Friends of The Winooski River Graphic

Programs Overview

The Winooski River Watershed is a big watershed! It encompasses almost 10% of the land area of Vermont and it is the largest river basin in the Lake Champlain basin. Restoring and protecting such a large area is a daunting challenge for a nearly all volunteer group such as the Friends. In 2006, the Friends’ Board and long time supporters met to discuss priorities and strategies for the organization. Several themes emerged:

Partnerships


Photo by Andrew Nemethy
(Times Argus)

The Friends would increase its capacity and programs by actively developing partnerships with other organizations and towns in the watershed. We would work together to define and implement projects with local interest and support.

Tributary Focus

Most people relate to the river on a scale smaller than the Winooski as a whole. The Friends would outreach, develop capacity and projects within the major tributaries (North Branch, Kingsbury Branch etc). The vision and energy of the local community are critical factors to any watershed protection effort.

Headwaters to the Lake

The Friends has traditionally been focused in the Montpelier area with project in the upper tributaries. The Friends would first work to strengthen its role in these tributaries and over time (2-3 years) develop more capacity downstream.


Photographer Unknown

Multiple Roles

Based on the interests, priorities and capacity in different areas of the watershed, the Friends will take on different roles. On some projects, we will take the leadership role by developing, funding and implementing the project. In other situations, we will play more of a supporting role, providing additional resources and support where needed.

Communication and Facilitation

There is a lot to do in the watershed and a lot of organizations out there working on their area of geographic interest or within their area of expertise. The Friends’ goal is to help connect with these organizations and help them connect with each other in order to expand everyone’s impact.

The Friend’s activities can be divided into four major areas: