Notes on Equity and Our Work as A Land Trust

South Hero Land Trust began exploring the role that we can play in our community to elevate equity, diversity, inclusion, and racial justice in 2018, but were galvanized to focus on this more intensely in the summer of 2020. While this may feel like a departure from our core work in land conservation, education, trail building, and farm viability- we see this work as central to everything we do. We will be collecting some notes and articles related to our journey in this space. Please reach out to our Executive Director, Emily Alger, if you would like to engage more, ask questions, or learn with us. Her email address is emily@shlt.org.

Changing the Stories that Ground Me (April 2021)

April 27, 2021

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Like many of you, I’ve been reflecting on the last year and everything that has changed. It has been a year of communal loss: of friends and family, moments of connection and celebration, jobs, security, a sense of normalcy... It has also been a year of awakening for many, myself included. My eyes have been opened to the violence and deep inequities in our country that put Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) at higher risk of harm from the pandemic and in their daily lives.

Do you ever think about the stories that define your life? My family’s stories are tales of generations of Vermont farmers, fishermen, shopkeepers, and teachers. Hard-working and independent men and women who made this land their home. I have been grounded by stories of my ancestors coming to this country, of a childhood spent on the land, and an adulthood spent caring for the land. These stories told me that I belong here, that my impact on this world is generally good. But they are only one strand of a bigger web.

The story of the Abenaki Nations includes being forced from the land I now call home. The story of many Black Americans includes kidnap from their homeland and generations of slavery. The stories of many Asian Americans includes years of labor without citizenship. The stories of all of these people also include a great deal of joy, love, and strength, but it is hard to reckon with the realization that the story of our country is one of racist policies that give power to one group of people by denying it to others.

If these stories are true, are stories that have grounded me lies? If the history of our country is one of slavery and hatred, how can it also be one of freedom and love? I am learning that truth is more complex than I realized; that multiple things can be true at once. My family history is filled with people who were hardworking, who believed in freedom, who cared for the people around them, and who cared for the land. But what they had was built on labor of the BIPOC in our country, who were given few of the advantages that my ancestors or I received. So the stories that have grounded my life are changing.

In January, we were incredibly honored to have three guests join us for an evening we called “Abenaki Storytellers of Ndakinna: Perspectives on Place and Culture.” Chief Don Stevens and Jesse Bruchac of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation, and Melody Walker of the Elnu Abenaki Tribe shared stories, songs, and history of their people. One of the things I took away from this was that stories change over time, and new stories are always arising. The Abenaki people have multiple origin stories, from different times in their history, each speaking to something they needed at that point in time. Can we create new stories today, stories that encompass hard truths and beautiful ones, pain and hope?

What I want to take from this year is the beginnings of a new story. One grounded in the lives of many different Americans, a story in which we bravely let go of misconceptions and lies in order to understand the greater truth, and a story that leads to compassion and change. Can we create a community in which people of all colors, abilities, and identities, are equally valued, cared for, and given voice? Can we create a community that is connected to and stewards the land in a way that honors the Abenaki people?

This work requires all of us being willing to learn and be transformed. I hope you will join me.

Emily Alger

Executive Director

P.S. I’m really grateful to all of the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color who joined us for some important conversations during our Winter Wednesday series this year. You can catch recordings of all of these events on our website if you missed them in person.

In Naming Our Town Beach, Impact Matters More than Intent (February 2021)

In February 2021, we submitted an article to Front Porch Forum, regarding the name of the town beach in South Hero, and the importance of placing this decision in the context of segregation. You can read that article by clicking HERE>>.

A Note on Racial Equity and our Work (October 2020)

October 2020

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

I’d like to expand on some thoughts I first shared in June, in response to this moment of enormous social change, fed by the deep racial and class inequities that the pandemic has exposed, and to the uprising across our country for racial justice.

Since the initial shut-down in Vermont this spring, I’ve taken comfort in many walks in the woods. I have always thought of the outdoors as a place where everyone is welcome—I was devastated to realize that many people are not welcome or even safe in a place that brings me such peace. And my family has eating food from our garden and local farms daily, but I’m newly aware of how few farmers of color own land and farm businesses in our state. The protests against police brutality that have swept the county following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and too many others demonstrate the deep pain and inequity we are facing in the United States.

People of color are fighting for their lives, and it is past time that we all join the fight. Let’s listen to the stories of people of color. Let’s be open to change in our own lives and actively work to dismantle the systemic racism inherit in our institutions and policies. Let’s make sure that black and brown people are welcome and welcomed in our community. Let’s be anti-racist, as individuals and organizations.

Like many leaders of land conservation and community organization, I’m wrestling with how we address inequity in our community today and with the complicated history of land ownership and access in our country. Nick Richardson of Vermont Land Trust summarized this clearly in a letter earlier this year: “from the first land speculators who laid claim to the lands of the Abenaki people; to campaigns in the early 20th century that recruited white people of northern European descent to visit, settle, and farm in Vermont; to the Vermont Eugenics Program which targeted poor, disabled, and Abenaki people; white landed Vermonters have benefited from systems and structures that have long excluded people ‘unlike them’ from this land.” The land conservation movement has historically been led by a predominately white group of people, and is still today. The stories and vision of people of color are missing, and conservation projects often primarily benefit white people.

Addressing this history and the current disparities in our communities is challenging and ongoing work. South Hero Land Trust is committed to this work, beginning with learning and with reviewing our practices and activities through new eyes. We have always been committed to projects that serves our community, but if we want to serve those who need us most, we need to rethink how we do this work.

As I wrote in June, I am not an expert. I have no solutions. I will probably make many mistakes along the road, and I hope you will forgive me for them. I am committing to listening, to learning, and to responding with love. I am committed to standing in solidarity with people of color across our nation, as an individual, and as the leader of a community organization. I hope you will join me.

In Hope,

Emily Alger

Executive Director