The Month of May Remained Wet and Relatively Chilly Vermont had some cool, wet episodes this month (or maybe just one long one?), including a May nor’easter that brought four inches of snow to parts of the state on May 13-14. Much of the Northeast continues to deal with unseasonably cold weather and above normal
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Did you know… Vermont is 78% forested with 4.5 million acres of forest. 2.7 million acres of wooded land in Vermont is owned by 76,000 family ownerships The average family-owned woodland in Vermont is 35 acres Scientists estimate that there are between 24,000 and 43,000 species of higher plants, algae, fungi, lichens, invertebrates, and vertebrate
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Protecting Vermont’s Woodlands from Invasive Pests Background: Vermont’s forests and woodlands are under attack from invasive (non-native) forest pests – plants, insects, and diseases. These pests impact forests at a massive scale nationwide, destroying hundreds of thousands of acres of United States forests and woodlands each year. Invasive pests often enter the United States through
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Public Policy Issue Brief: Renewable Wood Energy from Vermont Forests Background: Private forests have great potential to contribute to the next generation of Vermont energy use, through the increased utilization of wood as a component of a renewable energy portfolio. Vermont has a long tradition of burning wood for heat in the form of firewood.
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Vermont Woodlands Board || February 16, 2018 Public Policy Issue Brief: Protecting Woodland Owner’s Right to Practice Forestry Background Because of the Use Value Appraisal (UVA) program, which provides fair taxation of forest and agricultural lands, and Vermont’s well-developed professional forestry community, Vermont has millions of acres of forestland that are managed according to sound
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Public Policy Issue Brief: Level the Playing Field for Vermont’s Forest Landowners, Foresters, and Harvesters Background Vermont’s Forests play a major social, economic, recreational, and environmental role in the state, perhaps even greater than ever now that the state faces the task of cleaning up Lake Champlain. The recent DEC publication, Vermont Lake Champlain Phosphorus
Read More...The Working Lands Coalition has good news to report! The legislature finished their business this week, and they allocated an additional $1 million for the Working Lands Enterprise Initiative for fiscal year 2020, which means a little over $1.5 million will be available for grants in the coming year—the largest investment in this initiative to
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A video covering the basics on how to enhance a wildlife habitat and cost share funds from NRCS to help pay for it. Link: Click Here
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Summary of Content: The following link speaks to how Vermont has undergone serious climate change over the past 50 years, specifically causing a drought throughout summer 2016 and 2017. This also impacts where certain plants and animals thrive or do not. Certain recommendations are brought up in order to solve the problems associated with climate
Read More...Summary of Content: The programs that apply to you depend on what type of conservation activities you are interested in doing on your property. With all of the different acronyms used, the Farm Bill programs can start to seem like an alphabet soup. Link: Click Here
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