Vermont Public Lands

These are the public lands issues currently being worked on by the Vermont Chapter. This includes both public and private land issues--land use and protection.

Additional Information and Resources

Silvio O. Conte NFWR - Letter to Andrew French
by Don Dickson 09-15-2008
January 31, 2008 Andrew French Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge 103 East Plumtree Road Sunderland, MA 01375 Re: Comments of Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Law Foundation, and Sierra Club on the Silvio O. Conte NFWR CCP Alternative Development Dear Mr. French: We write on behalf of the boards and members of the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), and Vermont Chapter of the Sierra Club (SC). We appreciate the opportunity to provide input on the development of alternatives for the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge (or “Conte Refuge”) Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP). Please accept the following as our official comments for this phase of the planning process.....
Protecting Roadless Areas in VT and NH National Forest
by John Harbison 08-21-2008
Vermont Chapter forest activists have been working closely with New Hampshire Chapter activists and the Club’s national Law Program to protect inventoried roadless areas (IRAs) from logging in the White and Green Mountain National Forests since 2006.
Alaska the great land
by John Harbison 03-19-2007
ALASKA: THE GREAT LAND The Arctic Refuge is one of the primary nesting grounds for migratory birds in North America, countless millions of individuals who migrate to five other continents. But it is more than that. This place that Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) has called "a barren desert" also hosts the 130,000-head Porcupine caribou herd (and the Gwich'in people who depend on them), the highest density of polar bear maternity dens on the Beaufort Sea, plus musk oxen, ptarmigans, gyrfalcons, wolves, Arctic foxes, bowhead and beluga whales, grizzly bears, wolverines, golden eagles, and Dall sheep. These animals you will not likely see in Vermont unless you are extremely lucky. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists 180 birds species, 36 land mammals, 9 marine mammals, and 36 fish species. It is not a national wildlife refuge for nothing. So what was Senator Stevens thinking? Oil. The barrels of oil that lie beneath the heart of the Porcupine caribou calving grounds, the most wildlife-rich region of the Refuge. An area the Gwich'in-the Caribou People-call Izhik Gwas'an Gwandaii Goodhit-or roughly The Sacred Place Where Life Begins.
Silvio O. Conte NFWR - January 2008 report
by Don Dickson 09-15-2008
Comments Encouraged on Silvio O. Conte NFWR Proposed Plan The purpose of this project is to mobilize Sierra Club members to participate in the US Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) process of adopting a 15-year management plan for the Silvio O. Conte National Fish & Wildlife Refuge, particularly the Nulhegan Basin Division in Vermont and the Pondicherry Division in New Hampshire. Sierra Club’s Regional Conservation Strategy Team awarded us $5,000 for this project....