Human History

In the mid-1800s, the logging industry in the North-East region of the U.S.A was booming, and so many areas close to the Burlington waterfront were cleared to produce train railways to help support the massive shipping industry which goes along to support all of the exponential logging. This logging leads to an increase in cleared, developed land, and contributes to the peak of 80% clearage we see in Vermont in the 1800s. As time passes, use of the railroads declined into nonexistence until state parks adjacent to my area were formed like Red Rocks and public spaces like the Burlington Bikepath were installed to help reproduce the beauty of the landscape around lake Champlain, and the public’s accessibility to that resource.

This allowed the reintroduction of native tree species back into the environment, forming the young white-pine stand we see today at my place of Phenology. Hopefully, as time passes, human impact on the space will continue to decline until native wildlife populations can begin to move back into relatively undisturbed areas near their primary water source of Lake Champlain. There is incredible natural beauty waiting to be set free in the ecosystem surrounding and encompassing Lake Champlain, and it should not be wasted as an area of human development, but instead let free as we are making steps towards to day to becoming a stunning wildlife preserve and public, natural space. From all of the city it provides an amazing view which should serve as a reminder of our priorities as moral bound beings to serve the beauty which we have a singular purpose of protecting in our own lives.

Today we can still see the remnant effect of human history on my place of phenology. The most notable of these landmarks is the old chimneys which litter the landscape, the final remains of old developments which have been long forgotten and devoured by natural regrowth. In addition though, the bikepath and sad amount of litter both present reminders that you are not deep within a natural preserve but instead on the perimeters of a high population city.

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