Refuge Manager’s Update August 2026
Although summer’s end is within sight, at this time of year refuge work is at its peak. Staff are busy completing summer field projects and at the same time, making preparations for the fall. It’s been a particularly busy field season at the refuge, in part due to our inability to hire a seasonal biological technician this year. While we had many good candidates, all declined the position, so we were left short handed on planned projects.
Luckily, we continue to be supported by a host of amazing volunteers at the refuge. Our front desk is staffed Monday to Friday by volunteers again this summer. This is incredibly helpful as it allows us to keep the building open when all refuge staff are in the field. Have you noticed how nice the trails and parking areas look this summer? Well, it’s thanks to our hardy volunteers who come out to mow trail heads and trim trails so that our visiting public sees a well maintained and cared for area. Then there is the “behind the scenes” volunteer help we get from a few well-trained folks who help us annually with invasive species surveys in our floodplain forest. While this sounds fun, you must be reminded that much of this forest has a dense stand of tall stinging nettles and biting insects they must contend with each time they go out. I can’t thank our refuge volunteers enough for all of the work they do to support the refuge!
While some of the survey work is wrapping up, other habitat work is just starting. You will notice that some of our grasslands along Tabor Road have already been cut and we are waiting for our cooperative farmers to hay the rest. This habitat management is critical to keep our grasslands productive for migratory birds like bobolink, eastern meadowlark and savannah sparrows. In the future you may see us start mowing some sections earlier to combat invasive species and an increasing forb (a nonwoody, broad-leaved flowering plant) presence in our fields. While forbs are important for fall pollinators, they need to be in balance with grass in the field to continue to provide quality habitat for our target bird species. With too many forbs, these birds will stop using our fields.
We also will be expanding our Mac’s Bend parking lot in September. We had plans on completing this during the summer, however we found a mallard nesting in the vegetation where the gravel was going to be placed! Now that the nest is finished, we will cut the vegetation and place the gravel staged at Mac’s Bend to allow for a few extra vehicles parking at this popular boat launch on the refuge.
We’ve had our fair share of hiccups along the way this summer too. Our front desk volunteers will be the first to tell you this, since we had to send many of them home when our domestic water system failed (twice!) and we didn’t have air conditioning for over two weeks during some of the hottest days of the summer. We also had one of our boat motors fail which paused important surveys in Cranberry Pool until we could order a new motor and get it installed. There are always things that go wrong during any given year, but it sure seemed this summer was a bit overfilled with them!
Like I said it’s been a busy summer, but a good one. Our staff and volunteers continue to work hard to make Missisquoi NWR a biologically productive area as well as a safe and fun place to visit. I for one am looking forward to the fall and the change in seasons and I hope you find time to visit the refuge in the next few months to see the changes our refuge has in store for you.
by Ken Sturm, Refuge Manager, Missisquoi NWR