The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail joins Green Up Day in a collaborative effort

The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail has been added to the list of Vermont paths to be cleaned up on Green Up Day, Saturday, May 4. Trail directors say there will be a "collaborative effort to clean up sections of the LVRT that was damaged during last summer’s floods."

The rail trail spans 93 miles, from Swanton to St. Johnsbury, passing through 18 towns. It was completed summer 2023, making it the longest rail trail in New England. The old railway was used until 1994, and in the subsequent years a plan was made to remove the tracks and create a flat path ideal for walking, biking, cross country skiing and more.

More: From Swanton to St. Johnsbury, ride along on the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail

The grand opening of the trail in the summer of 2023 was pushed back due to Vermont's massive flooding which caused an estimated $11 million worth of damage to the trail. Volunteer work and funding to clean up the trail restored it to its intended glory, and the trail is ready for more work to be done on its inaugural Green Up Day.

Cleaning up the trail

The LVRT efforts are being led by the Northern Forest Canoe Trail who have recently become LVRTs fiscal sponsor. There is also support from the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail Committee and the Lamoille River Paddlers Trail, in partnership with Green Up Vermont. Staff and volunteers will focus on town-specific sections of the LVRT: Cambridge, Johnson, Hyde Park, Morrisville, Wolcott and Hardwick.

While many residents may be hitting highways or Burlington city streets May 4, Alex Delhagen, the assistant trail director for the NFCT, said that garbage is unfortunately dumped in natural areas too. He's encouraging people to volunteer at different miles of the rail trail and clean up "Vermont's extremely beautiful landscape."

The project began as a river cleanup, but with unsteady water levels and low temperatures, spring didn't seem to be the best time to encourage people into the chilly water. They decided to pivot the project to the trail that runs parallel to the Lamoille River.

Delhagen has been heading the cleanup project for roughly six months. Grant money funds his work, but he said with the amount of time he's putting in, he's likely doing much of the work unpaid. The Vermont native said it's worth it.

"I care about this project," Delhagen said. "It's so quintessentially Vermont: to be as clean and green as possible. I'm always impressed by Vermont residents to take collective ownership over shared natural resources. I think there's many places where people are a little more blase about their natural resources, but Vermonters generally seem to really care."

More information can be found by emailing Victoria Hellwig of the Lamoille County Planning Commission to get connected with local organizers in the town you're interested in greening up: victoria@lcpcvt.org. They can provide information on where to get the green garbage bags, where to clean and where to leave bags after.

Other projects

The NFCT has a slate of other projects coming up, besides their normal call for volunteers to assist in projects most weekends.

Every summer they have a group of college intern stewards. This year they will have two groups − one led by Delhagen − to complete a variety of campsite, river access and portage trail development and maintenance projects along the trail corridor. The organization is also breaking ground on a new "accessibility initiative." They have begun distributing surveys to best assess what's needed to make outdoor recreation more accessible. They will be awaiting grant funding and plan to jump into the project in the fall, after the stewardship program ends.

Sydney P. Hakes is the Burlington city reporter. Contact her at SHakes@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Lamoille Valley Rail Trail joins Vermont's Green Up Day