Program areas at VLT
Land protectionin partnership with landowners and communities, we conserve Land and ensure its continued protection. Over the past forty-five years we have protected over 620,000 acres, or 11% of the state. This includes over a thousand working farms, 440,000 acres of productive forestland, and 1,400 miles of streams. Our work supports rural livelihoods and local economies, the health and wellbeing of vermonters and visitors, and hundreds of plant and animal species that call Vermont home. We ensure the ongoing protection of this Land in partnership with over 2,000 landowners. Through regular education and monitoring, we uphold the conservation easements that restrict development and work with landowners to improve the health and viability of their lands.
The brewster uplands conservation Trust is an entity that supports the management of 1,000+ acres for public access, farming and educational purposes.
Investing in placeto strengthen connections between people and Land, catalyze farm and forest businesses, and broaden Land access, we own Land for short or long periods of time. Today, we own four flagship properties and a handful of other properties that bring people on to Land. These places support community gardens, multi-use trails, agricultural enterprises, forestry demonstration projects, and educational opportunities. Programming on these lands is done in close collaboration with local schools, businesses, and volunteers. Additionally, to advance affordable access to farmland, we sometimes buy and transfer farmland using conservation as a tool to make Land more affordable for the next generation of farmers. Using this approach, we have helped over 100 farmers buy Land and grow their businesses.
Atlas timberland projectthe atlas timberlands project is a joint undertaking of the Vermont Land Trust and the nature conservancy. Together, the two organizations own and manage approximately 12,000 acres of timberland in the northern green mountains. The management of this Land provides direct experience with the challenges of owning and managing timberland for economic and biodiversity values. This experience has a direct impact on our ability to understand and address concerns of owners of conserved timberland. All of the Land is open to the public for hiking, hunting, and other non-motorized recreation.
Vermont forest carbonvermont forest carbon is a pilot project to aggregate small, seperately owned, individual parcels of forest Land for carbon storage sequestration to provide a broader set of landowners access to carbon markets.