you at the workshop! Please contact VFF if you have any questions. How to Register: Download the registration form here. On it you’ll find detailed information about the registration process, including fees, cancellation policies, directions to course meeting sites, etc. Please complete the registration form and mail with payment to VERMONT FAMILY FORESTSto the address indicated on the form. We will hold your payment until we reach the minimum number of students required for offering the course. If we have already reached the course’s maximum student capacity by the time you submit your registration, we will place you on a waiting list.
BUILDING & MAINTAINING FOREST ACCESS TRAILS WorkshopDate: April 12, 2014 Cost: Free When properly located, designed, constructed, and maintained, an access trail is a line of grace through a forest, working in harmony with the contours of the landscape and maintaining forest health. Conversely, a poorly conceived and maintained can create a long-term blight on the land, eroding soil, degrading water quality, and sapping the forest’s vitality. In this workshop, third in a three-part series hosted by VFF in cooperation with Lewis Creek Association, you will learn what you need to know to properly design, construct, and maintain forest access trails. You’ll learn how to install appropriate trail drainage in accordance with the Vermont Acceptable Management Practices. Taught by David Brynn, Vermont Family Forests’ Founding Executive Director and Conservation Forester and Kristen Underwood, Hydro-geologist, South Mountain Research & Consulting. The workshop will happen rain or shine so participants should dress for the weather and bring bug dope and water. No pets please! Directions: From the traffic light in Bristol, follow North St. for approximately ¾ mile until you reach Plank Road (on your left). Turn onto Plank Road and check odometer. You’ll remain on Plank Road through 2 intersections (Burpee Road at 0.8 miles and Sawyer Road at 1.7 miles). Plank Road will sweep to the right then make a sharp turn to the left over Norton Brook. The parking area for the Waterworks property is on the right just before that sharp turn. (Total driving distance along Plank Road is 3.3 miles.)
Hogback Community CollegeCONSERVING VERMONT'S REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANSWe are delighted to announce our third season of Conserving Vermont’s Reptiles and Amphibians. We are thrilled that Jim Andrews will be offering this 2.125-credit class on the identification, natural history, and conservation of Vermont’s reptiles and amphibians. Jim is an outstanding teacher who excels at hands-on, field-based learning.
A previous participant, who happened to be a teacher, put it this way: “The evening sessions were great but I absolutely loved the field time. This was a terrific learning experience!” “Conserving Vermont’s Reptiles & Amphibians” will give students the science and skills they need to identify most of Vermont’s reptiles and amphibians, to contribute to the Vermont Reptile & Amphibian Atlas Project, and more! About the Course This course will introduce students to the identification, natural history, and conservation of Vermont's reptiles and amphibians, two often-overlooked taxonomic groups. In addition, students will learn how to locate, document, and report these species. Over the course of five evening presentations and four day-long field trips, students will study reptiles and amphibians in different habitat types and/or at different times of the year. Field trips will include the use of active searches, call identification, egg-mass surveys, and live trapping. We will locate as many of Vermont’s herpetofauna (~20 species) as we can in the Hogback region (Bristol, Lincoln, Monkton, New Haven, and Starksboro) using the Waterworks property in Bristol as our primary field location. Students will be encouraged to use these techniques, as well as nighttime road searches, on their own and to locate, document, and report species in areas where they have not previously been documented. Course meeting dates have been timed to introduce students to most of the species early in the field season, and then to have most of the summer to apply their knowledge and locate and report species before the final class. The final class will be a group survey of a location not previously surveyed for reptiles or amphibians. Field trips will be off-trail and may at times be physically challenging, wet, dirty, and or buggy, but a whole lot of fun. One of the course’s goals is for students to become better stewards of their
own and public lands. Additionally, students will gain hands-on experience in
collecting field data to assist in filling the many gaps in our knowledge of the
distribution of these species in Vermont by helping collect field data for the
Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas.
About the Instructor James S. Andrews is an adjunct assistant professor of herpetology at UVM, coordinator of the Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas, chair of the Reptile and Amphibian Scientific Advisory Group to the VT Endangered Species Committee, and a research associate of Vermont Family Forests. He has a master’s degree in biology from Middlebury College and lives with his wife Kris in Salisbury, Vermont.
Course Details Date, Time, and Location
of instruction:
Minimum and maximum number of students
How to Apply: Download a registration form here. On it you’ll find detailed information about the registration process, including fees, cancellation policies, directions to course meeting sites, etc. Please complete the registration form and mail with payment to VERMONT FAMILY FORESTS to the address indicated on the form. We will hold your payment until we reach the minimum number of students required for offering the course. If we have already reached the course’s maximum student capacity by the time you submit your registration, we will place you on a waiting list.
Hogback Community CollegeFOUR-SEASON BIRDING IN THE HOGBACK ECO-REGIONOne of the most popular outdoor activities in North America, birding is also fosters a greater understanding of our local biodiversity, ecology, and improved stewardship of our local landscapes. This course will immerse participants in the joy of studying birds in the field, initiating or enhancing a lifetime pursuit.
Taught by life-long birder Jim Andrews, students will learn to locate and identify many of our local bird species by field marks, form, song, and habitat as a first step to knowledge of their natural history and conservation. We will discuss how and why the birds found in our region change over the seasons, how and where to find them, and characteristics of some of our more common bird families. The course is intended for beginning and intermediate birders. We will spend four Saturday mornings traveling by foot and by vehicle to search for, identify, and discuss birds between Lake Champlain and Lincoln Gap. We will begin with winter residents and migrants in February, check in on returning species and residents again in April, and then spend two mornings in June searching for and listening to our local breeding birds. During the last 30 minutes of each four-hour field session, we will review the day’s species, their field marks, family characteristics, natural history, biology, and conservation. Jim will also assign a few species sheets to be filled out between meetings. Species sheets are a vehicle with which to learn more about the natural history and biology of the species that we are observing and help commit some of that information to memory. Students will also be asked to get out on their own between our meetings and keep a list of the species they have seen, along with their key field marks. Binoculars and bird books will be required.
About the Instructor Jim Andrews is a full-time herpetologist and conservationist with a life-long recreational interest in birds. He regularly leads birding trips in the Lake Champlain Basin, compiles the Middlebury Christmas Bird Count, and teaches herpetology and field ornithology as an adjunct professor at UVM. His goal is to create enjoyable and interesting field experiences through which the teacher and students can learn together and as a result become better stewards of our environment. Course Details
Minimum and maximum number of students
How to Apply: Download a registration form here. On it you’ll find detailed information about the registration process, including fees, cancellation policies, directions to course meeting sites, etc. Please complete the registration form and mail with payment to VERMONT FAMILY FORESTS to the address indicated on the form. We will hold your payment until we reach the minimum number of students required for offering the course. If we have already reached the course’s maximum student capacity by the time you submit your registration, we will place you on a waiting list.
Hogback Community CollegeFOREST TAI CHI (Summer 2013 session)Just as the health of a forest can be gauged by its capacity for self-renewal, so the human body - an ecosystem of interconnected parts - depends on resiliency, balance and strength to maintain health. The practice of Tai Chi Chuan with its slow and meditative movements cultivates this flexibility and balance while opening to the universal renewable energy source called "qi". In this class, students will learn Tai Chi/Qi Gong exercises and the first set of the Tung Family Yang Style slow set. Classes will be held indoors. Class instruction will connect with the seasonal rhythms of our temperate rainforest. In addition, there will be time for discussion and take-home reading about the philosophical roots of Tai Chi Chuan as well as healthful practices to integrate throughout the seasons. Yang Yang's Taijiquan: The Art of Nurturing, The Science of Power will serve as an optional textbook.
About the Instructor Rachel Edwards, M.S., L.Ac. is a practitioner of Chinese Medicine in Bristol. She is an assistant teacher of Tai Chi Chuan at Falling Water School of Tai Chi Chuan in Middlebury and teaches private lessons in Addison County. Her previous background in outdoor education, movement, and meditation led her to fully embrace Tai Chi as a life-long practice and gateway to wellbeing. For more information about Rachel, visit her website at www.stillmountain-quietheart.com. Course Details Wednesdays 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. Open Sky Studio, Bristol Minimum/maximum student enrollment: Minimum: 6 Maximum: 15 Fee: $80 for the course Drop-in Fee:: $15 per session Credit hours*: 0.50 hours (8 hours of instruction) *While our courses offer the structure and content of college courses, we are not seeking accreditation for Hogback Community College, nor do we currently offer credits for transfer to other educational institutions. Many teachers have taken Hogback Community College courses as part of their Professional Development requirements.
How to Apply: Download a registration form here. On it you’ll find detailed information about the registration process, including fees, cancellation policies, directions to course meeting sites, etc. Please complete the registration form and mail with payment to VERMONT FAMILY FORESTS to the address indicated on the form. We will hold your payment until we reach the minimum number of students required for offering the course. If we have already reached the course’s maximum student capacity by the time you submit your registration, we will place you on a waiting list.
Hogback Community CollegeSPANISH THROUGH STORIESSpanish is the fastest growing language in the United States, and Vermont is part of this trend. An estimated 1,500 migrant Mexican farm workers live and work in Vermont, many of them in Addison County. In this course, participants will both learn Spanish and have unique opportunities to meet and talk with migrant workers. Spanish Through Stories is designed for people who have never studied Spanish before or who have forgotten the basic Spanish skills they learned years ago. Participants will learn Spanish using the Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS) method. This innovative method uses stories and storytelling to build vocabulary and grammatical structures in a way that mirrors natural language acquisition. Participants will read and co-create stories in Spanish, many of which will chronicle the lives of migrant farm workers. We will use patterned questioning and answering to foster a deep memory understanding. No dictionaries or textbooks will be needed! In addition to learning the language through stories about migrant farm workers, participants will also meet and talk with local migrant Mexican farm workers, both in the classroom and at a farm. These interactions will create engaging opportunities to practice Spanish, learn about other cultures, and to reflect on immigration issues. Additional opportunities to get involved with this population will be available for interested participants.
About the Instructor Chris Urban is a grade 7-12 Spanish teacher at Harwood Union High School. For three years he worked for the Vermont Migrant Education Program as an English teacher for migrant Mexican farm workers in Addison County (pictured here with his former student and Vermont migrant worker Pablo Contreras in his hometown of Atlixtac, Guerrero, in southern Mexico.) Chris is the co-creator of the Golden Cage Project exhibit and website, www.goldencageproject.org, which promotes understanding of the lives of Mexican migrant workers on Vermont’s dairy farms. Course Details This course will be held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6-8pm, beginning July 2 and running through July 25 (no class July 4). Students will also participate in one Saturday morning dairy farm visit, date TBD. (Course dates: July 2, 9,11,16,18,23,25 plus one two-hour Saturday field trip, date TBD). Location: Howden Hall, Bristol, VT
Minimum/maximum student enrollment: Minimum: 8 Maximum: 15 Fee: $160 Credit hours: 1 credit hour* (16.5 hours of instruction) *While our courses offer the structure and content of college courses, we are not seeking accreditation for Hogback Community College, nor do we currently offer credits for transfer to other educational institutions. Many teachers have taken Hogback Community College courses as part of their Professional Development requirements. How to Apply: Download a registration form here. On it you’ll find detailed information about the registration process, including fees, cancellation policies, directions to course meeting sites, etc. Please complete the registration form and mail with payment to VERMONT FAMILY FORESTS to the address indicated on the form. We will hold your payment until we reach the minimum number of students required for offering the course. If we have already reached the course’s maximum student capacity by the time you submit your registration, we will place you on a waiting list.
Hogback Community College SeminarPRODUCING & USING FIREWOOD SUSTAINABLY IN THE HOGBACK ECOREGIONAre you interested in producing and utilizing wood heat in a way that is restorative, sustainable, efficient, local, and fair (R-SELF)? In each session of this 16-hour (1 credit) seminar, we’ll explore a different aspect of producing and using wood heat, from standing trees in a healthy forest through logging, processing, delivery, storage, and combustion in an energy-efficient building. This seminar will involve much active participation—through readings, discussions, presentations, and hands-on applications of learning. In this process, we’ll both learn about and add to the discussion of R-SELF wood energy production. Our discussions and discoveries throughout the seminar will help inform the development of a community-based wood heat cooperative in the Hogback EcoRegion. This special 16-hour seminar will be offered for a fee significantly lower than our usual $160/16-hour course fee. Check course details below for more information.
About the Instructors: David Brynn is founding executive director and conservation forester for Vermont Family Forests. Home energy efficiency expert Matt Sharpe is engineering staff manager for Vermont Energy Investment Corporation. Bill Torrey, has brought his logging expertise to Vermont Family Forests projects since the late 1990s. Roger Wallace is a biomass combustion expert and owner of Addison Biomass Energy. Course Details: Dates: September 5 - October 24, 2013 (see table below for schedule details) Location: Bristol area (Brynn family forest and other sites TBD) Minimum/maximum student enrollment: Minimum: 12 Maximum: 18 Fee: $100 for full 16-hour seminar. Once we have reached our minimum of 12 participants, we will open registration for individual seminar sessions at $25/evening.
Credit hours*: 1 credit-hour (16 hours of instruction) *While our courses offer the structure and content of college courses, we are not seeking accreditation for Hogback Community College, nor do we currently offer credits for transfer to other educational institutions. Many teachers have taken Hogback Community College courses as part of their Professional Development requirements. How to Apply: Download a registration form here. On it you’ll find detailed information about the registration process, including fees, cancellation policies, directions to course meeting sites, etc. Please complete the registration form and mail with payment to VERMONT FAMILY FORESTS to the address indicated on the form. We will hold your payment until we reach the minimum number of students required for offering the course. If we have already reached the course’s maximum student capacity by the time you submit your registration, we will place you on a waiting list.
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