Conservation Area Location Biophysical Region Natural Communities Watersheds Trail Maps Resources
Location of the Hogback Mountain Conservation Area
The conservation land encompasses approximately 550 acres in the town of Marlboro, in southern Vermont. The land is bisected by route 9 and a commercial zone including a gift shop, restaurant (no longer in operation), natural history museum, and a few other buildings along route 9. Old route 9, a dirt road, crosses through the north side of the conservation land. There are 2 parking areas (see the trail map below) where the trails can be accessed. Hogback Mountain rises up to 2,410 feet and is the highest point in the conservation area. While there are no hiking trails to the top of Hogback Mountain, there are trails to a fire tower on Mount Olga which is partially within the conservation land, and is contiguous with Molly Stark State Park.
The Hogback Mountain Conservation Area is located within the Deerfield River and the Green River Watersheds in Vermont and Massachusetts. Each drainage area eventually drains to the Connecticut River. In addition, a portion of Hogback Mountain that is not part of the conservation property drains to the Rock River Watershed, which is in turn part of the larger West River Watershed. Thus drainage from Hogback Mountain and the Conservation Area contribute to three watersheds in two states.
Natural Communities
Click here for a larger PDF version of this map.
According to the book “Wetland, Woodland, Wildland”, a natural community is “an interacting assemblage of organisms, their physical environment, and the natural processes that affect them”. These communities are influenced by soils, geology, climate, topography, drainage patterns, natural disturbances such as tree blow downs, and human land use patterns. A natural community may be described and named based on the dominant plant species such as a Hemlock forest, or important landscape or climatic features. Within each different community type are found characteristic plants and animals.
In some cases there are distinct or abrupt transitions from one natural community type to the next, as when forested land borders a lake, while in many cases the transition is often gradual such as between two closely related forest types. While each individual assemblage of species may not be exactly alike, there are repeatable patterns across the landscape that allows one to identify the various natural communities. These natural community types are broadly divided into wetland and upland communities as presented in “Wetland, Woodland, Wildland”. For instance, in the natural communies map above, much of the land was classified as a matrix of Northern Hardwood forest, while other forest and wetland types, such as vernal pools, were found within this matrix.
The Hogback Conservation Area, at approximately 550 acres, has an interesting array of natural upland and wetland communities. Below is a map of these communities. They were identified through a combination of walking the land and identifying the diversity of trees and other vegetation, by examining the soils, topography with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software, and by examining aerial photography. The natural community map is not a comprehensive list of every occurrence. Certainly more areas or community types may be found, and this initial study of the communities invites more investigation and exploration.
Areas labeled early successional, most of which are the old ski trails, are still maturing or are covered in young trees, ferns, or other vegetation and do not necessarily fit into any specific natural community type. Below is a brief description of each natural community type that was located. Photos of some of these communities are included, with more to come in the future. Click on any image for a larger view.
The following is a short description of the communities found and mapped in the conservation area and the most common plant and tree species observed:
Upland Forested Communities
Northern Hardwood Forest
This is the most common forest in the state and forms the background of the matrix in which the other forest types mix. Also known as the transition forest, it is an intermediate type between the softwood conifers found at the higher latitudes and elevations and the hardwood forests occurring in warmer conditions, especially to the south.
American beech, sugar maple, yellow birch, hobblebush; common plants: intermediate wood fern, mayflower, trillium, trout lily, wild oats.
Red Spruce - Northern Hardwood Forest
This forest has a variable composition of deciduous and conifers. It is related to the northern hardwood forest above.
Red spruce, yellow birch, red maple, American beech; mountain wood sorrel, Canada mayflower, shining clubmoss.
Lowland Spruce - Fir
This community occurs in colder areas and may grade into forested wetland areas. It is also variable in its tree species composition.
Red spruce, balsam fir, red maple, yellow birch; intermediate woodfern, mountain wood sorrel, shining clubmoss.
Montane Spruce - Fir
This type of community occurs in sites with more severe climatic conditions. Due to the mosses that grow, there is a distinctly quiet feel when walking through this type of forest.
Red spruce, balsam fir; woodfern
Wetland Communities
Wetland communities include both forested and open types. Where water levels and other factors allow trees to grow and reproduce, forested wetlands occur. When the water conditions limit the growth and reproduction of trees and intermediate to aquatic habitats, open wetlands such as bogs, vernal pools, and cattail wetlands occur.
Red Spruce - Hardwood Swamp
This is a variant of a Spruce Fir Tamarack Swamp. It lacks the tamarack tree but includes yellow birch, red maple, paper birch, and balsam fir on the Hogback property. Ferns and mosses are also abundant.
Vernal Pool
Vernal pools are temporary wetlands which fill during the spring with rainwater, runoff, and ground water for part of the year. They usually dry up for part of the year and because they are not hospitable to fish, are well-suited habitats for breeding amphibians. Some species such as wood frogs have evolved to spend part of their life cycle in these pools and may be considered obligate species. When found, they definitively indicate the presence of a vernal pool. Other species such as the spring peeper may use vernal pools or other wetlands which do contain fish, for breeding. One can differentiate from other wetland types and certify a vernal pool based on the species observed. The vernal pools indicated on the natural community map have some of the characteristics necessary but are not certified and therefore represent potential vernal pools. Future study should include definitive identification.
Seep
These small wetlands areas occur on slopes of the base of slopes where groundwater discharges. They have fewer trees than the surrounding forest while sedges, grasses and herbs are abundant.
Cattail Marsh
As the name suggest, this wetland is dominated by cattails. They have wet, mucky soils that are inundated throughout most of the growing season. Despite a low diversity of plant species, ecologically they are productive areas that provide habitat for many insects, birds and mammals.
Sedge Meadow
These wetland communities can be found at the edges of streams and ponds and can occur as part of larger wetland complexes. They have saturated soils for part of the growing season and groundwater may be at the surface.
Common plants include various species of sedges, grasses, mosses, and other plants adapted to saturated conditions.
Dwarf Shrub Bog
Precipitation is the predominant source of water for bogs, leaving them nutrient poor and acidic. The water level generally remains just below the surface. There can be several species of sphagnum moss and the decay and decaying remains is termed peat. Dwarf shrub bogs have a cover of shrubs such as cranberry and sheep laurel and other heath plants. The dwarf shrub bog occur as part of an ecological continuum and gradually give way to the following natural community, poor fen. There is a wetland complex at the base of the old ski slopes along the VAST south trail that includes a gradation of bog, poor fen, cattail marsh, and sedge meadow bordering a stream.
Poor Fen
Sphagnum mosses, along with sedges and heath shrubs comprise these open (lacking forest) wetlands which have water at the surface or even just above the surface. The water comes from both rainfall and groundwater seepage, allowing for more nutrients and less acidity than bogs. They may be associated with streams, as is the poor fen at the base of the slope on the south side of the property near the old Quonset hut.
Undetermined Forested Wetlands
These are forested wetland areas that have been delineated by others but the natural community type has not yet been determined.
Trails
Click here for a downloadable version of the trail map.
One way to explore these natural communities is to take a field guide or two and hike the trails of the conservation area. The trail map below shows the location of the trails. Distances for each trail are under the map image. In the winter, many of the trails serve as part of the VAST (Vermont Association of Snow Travelers) snowmobile trail system. At the present time, the trails are not marked and there is no indication on the trail of when they pass onto private land or into Molly Stark State Park. Each trail is marked with distances on the map. A PDF trail map is available for printing below. Please do not travel on private property without the owners’ permission. The snowmobile trails do not necessarily imply permission beyond the snowmobile season. Although there is a trail to the fire tower, the tower is on State Park land and there is fee for using the park land. Inquire at Molly Stark State Park further information.
The North Vast trail is mostly gently rolling terrain. There is a small wooden bridge which is located near the northern boundary of the property. The trial also branches off and there is a short section that ends up on a road leading back to the parking lot on the north side of route 9. This is not well marked.
The south VAST trail makes a loop starting and ending at the parking lot on the south side of route 9. It has a few steep sections for a good work-out. There are some excellent views passing through the old ski trails. Some of the old buildings and rope tows from the Hogback Ski area are also visible. There are a few trails that lead up to the fire tower in Molly Stark State Park. The remaining trails in the park are not marked on this trail map. There is a short extra loop that ends up near Grant Road. The trail to Grant road can then be followed back to the main loop.
Trail distances:
North VAST trail From parking lot on north side of route 9 to the northern edge of the conservation area is 1.1 miles one way. The trail continues to Higley Hill RD through private property.
The spur off of the main north VAST trail is .2 miles to the western edge of the conservation area. Taking this trail all it all the way back to Sun and Ski road and onto old route 9 is 1.3 miles total and mostly flat.
The main VAST large loop trail on the south side of route 9 is 1.2 miles with 2 uphill sections and some high grassy areas.
The different routes up to the fire tower each 0.3 miles uphill.
The spur Grant RD is .2 miles one way.
The yellow spur to Grant RD is .4 miles.
For the more intrepid explorer, a USGS topography map with an overlay of the trails is shown below and a downloadable PDF version is avaialable here.
A 3-D image of the topography and trails within the conservation area is shown below.
ALL GIS layers were obtained from the Vermont Center for Geographic Information, digitized from electronic images provided by Edward Metcalfe and The Vermont Land Trust, or produced from Global Positioning System data taken in the field from April through July, 2008. Maps are intended for presentation purposes only and are not surveys
Special thanks are extended to Robert Anderson for approving this master’s practicum work, and to Josh Puhlick for his expertise in forestry, his time spent with me in the woods identifying trees, and his help identifying some of the natural communities. Thanks are owed to all of the board members of the HMCA. This project was done by Jason Saltman as a practicum in partial fulfillment of the master’s of environmental studies degree through Green Mountain College, Poultney, Vermont. Any questions should be emailed to Jason Saltman at jts1662@yahoo.com
For more information on Natural Communities of Vermont, visit
http://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/books.cfm?libbase_=Wetland,Woodland,Wildland, a multi-section .PDF of the book Wetland, Woodland, Wildland.
Resources
Alden, Peter, et al. National Audobon Society Field Guide to New England. New York: Knopf, 1998.
Austin, et al. Conserving Vermont’s Natural Heritage: A Guide to Community-Based Planning for the Conservation of Vermont’s Fish, Wildlife, ad Biological Diversity. Waterbury, VT: Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, 2004.
Engstrom, Brett and Lappin, Mark. The Berlin Pond Natural Community Mapping Project. Capitol Area Land Trust, 2005. Retrieved April 20, 2008 from http://www.montpelier-vt.org/mcc/berlin_NC_report_final.pdf
Engstrom, Brett, and Deleo, John. Natural Communites in the City of Montpelier. 2007. Retrievd April 20, 2008 from http://www.montpelier-vt.org/mcc/Nat_Comm_Map_2007.pdf.
Fergus, Charles. Trees of New England: A Natural History. Guilford, CT: Falcon, 2005.
Johnson, Charles. The Nature of Vermont. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1998.
Kenney, Leo, and Burne, Matthew. A Field Guide to the Animals of Vernal Pools. Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, 2001.
Klyza, Christopher, and Trombulak, Stephen. The Story of Vermont: A Natural and Cultural History. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1998.
Kricher, John, and Morrison, Gordon. Ecology of Eastern Forests. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988.
Niering, William, Olmstead, Nancy. Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Eastern Edition. New York: Knopf, 1979.
Thompson, Elizabeth, and Sorensen, Eric. Wetland, Woodland, Wildland: A Guide to the Natural Communities of Vermont. Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England, 2005.
Vermont Center for Geographic Information (VCGI). Various GIS layers. WWW.vcgi.org
Vemont Fish and Wildlife. Natural Communities. Retrieved September 4, 2004 from http://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/cwp_elem_comm_nc.cfm.