2009’s List of Trail Closings Due to Peregrine Falcon Nesting
Jul 5th, 2009 by Jack
The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department has closed nine cliffs to protect nesting peregrine falcons. You can get a good sense of the issues involved by reading a Peregrine Falcon Fact Sheet from the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department — look under Fact Sheets on that web page.
“Peregrine nesting activity has been observed at approximately 38 sites this spring,” said Doug Blodgett, F&W biologist. “But, we only closed the cliffs where there’s the chance of people disturbing the nesting birds.”
“The areas closed include the portions of the cliffs where the birds are nesting and the trails leading to the cliff tops or overlooks,” said Blodgett. “In many cases the lower portions of the trails are still open.”
Watch for signage like the one below indicating the trail sections that are closed.
Current closures include:
* Nichols Ledge in Woodbury
* Marshfield Mountain
* Fairlee Palisades
* Deer Leap in Bristol
* Rattlesnake Point in Salisbury
* Mt. Horrid in Goshen
* Snake Mtn. in Addison
* Bolton Notch in Bolton
* Smuggler’s Notch
The areas will remain closed until Aug. 1 unless a pair doesn’t nest or if the nest fails.
