Join us at Pratt Refuge in Duxbury on June 4 for the opening of a new accessible trail with interpretive bird signage
We are thrilled to announce a trail opening and celebration at the Pratt Refuge in Duxbury on Thursday June 4! The event, which takes place from 4 to 6 pm, will feature a ribbon cutting, guided walks, and refreshments.
The celebration marks the opening of VLT’s newest accessible trail, the Chickadee Interpretive Trail. Visitors can also explore improvements to the Refuge’s existing birding trail and a second new trail that leads to a view of Camel’s Hump.
The 500+ acre Pratt Refuge, gifted to us by the Pratt Family and open to the public since 2019, is a birding hotspot where more than 120 bird species have been documented. The new Chickadee Interpretive Trail is an accessible path that welcomes users of all ages and abilities to interact more deeply with the forest and its many bird species.
The celebration will bring together community groups and organizations who collaborated on these projects, including Audubon Vermont, Mad Birders, Vermont Trails & Greenways Council’s Trail Accessibility Hub, Vermont Center for Independent Living, Vermont Adaptive, Birdability, Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, and Vermont Fish & Wildlife.
“We are delighted to host this celebration for birders, nature lovers, and all who love to explore the outdoors,” said VLT’s Caitlin Cusack, “and we are grateful to the many partners who are helping us make the Refuge more welcoming for people of different abilities.”
“Thanks are also due to the Pratt family, who protected and then donated this land to VLT,” Caitlin added. “We are gratified to help fulfil Fred Pratt’s vision of enhancing habitat for birds, and of opening this special place so more people can experience the wonder of birds.”
Please sign up to help us plan
Registrations are requested. Please sign up here by June 2, and contact Sam Graulty with questions: Sam@vlt.org.
Trail welcomes more visitors to the forest
The highlight of the celebration will be the ribbon cutting for a new accessible trail that takes visitors directly from the Pratt Refuge parking area through a beautiful quarter-mile forested loop. The trail also connects the parking area to a rustic cabin used for educational events and gatherings.
The trail follows U.S. Forest Service specifications for accessibility: it is wider and flatter than standard trails, has gentle slopes, a compacted gravel surface, and offers multiple rest areas with benches along the way.
Signage brings forest birds into focus
Pratt Refuge is an excellent example of a managed forest where birds can find safe harbor to breed, nest, or find food.
Locally and globally, bird populations have declined dramatically. In Vermont, a long-term study by the Vermont Center for Ecostudies found a 14.2% decline in the state’s forest bird populations over 25 years (1989–2013). This includes many migratory species, especially insect-eaters like swallows and flycatchers, which showed some of the steepest drops.
The Chickadee Interpretive Trail at the Refuge loops through a ‘Forestry for the Birds’ demonstration site we developed in partnership with Audubon Vermont. The woods harbor native hardwood trees like yellow birch and sugar maple, a lush understory of native shrubs and ground cover, standing dead trees (also called snags), and plenty of downed wood for critters to shelter.
Healthy northern hardwood forests support nesting and foraging habitat for migratory birds like the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Winter Wren, Blue-headed Vireo, and Scarlet Tanager. New interpretive signage features illustrations of these and other birds you might see and hear along the trail, as well as forest management activities that support their habitat and other wildlife.
Partners and funders
These projects were made possible with funding from Vermont Forest, Parks and Recreation’s Recreational Trails Program, Athletic Brewing’s Two for the Trails Program, and Cornell University’s Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative. They also benefited from the expertise of crews from the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps who worked on trails and habitat improvements, Timber & Stone, LLC who completed the trail design for us, Rabbit Track Trail Works, LLC who completed construction, and Max Popowicz.
About the Pratt Refuge
The Pratt Refuge on Ward Hill in Duxbury spans over 500 acres of forest that belonged to the late Fred and Chris Pratt and their son, John Pratt. They conserved the land with VLT and later donated it to the land trust to open it to the public and to manage it for forest health, bird habitat, as well as learning and exploration.
The Refuge is near the vast forests of Camel’s Hump State Park and sits within one of Vermont’s highest-priority interior forest and wildlife connectivity areas — an ecologically rich landscape of northern hardwood and mixed-wood forest, streams, vernal pools, and mountain views.
The Refuge has long been a destination for forest birds. The late Fred Pratt, who was an avid birder and a former owner of the parcel, established the property as a Cornell University eBird Hotspot. Over the decades, Fred and fellow birding enthusiasts have observed more than 120 bird species, including the Black-throated Blue Warbler, Canada Warbler, Wood Thrush, Bicknell’s Thrush, American Redstart, and Blue-headed Vireo. In recent years, we have been hosting birding events here each year, with a special focus on migratory songbirds that breed in the area.
