A hiking trail connecting neighborhoods, workshops with conservation experts, natural area guided walks, new trail signs, and a trail map and guide, all will receive financial support thanks to grants from the Association of Vermont Conservation Commissions.
Grants were awarded to conservation commissions for these projects in the following towns: Brattleboro, Cambridge, Cornwall, Guildford and Northfield. Groups will receive between $400 and $500 depending on the project, from the AVCC Tiny Grant program.
“We are proud to be able to help advance, in a small way, conservation projects identified and carried out by local conservation commissions,” said Jake Brown, chair of AVCC. “Supporting this sort of work is what AVCC is all about.”
AVCC has offered the Tiny Grant program for several years and plans to continue to do so in the coming years. Conservation commissions (or groups working to become conservation commissions) who are members of AVCC are eligible.
For nearly two decades, the non-profit AVCC has supported the growth and success of local conservation commissions, acting as a clearinghouse for information for local conservation commissions, publishing a newsletter, maintaining an on-line listerve, and holding an annual meeting.
Conservation Commissions are non-regulatory bodies designed to advise planning commissions and select boards on natural resources issues. Often these commissions get involved in natural resource inventories and land management of town-owned lands as well as many other types of projects.
Grant Details
Brattleboro: The Conservation Commission will use the grant to assure the proper construction of a steep section of a new foot trail connecting neighborhoods in West Brattleboro. Contact: Sue Fillion, 802-251-8112
Cambridge: The Commission will use the money to help support their “Experts in the Field” series that runs this summer and fall. Talks, which will take place in various locations around town, will cover topics like mushrooms and fungi, pollinators, fly tying and fly fishing, wetlands, and permaculture, to name a few. Contact: Justin Marsh, 802-730-2383.
Cornwall: The grant will go to sponsor a series of walks during which experts will discuss sites in town identified in a recent natural resources inventory. Contact: Mary Dodge, 802-462-2899
Guildford: Funds will enable the creation of an interpretive guide and trail markers keyed to the guide for a trail system in a 175-acre forest near the town center. Contact: Linda Lembke, 802-254-4813.
Northfield: The funds will support the creation and installation of trail and interpretive signs in the 385-acre Northfield town forest. Contact: Ruth Ruttenberg, 802-485-4554.