The Narrows Wildlife Management Area
Description
The Narrows Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is a 429-acre tract of land owned by the State of Vermont and managed by the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department. It is located in the “Dresden Narrows” section of Lake Champlain, west of Cold Spring Road in the town of West Haven.
The Narrows WMA is next to about 350 acres of conserved farmland and in the vicinity of two large natural areas owned by The Nature Conservancy.
Habitats
The Narrows WMA has 81 acres of wetlands that are part of a series of large wetlands in this region of Lake Champlain. They are known collectively as The Narrows Marshes. The Narrows WMA has many interesting features including 5,456 feet of Lake Champlain shoreline, hosts several rare plant species, and offers examples of natural communities such as a calcareous cliff community. Calcereous cliffs are typically composed of limestone or dolomite and have a higher ph.
Keep in mind that plants should not be picked or dug up regardless of their abundance.
Twenty acres of the WMA are on an island, which is accessible most of the year by a narrow land bridge; however, during times of high water it is a true island. The island is composed mainly of upland hardwood forest with a small clearing. It also hosts an abandoned two-story house in the clearing that is estimated to be about 150 years old.
The WMA has 348 acres of upland hardwood forest, including 15 acres of old fields and several old orchards providing excellent habitat for birds and mammals.
The hardwood forests are mostly red and sugar maple, yellow birch, beech, red, chestnut and chinkapin oaks, shagbark hickory, hophornbeam, apple and scattered white pine. The ledges and cliffs have softwoods such as white and red cedar, hemlocks, and red and white
pines.
Two of Vermont’s largest trees are found on this WMA. One is a shagbark hickory that is 88 feet tall and has a diameter of 48 inches. The other, a chinkapin oak, is a New England Champion Tree. It is 60 feet tall and is 40 inches around.
Fish and Wildlife
The Narrows WMA is a rich habitat supporting a variety of animals: beavers and muskrats in the wetlands, white-tailed deer taking advantage of the abundant food in the old orchards, gray squirrels gathering nuts in the forest. Predators such as coyotes, red foxes, bobcats and fishers can be found throughout the WMA. At dusk and dawn in the summer, brown bats are found devouring insects.
The wetlands are home to several species of birds including wood ducks, mallards, black ducks, hooded mergansers, red-winged blackbirds and common snipes. Osprey platforms have been placed off shore to give offer nesting sites. Ruffed grouse and woodcock prefer habitat like the old fields that are slowing transitioning into forestland. Turkey will also use the old fields and orchards for their food.
The Narrows WMA also hosts a variety of reptiles and amphibians. Most notable is the five-lined skink. This is an endangered species in Vermont, and is the only species of lizard found in Vermont. The WMA has several species of snakes including eastern rat and common garter snakes.
The wetlands and moist woodlands support a host of amphibians species such as spotted and red-backed salamanders, eastern newt, leopard, green, pickerel, bull and gray tree frogs, spring peeper and American toad. Painted and map turtles may also be found.
Adjacent Lake Champlain offers large and small-mouth bass, walleye, brown bullhead, catfish, northern pike, chain pickerel, white and yellow perch, black and white crappie, pumpkinseed, bluegill and unusual species , such as sheepshead, gar and bowfin,
Usage
The Narrows Wildlife Management Area is open to regulated hunting, trapping, fishing, hiking and wildlife viewing.
Notes
Click Image to Enlarge
George Spiegel conveyed the 716-acre Spiegel Sanctuary in West Haven to the Vermont Land Trust in 1995 in memory of his parents, Charles and Lena Spiegel. In 1997 the Vermont Land Trust conveyed 429 acres of the 716-acre property to the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department to become The Narrows WMA.
There is a bronze plaque inlaid in a large boulder in the parking lot pays tribute to Charles and Lena Spiegel, stating that “they found freedom and happiness in New England”.
Directions
Access The Narrows Wildlife Management Area by boat on Lake Champlain. A parking area is located near the sharp turn on Cold Spring Road