You may have heard about Thirty by Thirty, an intention to conserve 30% of our landscape by 2030. The underlying goal is to preserve biodiversity in the face of climate change and other pressures on natural communities. As a bird enthusiast, I support the general concept of Thirty by Thirty as one means of helping our feathered friends.

Fortunately, Vermont has taken a leading role in this effort. In June 2023 the Vermont Legislature passed the Community Resilience and Biodiversity Protection Act. This Act sets a goal of conserving 30% of Vermont’s landscape by 2030 and conserving 50% of Vermont’s landscape by 2050. This sounds like a challenging set of goals.

Many will agree that we need a challenging set of goals.

Spring in Vermont often arrives in fits and starts before finally settling into a season that any of us might fully call spring.  With an unseasonably warm winter behind us, this spring has decided to play its normal psychological games with us for yet another year. But while the rest of us may be growing anxious for the migrant birds to arrive or for the days of shoveling to be behind us, no one experiences the rollercoaster ride of Vermont spring quite like our sugarmakers.

On the first Saturday in March, a large contingent of 30 birders ventured out from the Ethan Allen Homestead on the surrounding Intervale trails.  This walk, which had been postponed due to frigid temperatures the previous Saturday, began with inauspicious conditions due to strong winds, cloudy skies, and cool temperatures.  Some felt that they would be fortunate to see a few bird species, but it seemed that the birds had other ideas.

GMAS welcomed three accomplished new board members at its January meeting, filling vacancies left by the retirement of several long-term board members. The two women and one man represent a diversity of backgrounds and ages, and they are already hard at work attending outings and serving on committees.