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Adirondacks: Champlain Valley


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Why the Conservancy Selected This Site
The Champlain Valley presents a rare opportunity to conserve a spectrum of large landscapes in the Northeast, from unbroken wetlands, to thriving rare plant communities, to working family farms and wildlife corridors.

This ecologically rich valley lies within an area known as the St. Lawrence-Champlain Valley ecoregion. Approximately 24 percent of this lowland ecoregion is in New York, 66 percent in Canada, and 10 percent in Vermont. The Nature Conservancy works to preserve the ecoregion's characteristic natural communities, including clayplain forests, lake-sand beaches, sandplains and numerous wetland and aquatic communities.

Threats
Land conversion, habitat fragmentation, invasive species, altered hydrologic systems and byproducts of agricultural practices (chemicals, nutrients and sediments) endanger the valley's biodiversity. 

Plants

  • The Champlain Valley represents the northernmost reaches of many southern tree species, such as shag bark hickory, red and white oak, and hop hornbeam. 
  • Wildflowers include blue cohosh, bloodroot, Dutchman's breeches, wood anemone and more. 
  • The valley's sandstone pavement barrens, which are globally rare, provide habitat for jack pine and low-lying heath, such as huckleberry.

Animals

  • The Champlain Valley provides habitat for bobcats, eastern timber rattlesnakes, coyotes, black bears, fishers, white-tailed deer and more.
  • Of the 193 birds that breed in the Adirondacks, 155 of them are found in the Champlain Valley. On the lake itself, you might see common loons, snow geese, ring-necked ducks, buffleheads, mergansers and a variety of gulls. Inland, you might see yellow-bellied sapsuckers, least flycatchers, American kestrels, great horned owls, bobolinks, eastern meadowlarks, peregrine falcons and a variety of hawks.

Our Conservation Strategy
The Adirondack Nature Conservancy and the Adirondack Land Trust work together to accomplish the following goals.

  • Preserve the biological diversity of the valley, from old-growth floodplain forests to globally rare sandstone pavement barrens.
  • Provide educational opportunities for people to learn more about the valley's natural wonders.
  • Secure scenic landscapes to enhance tourism and inspire pride and curiosity in visitors and residents.
  • Collaborate with local farmers and landowners to promote sustainable agricultural and forestry practices, while helping local communities to strengthen their economies and cultural heritages.
  • Conserve streams, lakeshores and Lake Champlain to protect water quality.


What TNC Has Done/Is Doing
The Nature Conservancy and the Adirondack Land Trust, which formally established the Champlain Valley Program in 2000, have protected 14,764 acres in the region through conservation easements and fee acquisition. In partnership with Keeping Track, Inc., a nonprofit organization that works with volunteers to identify and monitor important wildlife habitats and travel corridors, the Conservancy has established a wildlife-monitoring program in the Champlain Valley.

To find out more, contact Champlain Valley Program Director Chris Maron at (518) 576 - 2082 x162 or cmaron@tnc.org.

Places to visit
Coon Mountain

 

Gadway Sandstone Pavement Barrens Preserve Everton Falls Preserve Spring Pond Bog Silver Lake Bog Preserve Clintonville Pine Barrens Coon Mountain Preserve Lake George Land Conservancy Southern Lake Champlain Valley