From Jungle to Jewel

From Jungle to Jewel. . , Not so long ago, locals called this site “the Jungle.” For more than a century, it was a village dumping ground, first for refuse and more recently for snow. In 2009, Sustainable Woodstock, a community conservation organization, created a vision to restore the health and beauty of this land. After more than a decade of planning, fund raising, and hard work, Sustainable Woodstock’s East End Action Group volunteers made that vision a reality., Restoring the Jewel , Many hands helped turn jungle to jewel, nurturing the health of land and river. After seven years of planning and effort, the snow dump was relocated to a new site in 2016. Crews hauled away tons of debris. Scores of volunteers prepared the soil and planted native trees and shrubs on bare riverbanks and hillsides. Their roots hold soil in place, which helps keep the Ottauquechee River clean., Woodstock Improvement Society , Founded in 1904 to beautify Woodstock, the Woodstock Improvement Society instituted garbage collection, cleaned up derelict properties, and created and cared for community gardens. They erected an eight-foot fence around the dump at this site to hide it from view. And they championed the idea that all citizens play a role in caring for their home place., (captions, lower left) , Sustainable Woodstock volunteers, contractors, community donors, as well as the Village of Woodstock, made this park a reality., (upper right) , Smoldering garbage (1904) once spilled from this site into the Ottauquechee River (left). This land's restoration (right) builds on a long conservation tradition in Woodstock. Just across the river lies March-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, boyhood home of George Perkins Marsh, one of America's earliest voices for conserving the natural world., (lower right) , The Woodstock Improvement Society’s garbage cart hauled trash from village houses and businesses., Historic photographs courtesy of the Woodstock History Center.