News and Events

https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2025-05-02/most-vermonts-public-trails-private-land-sustainable

On a recent chilly morning, Tim Calabrese was carrying a leaf blower across a wooded hillside, just south of downtown Ludlow.

He was following a line of pink flags that marked out a future mountain bike trail, across about 300 acres that are owned by the Fletcher Farm Foundation.

The economy in Ludlow is closely tied to outdoor recreation.

Okemo Mountain is the economic driver during the winter, and Calabrese says his group, Ludlow Area Sports Trails, or LAST, wants to make Ludlow a year-round destination for Vermonters, and visitors, who love the outdoors.

“It is a tourist destination. And for years people would just drive through with bikes on their racks and go to places like Killington, or further north,” said Calabrese, who was one of about a half-dozen volunteers who showed up to do the trail work. “So we’re trying to really put the word out there and build trails and bring people in.”

Outdoor recreation is big business in Vermont.

A recent federal report found that it brings in more than $2 billion a year, and it makes up almost 5% of Vermont’s economy, which is the second-highest percentage in the country.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/northern-forest-canoe-trail-ancient-native-waterway

The rain came down in sheets, roiling the surface of Fourth Lake, an oblong crescent in the heart of New York’s Adirondack Mountains and the largest of eight lakes in the Fulton chain. I laid my paddle on my knees and looked around. Our small flotilla of canoes and kayaks, containing a dozen or so paddlers, was spread out over a half mile, though the downpour obscured many of my companions. We were hustling toward the closest takeout, a mile away on Fifth Lake.

https://vtdigger.org/2025/04/30/feds-cut-more-americorps-programs-jeopardizing-200-positions-in-vermont/

The $2.4 million in terminated Vermont grants funded positions that focused on “everything from housing placement services, food security, to job training, to after school programming” and flood recovery, said Philip Kolling, who oversees AmeriCorps programs in the state.

https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2025-03-13/nearly-500-acres-private-land-conserved-perpetuity-near-appalachian-trail-wallingford

Nearly 500 acres of private land at the entrance to the popular Robert T. Stafford White Rocks National Recreation Area in Wallingford have been conserved in perpetuity as public land.

That’s according to the Trust for Public Land, which secured funding for the acquisition.

The property is home to the popular Ice Beds Trail network and features views of Otter Creek, the Taconic Range and the Green Mountains.

“It’s just a remarkable place, in part because of the really fascinating geology of the White Rocks area’s quartzite cliffs,” said Shelby Semmes, who leads the Trust for Public Land’s work in Vermont. “It’s a great destination in late summer when it’s very hot and humid. When you walk on the Ice Beds Trail, you feel like you’re walking into a refrigerator because ice gets stored there.

https://vtdigger.org/2025/03/14/vermont-towns-continue-to-grapple-with-allowing-atvs-on-local-roads/

Last week, two towns approved ballot items in favor of either developing or expanding ordinances to allow ATVs on town roads. Two others voted against creating such an ordinance.

https://files.constantcontact.com/0665f138701/770cef09-c333-49b4-8575-684b8e1bce5b.pdf

CONCORD, N.H. (January 23, 2025) – Today, the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) announced
just over $24 million in new awards as part of the Commission’s Fall 2024 round of funding across all three of
its competitive programs. The 37 new awards will benefit communities throughout the Commission’s member
states of Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont.