Vt. town gets $150K grant for salamander crossing

MONKTON, Vt. (AP) - Future generations of salamanders in one Vermont town are going to be getting some help crossing the road.

The Monkton Conservation Commission says it has won a $150,000 state grant to install one or two culverts under a stretch of road to protect salamanders, other amphibians, reptiles and small mammals crossing between a swampy area and the uplands.

The Burlington Free Press says the project will be the first wildlife-crossing retrofit of a Vermont highway.

Reptile expert Jim Andrews says the crossing is "one of the most important of the known amphibian crossings in the state."

For the last nine years a group of Monkton residents has monitored the swamp-side road crossing, in some cases helping the creatures cross the road.

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Information from: The Burlington Free Press, http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com