Count Us In

Vermont's working landscape didn't happen by accident.

For nearly fifty years, 19,000 Vermont landowners have enrolled 2.57 million acres in the Current Use program — managing their forests and farms under state-approved plans, renewing their commitment year after year. That partnership built Vermont's conservation record. The corridor exists. The forest is intact. The working landscape that makes Vermont Vermont was built by stewards, not deeds.

In 2023, Vermont redefined what counts as “conserved.” Under the new definition, none of those 2.57 million acres count toward Vermont's conservation goals. Not one. Only land permanently protected by deed restriction or fee acquisition counts now. Forty-eight years of demonstrated stewardship. Doesn't count.

Act 181 followed — and working families are now being regulated as a conservation liability on the land they've stewarded for generations.

This is not what Vermont conservation looks like. Stewards are at the heart of conservation in Vermont.

The fix is available.

Vermont's Conservation Plan — due to the legislature this year — has the authority to recommend a statutory amendment that counts enrolled, managed working forestland as the conservation it is. Vermont is the only state that defines "conserved land" this way in statute. Every other comparable state with 30x30 goals left room for working lands. Vermont can too.

The window is now. We want to make sure everyone is watching.