In 2003, the Stark Mountain Foundation, with the generous support of the Tauck Foundation, created the Kent Thomas Nature Center from an abandoned lift shack. The center serves as a memorial to its namesake Kent Thomas. Kent was a great friend of the Tauck family and an avid outdoorsman who spent many winters enjoying the recreational and social activities on Stark Mountain and at Mad River Glen. The Nature Center contains interpretive displays, preserved raptor and mammal specimens, geologic information, and animal tracking guides. The Tauck family continues to provide funding for additional displays and building improvements. The Nature Center is open year-round and is enjoyed by day hikers, snowshoers, and skiers of all ages.

The Stark Mountain Foundation works to protect and preserve the nature of Stark Mountain, which is why we have created three educational awareness campaigns: “Mammals of the Mountain,” “Birds of Birdland,” and “Geology of the Mountain.”  SMF aims to inspire people who love Stark Mountain to look for, appreciate, and care for these animals' habitats.

To learn more please go to Mammals of the Mountain, Birds of Birdland, or Geology of the Mountain.

Since 2016, Vermont Master Naturalist has engaged people in conservation activities in their towns through professional training and volunteer projects. VMN recruits between 12 and 18 people to learn the natural and cultural history of their towns from geology and glacial history to wildlife, natural communities, and settlement patterns. Participants attend five-day-long field trips from September to May.VMN participants then apply their new knowledge to conservation, stewardship, and educational projects that have been nominated by local conservation groups and conservation commissions. Across Vermont, VMN alums have gone on to join their conservation commissions, to continue work on restoration projects, to lead public walks, to teach in public schools, to become rare plant conservation volunteers, to conduct wildlife monitoring, and more.

Funding from the Stark Mountain Foundation will be used to: Train 25 Mad River Valley residents (two VMN cohorts on two separate years) enhancing their ecological literacy and connecting them to Stark Mountain’s ecology. Contribute 600 + hours of volunteer work toward conservation and stewardship projects in the Mad River Valley. One of those projects would include creating s series of four or more VMN public walks, talks, and other events on and around Stark Mountain, which will be co-sponsored by the Stark Mountain Foundation. These events will feature a bedrock to birds integrated approach through the seasons. These two new cohorts, projects, and events will grow the community of residents in the Mad River Valley who will have a deeper ecological knowledge and a greater passion for protecting special places like Stark Mountain.

The Stark Mountain Foundation partnered with the Vermont Institute of Natural Science to host animal outreach programs at Mad River Glen. In 2022 SMF hosted the Magnificent Moose and the Bear Facts presentations. VINS staff present an exciting and interactive show using slides and touchable artifacts.  What do you do if you see a bear or a moose in the wild? What do bears and moose eat? What do their tracks look like? SMF and VINS invite people of all ages to come and learn more and consider how these two mammals are an important part of the Stark Mountain ecosystem.

The Stark Mountain Foundation board is delighted to assist the Mad River Valley Planning District to help the Mad River Valley community learn about the Vermont black bear, develop a community bear ethos, and increase the community’s understanding of how human actions impact and affect bear behavior. To learn more about living with bears in the Mad River Valley please visit this website.