Vermont Housing Conservation Board 2005 - Vermont Housing and ...

VHCB CONSERVATION PROGRAMS
The Vermonters who come before our Board seeking funding for conservation
projects share a common trait: foresight. The American Heritage Dictionary
offers a definition of that trait: “concern or prudence with respect to the future.”
When the American Farmland Trust polled our grantee farmers several years
ago, it was the desire to see their land continue in agriculture for generations to
come that topped the list of reasons for conserving their farmland. We know volunteers
active in perpetuating hiking opportunities who are unable to hike because
their knees have failed them. The elderly tend to be among the most enthusiastic
supporters of local historic restoration projects, believing that our treasured historic
buildings are one of the most important legacies we can leave our children. It’s
foresight that binds these people in the common purpose of conserving the historic
buildings, natural areas and open lands that comprise our communites.
You’ll read about the Briggses, the Yandows and the O’Connells in this annual
report—all are farmers with unique stories of how VHCB affected their ability to
fulfill aspirations of farming on into the future. Each of these families has wrestled
with the perpetual nature of conservation easements and concluded that the right
to develop was an asset they would trade to better position themselves in farming’s
mercurial future.
Other farmers are availing themselves of the Farm Viability Program to augment
their competitive edge in the challenging agricultural economy. Farmers are, by
and large, some of the savviest business practitioners in Vermont. It’s that innate
abundance of common sense and foresight that sends an increasing number of
them to seek help in developing business plans to chart a road map for financial
success.
VHCB Board and staff continually ask the question “Is this a parcel best
conserved or developed” We look to local expression of foresight to help arrive
at the answer. Thus, considerable weight is given to town and regional planning
Fiscal Year 2005
CONSERVATION
State Funding Commitments
Agricultural Land:
$2,145,605
19 farms
3,383 acres
Natural Areas, Recreational
Lands, Historic Properties:
$1,684,179
22 projects
847 acres
7 historic properties
Federal Funding Programs
Farm and Ranchland
Protection Program:
$1,921,000
6
VHCB provided funds to the City of
Montpelier to create the new Mill
Pond Park on the North Branch
of the Winooski. Last summer
Vermont Youth Conservation Corps
members sponsored by the Agency
of Transportation worked with the
City Parks Department landscaping
the park over a two-week period.
In the future, the city hopes to link
the park to the recreation fi elds,
creating a connecting trail system
via a foot bridge across the river.