This commentary is by Shelby Semmes of Warren. She is vice president of the New England region for the Trust for Public Land.
A new federal administration is taking shape and change is in the air, particularly for many environmental initiatives launched during the last four years. However, the ongoing work happening right now in Vermont is a positive reminder of the increasingly urgent — and popular — issue of land conservation.
Looking back at recent history, efforts to protect or conserve our lands and waters have at times cut across party lines and united communities. Earlier this month, President Biden signed into law the bipartisan EXPLORE Act, which will support a broad array of conservation and recreation initiatives. This was legislation passed unanimously in the House and widely supported in the Senate. And four years earlier, it was President Trump who signed into law the Great American Outdoors Act, which permanently funded the essential Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Looking ahead, however, we are in unpredictable waters, and it’s nearly certain that the incoming administration will decrease federal support around some specific funding programs and regulatory approaches. The glass half-full view of that notable shift will be a redirected spotlight on the state and local levels, where the vast majority of investments in conservation and outdoor recreation infrastructure are actually made, and where local support for these public values is solid and growing.
With affordability concerns top of mind, voters in both red and blue states last November came out in strength to support a healthy variety of initiatives, investing in parks, lands, trails, waters and wildlife corridors. Those engaged voters passed 23 measures in 11 states tracked and supported by Trust for Public Land, generating over $16 billion in funding. This outcome affirms American voters’ overwhelming support for protecting land and water and creating close-to-home spaces to connect to the outdoors.
In addition to those energizing new successes that bucked the partisan trend, there is also optimism to be found in the ongoing support of long-term programs at the state level _ such as “30 by 30,” the effort to plan, identify and conserve 30% of lands and waters by 2030 (and 50% by 2050) as a way to preserve a functioning level of biodiversity, slow the pace of climate change and ensure equitable access to the outdoors.
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Already well underway in 12 states and 190 countries, this initiative is one of the most ambitious and important conservation efforts ever, requiring both vision and cooperation from a wide range of constituencies. Unsurprisingly, one of the clear leaders in this process is our own state of Vermont.
Vermont’s work on “30 by 30” began in June 2023 after the enactment of the Community Resilience and Biodiversity Protection Act. The process is currently midstream in a broad based-planning process led by the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, which is critically supported by the Agency of Natural Resources and is working toward completion of a plan of action by June 2026.
In addition to engaging numerous perspectives, welcoming robust conversations, and assembling key data sets — an element which has clearly benefited from the preceding leading-edge work of Vermont Conservation Design — the process has also started to help bring into focus what possibilities “30 by 30” will usher in when the recommendations eventually come to fruition.
Examples of what that hopeful future may look like can already be seen on a small scale in a variety of geographies around Vermont. Places where homes are comfortably clustered, working lands are intact and natural areas are allowed to be exactly that. Places like the town of Wolcott, Vermont.
This September, Wolcott cut the ribbon on a new community forest, giving some specific roles to 735 acres within walking distance of the town center. As a shared gathering space for a local elementary school, the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail, and the future Velomont cross-state trail, the Wolcott Community Forest contains 31 acres of wetlands, 5.5 miles of headwater streams and river frontage, and valuable wildlife habitat.
The creation of the Wolcott Community Forest was the outcome of a multi-year, community-based initiative in which the town came together, looked at their natural assets, and had an open discussion about what was truly important to them and how that could be reflected in their forest. The result is a balanced landscape with some lands for homes and infrastructure, some lands for farms and forestry, some for trails, recreation, and some remaining just as they are.
While not directly related to the “30 by 30” process, the Wolcott Community Forest is a heartening success story that reflects many of the same values, much of the same collaborative spirit, and a great deal of its intent in the landscape that it is creating.
Successes like the Wolcott Community Forest – as well as the “30 by 30” process and the rising popularity of state level conservation and outdoor projects around the country — are encouraging proof of the importance of these topics among voters everywhere.
They’re also a timely reminder for decision makers at the state and local levels to stay the course, and preserve the funding we have so that we can continue protecting the outdoor spaces we need.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Shelby Semmes: In changing times, conservation endures as a priority for voters.