We are a home-grown and growing group of volunteers who are committed to working alongside nature to protect and care for the land.We are creating a space for people who care about the Pine Street Barge Canal to work together and in partnership with the land.
We have a sense of responsibility for the damage done and appreciation for what the land has contributed to Burlington’s prosperity.
We are aware that our relationship with land, with nature, is reciprocal, that we get more than we give, especially as we work together.
We want the Barge Canal to be a place of community with all the inhabitants of the land and water, and to connect with ourselves and with each other.
We have non-profit, tax-exempt status through the State of Vermont and the Federal government so we are able to raise funds for the work that we do.
You can contact us at sosburlington@gmail.com and sign up here to receive regular updates and ways to get involved.
Who are the Friends of the Barge Canal?
Let It Be: A Cautionary Tale of the Pine Street Barge Canal
"Nature reclaimed its territory and began healing from within.
Birds, beavers, rabbits, and crows all call this place home.
With raccoons, lily pads, and mushrooms in droves.
Life kept thriving, no matter what, the land kept surviving.
If you look closely, it is wonderful to see.
The relics of old are now overgrown with the pickerelweed.
Ivy scales the facade of the bridge, and forever chemicals
Will eventually meet their unnatural end.
Friends organized around this concept and proclaimed a new decree—
In the case of the redevelopment of the Barge Canal, "Let It Be."
This mural reflects the layered and complex history of the Pine Street Barge Canal, its negative impact on the natural environment, and the healing that can happen when we let nature be. It is a cautionary tale, urging us to acknowledge and remember the stories of the past so that mistakes are not repeated. While the harms cannot be undone, the future may yet be shaped by renewal and hope. It is time for the rewilding."
from the Barge Canal Mural Brigade, Summer 2025
Juniper Creative Arts and artist apprentices: Richie Amerson, Mateo Baker-Djele, Nico Jastatt, Bella Listi,
Calvin Millham-Berry, Coretta Ngoulaki, Levi Olsen, Ellie Traxler-Menz.
Green Up Day at the Superfund Site
by Angela Patten
Someone found a black magic 8-ball
among the hypodermic needles,
plastic plates, styrofoam containers.
A robin’s nest with a hole in the bottom
bobbing on a sea of soda bottles,
scrap metal and crushed beer cans.
We picked and picked,
filling our bright green trash bags
with remnants of old blankets,
a soiled pup tent, twisted spatula,
burned-out frying-pan,
rusted can-opener, paring knife,
while the seagulls circled overhead
screaming accusations in
their own indigenous languages.
Who were the successive waves
of homeless people that camped
on this poisoned land, then left,
shrugging off everything
they could not carry?
When someone found
a tattered copy of The Giving Tree
there were calls for the creation
of an altar to incongruous artifacts
–– and we did that.
Angela Patten © Feeding the Wild Rabbit, Kelsay Books 2024
