Association of Vermont Conservation Commissions

The Staying Connected Initiative (SCI) is a bi-national partnership focused on sustaining and enhancing a connected forested landscape across the northern Appalachian-Acadian Region for the benefit of wildlife and humans. Staying Connected is focused on 9 key 'linkage areas' across the Northern Appalachian-Acadian ecoregion important for maintaining connected forest to allow for animal movement across the region. This region encompasses parts of 5 states, 3 provinces and 80+ million acres, a.. Read More

The goal of the Marlboro Wildlife Connectivity research is to maintain and enhance Vermont's living landscape for wildlife. This project began in 2006 when the Marlboro Conservation Commission decided to research major wildlife corridors in town through tracking initiatives, and create maps with the assistance of Nate Harvey, a local professional tracker and map maker. Although the project has only been going on for about eight years, the expertise of the team has been built up from decades o.. Read More

The America’s Great Outdoors program is a federal conservation initiative undertaken by the Obama Administration. This program came to the Mad River Valley in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, and has enhanced a number of preexisting local projects including the planting of trees in riparian buffers, culvert replacements, and working with landowners to introduce cover crops on agricultural lands. Although only lasting a few years, the AGO’s efforts aided in the completion of a number of t.. Read More

Warren's Conservation Reserve Fund was created to conserve forest lands through purchasing land and conservation easements. The Warren Conservation Commission is responsible for the fund and how money is spent. Each year a separate article is voted upon at Town Meeting to maintain the fund. Currently, the fund contains between 10 to 20 thousand dollars.
Like all commissions in Vermont, Warren's Conservation Commission is staffed by volunteers who administer the fund and work on .. Read More

Tinmouth was one of the earliest town's in Vermont to develop an actual Town Plan. This process started in 1973, but we will be focusing on when it was rewritten, in 2007. The effect on the landscape is improved by the rewriting of the plan to fit into today's standards. Within the plan, several things are explained in more depth, focusing on the zoning regulations within the area and conserving the land. In the 70's, the Planning Commission looked over about 20 dairy farms, today there is st.. Read More

The Pinnacle on the Windmill Ridge in Westminster Vermont has long been a favorite place for southeastern Vermont area residents to visit and spend time enjoying the outdoors. When access to the Pinnacle was prohibited by a private landowner, a group of people who loved the spot made many attempts to regain the ability to go there again. When a parcel to the north of the Pinnacle became available for purchase, the newly formed non-profit group managed to purchase it. This provided the access .. Read More

The Town of Hartford includes the villages of White River Junction, Wilder, Hartford Village, Quechee and West Hartford and has a population of 10,000. Although the Town has experienced a great deal of development in the last several decades, the Town is fortunate that much of its rural character remains. In 2002, the Town began a process to update the Town Plan. The process included extensive public participation. A Steering Committee comprised of representatives from town boards, commiss.. Read More

Founded by the town librarian, editor of the town newspaper, and two members of the Charlotte Conservation Commission, the Charlotte WatershED project hopes to educate the local community about the area's water resources. Through a series of events including speakers and workshops, this group has made a substantial effort working towards this goal in their town. Charlotte WatershED's mission not only includes the education of citizens, but also includes a call-to-action to protect water resou.. Read More

The Linking Lands Alliance is a grassroots educational organization. It began with informal conversations between Conservation Commissioners from Hartford, Thetford and Norwich about wildlife habitat that extends beyond Town borders. These talks lead to the development of an active organization eventually called the Linking Land Alliance or LLA. The LLA, with the help of Jens Hilke at Vermont Fish & Wildlife, developed maps that illustrate ecologically important habitats and areas of contiguo.. Read More

Central Vermont RPC helped Calais do a GIS Buildout analysis to determine the maximum number of new building units that could hypothetically be placed in Calais given current regulations as well as under another scenario. This project helped the town look at its zoning standards and get a sense of where new development was being guided, enabling them to better understand current regulations and changes that might be made to better protect natural resources. Within the context of this hypothe.. Read More