History Of My Phenology Spot
Centennial woods has gone through extreme changes to become how it is today. In the last glacial period, glacial ice covered the Lake Champlain area. As the glaciers retreated over time and melted, they formed the Champlain sea, which was a shallow tropical sea that was home to organisms such as coral and crustaceans. As time went on, the sea turned into Lake Champlain, giving way to the land which was underwater before. Centennial woods was part of the Champlain Sea. As it changed into Lake Champlain, parts of Centennial woods that had been underwater before started growing vegetation. As time went on, a forest started to form. There are many dry-stone walls all over Vermont and in Centennial Woods. As settlers moved into this area, they cut down the trees to use the land for farming for sheep, and they created dry stone walls to fence in the sheep. As sheep farming started to lose business, dairy farming grew popular. In some parts of the forest, there are still remnants of hog wire used to fence in the cows. At this time, what we now see as Centennial woods, was split up into five farms. UVM started buying these farms up. At first, without any use for the land UVM used it as a dump. To this day, old oil drums can still be found in Centennial Woods. In 1974 Centennial woods was designated as a natural area, but it took until 1997 until conservation efforts started. Today it is a beloved and protected natural area.
The University Of Vermont. (2020). History of Centennial Woods. Natural Resources and Human Ecology.