Trust needs $16,000 to preserve vernal pool

We’re at it again–asking our members and friends to help us buy a critical habitat parcel in Brewster.   We need $16, 000 to purchase and preserve three acres of a pine/oak forest surrounding the whole of a vernal pool.  Watch a 2-minute video of our volunteers documenting the pool’s amphibian inhabitants by clicking: Vernal Pool Visit.

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A vernal pool is a small, shallow pondlet required for spawning by rare salamanders and wood frogs and invertebrates such as fairy shrimp.  Typically, it dries up often enough to prevent fish from establishing residency and eating the egg masses of the amphibians and insect larvae.  In the video, BCT volunteers, led by Jim Van Baalen and Don Keeran, show how a vernal pool is documented–with chest waders, dip nets and cameras.  These citizen-scientists provide their findings to State wildlife officials who will certify the pools.  Certified vernal pools receive greater regulatory protection under state and local wetlands laws.

The 3-acre woodland to be acquired is part of a 60-acre mosaic located in SE Brewster that has been acquired for conservation over the past 18 months by BCT and the Town of Brewster, with supplemental funding assistance from the Town of Orleans and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Division of Conservation Services.  The preserve is anchored by the 23-acre Read Kingsbury Conservation Area, named in honor of the late member of the Brewster Conservation Commission and BCT trustee.  See story.)