CONSERVATION COMMISSION of the TOWN OF HALIFAX
Regular Meeting, Thursday, January 22, 2026, at 6:30 PM
Hybrid meeting at Town Office, 246 Branch Road, West Halifax and online: Zoom Location
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83140976854?pwd=dFFkWE1tdk84VjFGc1RZODJvM2NjUT09
Meeting ID: 831 4097 6854
Passcode: 793307
You can dial in using your phone: +1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
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DRAFT MINUTES
Attendees: Stephan Chait (Chair; SC), Lesley Pollitt (Treasurer; LP), Laurel Copeland (Secretary; LC), Mary Horne (Member; MH), Dov Towler (Member; DT), Colin Bratton (guest), Linda Huebner (LH; guest), Bonnie Brown (BB; guest)
CALL TO ORDER at 6:30 pm
HEARING OF VISITORS – The guest speaker introduced himself and met the attendees.
CHANGES AND/OR ADDITIONS TO AGENDA – No additions.
APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES – October 23, 2025 Regular Meeting Minutes were approved unanimously by the members present.
NEW BUSINESS
Road Crossing for Wildlife as part of Habitat Connectivity
Presentation by Colin Bratton, Transportation Planner at Windham Regional Commission
Wildlife crossings can be improved to remove manmade barriers and road hazards for wildlife and to allow more natural movement of terrestrial and aquatic animals. Wildlife crossings reduce vehicle collisions which currently incur 26,000 damage/injury incidents annually.
Wide-ranging animals need a lot of space, e.g., 5,760 acres per bobcat, 1,280-12,800 acres per moose, 15-30 linear miles per river otter, 19,200 acres per black bear. An image showed the track of a male black bear M0063 over 30 days in 2017, covering approximately 140 km between Brattleboro and Readsboro. Another image showed a bobcat’s movements among forest, hedgerow, pasture, and wetlands habitats showing that the bobcat used the hedgerow to avoid the open lawns and pastures.
Crossings can be small or large. Photo showed a salamander crossing under Henry Street in Amherst, MA, letting the salamanders cross from woodland to wetland. This and a second one were installed in the 1980’s by the town and it still works. Monkton, VT installed one and used donations to help pay for it. There are very large ones in the Netherlands and in some national parks. The Northern Appalachians have a “Staying Connected” initiative by the Nature Conservancy that ranges from Nova Scotia into New York. Putney has been active for 10 years trying to improve wildlife connectivity; Guilford and Marlboro are also active in planning to conserve contiguous forest blocks. Towns in the Berkshires are inventorying culverts and prioritizing culvert improvements. Vermont ANR also has a dam removal initiative. Any new culvert installed on a Vermont stream that uses state monies must meet wildlife needs. Signage can help for short stretches as we see in Guilford.
Updating the Halifax Town Plan. Deferred.
Costs and Benefits of Paving or Maintaining Dirt Roads. Deferred.
Beech Leaf Disease – Discussion of a joint event with the Community Hall. BB reported that there is a recording on YouTube of two brief talks by state speakers given in Guilford about Beech Leaf Disease. One speaker discussed the impact on black bears when beech trees are lost, because they depend on beech nuts to survive. Sue Kelly, our tree warden, will participate. Co-sponsors can include the Conservation Commission and the Community Club. Members were in favor of co-sponsoring.
OLD BUSINESS
Association of Vermont Conservation Commissions – Tiny Grants Program
Provides funds for specific projects in the broad categories of land conservation, education and outreach, stewardship and management, and planning.
Applications due Saturday, April 11, 2026 – https://vtconservation.com/tiny-grants/
Planning for Removal of Japanese Knotweed on Deer Park Road. DT is the lead. Landowners are on board.
OTHER BUSINESS –.
ADJOURNMENT at 7:33 pm.
Link to video recording – https://www.youtube.com/@halifaxvtselectboard3764/videos
