Tag Archives: Tiny Grant Awards

AVCC Awards Tiny Grants to Eight Conservation Commissions

The Association of Vermont Conservation Commissions (AVCC) is pleased to announce the recipients of our 2025 Tiny Grants. This annual initiative provides seed money or matching funds to conservation commissions for specific land conservation, education and outreach, stewardship and management, and planning activities.

This spring, we received a record 31 applications for nearly $20,000 in combined funding, a reflection of both the vitality of Vermont’s many conservation commissions as well as the need for better resourcing and support. This year, we are proud to award over $4,000 – more than double our 2024 total – to eight commissions across four counties. These grants are made possible with generous support from The Nature Conservancy in Vermont, Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission and Vermont Natural Resources Council. 

We received applications from commissions across the state for a wide variety of conservation-related projects, including work to improve signage and repair trails on municipal lands, document wildlife activity with trail cameras, eradicate invasive plants and insects, and complete natural resource mapping, inventories and assessments. After much deliberation, the AVCC Board elected to fund projects from Bolton, Cambridge, Fayston, Johnson, Monkton, New Haven, Starksboro and Westford. Here are some more details about these projects:

Bolton – Joiner Brook Plantings 

Funding to reestablish native plant species at a former parking area at the bottom of Bolton Valley Access Road, restoring a buffer and promoting flood resilience along Joiner Brook, a tributary of the Winooski River.

Cambridge – Expanding Community Engagement Around Conservation

Funding to expand CCC’s community outreach beyond their existing communication channels, bridging the gap between digital and in-person engagement and ensuring all residents have opportunities to shape conservation efforts.

Fayston – Boyce Hill Town Forest Documentary 

Funding to produce a documentary about the history of Boyce Hill, a 93-acre property that was donated and preserved via conservation easement. The documentary will help communicate to residents about management goals for the property and engage volunteers for future land management. 

Johnson – Johnson Pollinator Garden

Funding to enhance a nascent pollinator and native wildflower garden on an unused, unkept parcel of town-owned land adjacent to a skate park, community garden, and mobile home park. The garden will serve as a learning-lab to help educate the community about the value of flood resiliency projects.

Monkton – Birdwatching Kit Lending Library

Funding to purchase three birdwatching kits for residents to borrow from Monkton’s Russell Memorial Library, enabling Monkton residents to develop an appreciation for nature via direct experience. 

New Haven – Trail Camera Lending Library Program

Funding to purchase two trail cams and accessories for residents to borrow from the New Haven Community Library, engaging New Haven residents in learning about, documenting, and stewarding wildlife while collecting essential wildlife data to help the Planning Commission make informed decisions about land use.

Starksboro – Cota Conserved Lands Invasives Project

Funding to purchase two specialized Extractigator tools for invasive species removal in the riparian areas along Lewis Creek. These tools will help the commission pursue its educational and community engagement goals, giving volunteers hands-on conservation experience. 

Westford – Westford Trail Enhancement Project

Funding to purchase lumber and hardware for the construction of two essential 8’ x 3’ bridges each in the Misty Meadows and Maple Shade trail networks to increase trail accessibility and mitigate environmental degradation in the face of worsening weather.

Excitingly, three of these CCs—New Haven, Starksboro, and Westford—are receiving their first Tiny Grant since at least 2016, and each is also a new AVCC member.  We are excited to contribute to the important community-based conservation work these commissions have been doing for years.

The AVCC again extends its congratulations to all of the 2025 Tiny Grant award recipients and looks forward to seeing the positive impact these projects have on their communities. We also want to thank the commissions whose proposals we did not fund; it was heartening to read about all the innovative projects being planned and executed by hardworking volunteers across Vermont.

###



AVCC Awards 2024 Tiny Grants

The Association of Vermont Conservation Commissions (AVCC) is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2024 Tiny Grants. This annual AVCC initiative provides seed money or matching funds to conservation commissions for specific land conservation, education and outreach, stewardship and management, and planning activities. Conservation commissions are non-regulatory bodies designed to advise planning commissions and select boards on natural resources issues.

The AVCC received applications from commissions across the state for a wide variety of conservation-related projects, including work to improve signage and repair trails on municipal lands, document wildlife activity with trail cameras, eradicate invasive plants and insects, and complete natural resource mapping, inventories and assessments. In May, the AVCC announced its decision to fund projects from the Greensboro Conservation Commission, Middletown Springs Conservation Commission, South Hero Conservation Commission and Thetford Conservation Commission.

Here are some more details about these projects:

Greensboro – Following the identification and documentation of 63 unique invasive infestations, the Greensboro Conservation Commission requested AVCC funding to support their ongoing invasive species education and management efforts. Tiny Grant funds will spur the creation of a Town Tool Library, including silage tarps, a sharpshooter shovel, and a weed wrench, which will be made available to the commission, community volunteers and other interested parties.

Middletown Springs – Funds will allow the commission to construct a bridge to make the Sullivan Educational Woods Loop Trail safer and more user-friendly for hikers, birders and mushroom foragers, while also protecting the stream zone and wetland areas from further disturbance. The Sullivan Educational Woods was donated to the Town of Middletown Springs for the purpose of supporting public education about forest resources (including wildlife habitat, timber and recreation) and inspiring and promoting a stewardship and conservation ethic.

South Hero – Tiny Grant funding will help the commission host a community event featuring live American Kestrels and educators from the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS), and to purchase building materials to construct nesting boxes in the fall. Habitat loss, pesticides, West Nile virus, and a lack of suitable nesting areas have all contributed to declining populations of these birds, the smallest falcon species in North America. The educational outreach event will take place at 1:30 pm on August 4, 2024 at the Worthen Library in South Hero.

Thetford – Funds will be used to purchase tools (weed wrench, loppers, work gloves, paint brushes & paint, and safety vests) to enable volunteer land management crews to paint boundary lines, manage invasive species, monitor wildlife and more in the Town Forest, Hughes Forest, Post Mills Natural Area, and Taylor Floodplain Preserve. The commission hopes to use these funds to execute its new Town Lands Management Plan, which was unanimously approved by the Selectboard on May 20, 2024, and replaces the previous plan from 2008.

AVCC also proudly supports the work of conservation commissions by hosting an annual summit for community volunteers engaged in planning and caring for Vermont’s natural resources. Details regarding the 2024 AVCC Annual Meeting and Conservation Summit will be announced in the coming weeks.

To stay in the loop about conservation initiatives happening near you, or to share your events with other conservation commissions, subscribe to our listserv by emailing vtconservation+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You may reach out directly to the AVCC Board by emailing vtconservation@gmail.com.

###