AVCC Awards Funds for Local Conservation Projects

Trail work, a publication highlighting local hikes, support for a town-wide natural resource inventory and a natural resources training program for a local community all are expected to go forward thanks to recent grants awarded to local groups by AVCC.

Grants were awarded to conservation commissions in the following towns: Bradford, Dummerston, Milton and New Haven. Each group will receive $600 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 this 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.

Grant Details

Bradford: The Bradford Conservation Commission will use money to publicize and present the findings of a new natural resources inventory to the public in a large community gathering. The result of this will guide land use decisions in the town with ah clear understanding by the citizenry of which lands hold sensitive areas and critical habitat, and are worthy of protecting. Contact: Ed Wendell, 802-222-4657.

Dummerston: The Dummerston Conservation Commission received help to pay for the creation of a brochure with trail descriptions and maps of trails in the town. The brochure, Walks and Hikes in Dummerston, will also note places in town that sell local food. Contact: Mary Ellen Copeland, 802-257-5843.

Milton: Funding will go for a technical assessment, design solutions, and construction to help improve a critical trail that is plagued three seasons a year with water drainage problems. The trail is at the entry to the municipal forest in Milton. Contact: Jacob Hemmerlick, 802-891-8016.

New Haven: the New Haven Conservation Commission will receive money to work with the Shelburne Farms PLACE (Place-based Landscape Analysis and Community Education) program to increase awareness in New Haven of the local, natural landscape. The grant will also fund analysis of the data and production of documentation and mapping that can be used by other boards in town. Contact: Dean Percival, 802-388-0504.