Act 59 Listening Session Report

In June 2023 the Vermont Legislature passed the Community Resilience and Biodiversity Protection Act (Act 59). This act calls for a statewide conservation plan to achieve the goal of conserving 30% of Vermont by 2030, and 50% by 2050. This March SHLT and our partners at the Grand Isle County NRCD co-hosted a listening session as part of the community-feedback portion of the Act 59 process. We wanted to hear what Grand Isle County residents were thinking about this plan, how they think it would affect them, and what it would mean for our work going forward. 

The event was well-attended at the North Hero Community Hall. Representatives from the VHCB gave a presentation, followed by discussions and questions. We also passed out feedback forms so participants could give their input directly to VHCB. Discussion was wide-ranging and included feedback about the current use program, the need for affordable housing and economic growth in the county, the interactions between this plan and the current Act 250 overhaul, and many others. 

SHLT and GICNRCD have sent a report summary to VHCB with the feedback from the meeting and elsewhere from community members.

Read a copy of the report HERE>>

We hope that legislators will listen to this feedback as they consider how this plan will be rolled out. In addition, we plan to incorporate this feedback into our internal planning and goal-setting, especially as SHLT is undergoing strategic planning in 2026. If you were not able to attend the event nor submit feedback, but have questions or comments about the plan, please feel free to email guy@shlt.org.