![V C E Biologist Spencer Hardy safely holds a stingless male Golden Northern Bumble Bee (Bombus fervidus). © Spencer Hardy.](https://vtecostudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Golden-Northern-Bumble-Bee-280x200.jpeg)
Powerlines and pollinators: undervalued and underappreciated
Just as hayfields are essential habitat for grassland birds like Bobolinks, consensus is building that the scrubby open habitat maintained under utility rights-of-way (ROW) plays an important role in the conservation of a diverse suite of wildlife. We’re looking to connect with landowners in north-central Vermont with ROWs on their property about conducting weekly surveys for pollinators this summer.
![Grassland Ambassadors: Laughing Brook Farm](https://vtecostudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Smist-profile1-e1527099969220-280x200.jpg)
Grassland Ambassadors: Laughing Brook Farm
The Bobolink’s bubbly song has filled the summer fields of Julia and Greg Smist’s 100-acre farm in Westminster, VT for at least 30 years. A decade or so after buying the farm, Julia noticed fewer Bobolinks in the fields. Her observations echo a grim region-wide statistic: Bobolinks have declined by 75% in the region over the past 50 years.