Make a difference for Vermont’s forests, water & climate

Conserving large stretches of forest

Vermont can play an important role in saving the Great Northern Forest from subdivision and development. This forest serves as an important wildlife corridor that goes from the Green Mountains to Nova Scotia. It helps keep our air clean and stores an incredible amount of carbon, slowing climate change. Conserving this land matters a great deal for wildlife, climate change, health, the economy, and our communities.

What we are doing

We conserve the highest priority forestland. Over time, we’ve protected nearly 450,000 acres of Vermont’s life-giving forests.

Most recently, we conserved 6,500 acres of pristine forestland in Worcester and Elmore, 7,400 acres in Braintree, Granville, and Rochester, and 1,900 acres in Newark. With hundreds of acres of wetlands, plus streams and rivers, there is habitat for animals from songbirds to large mammals.

Help protect Vermont forests

Getting our woods ready for a changing climate

Our forests are in peril with the threats brought about by climate change, from invasive insects to intense storms. We believe that owners of small family forests are at the front lines of forest health in a changing climate. We are helping through research and education and showing people what works and how they can help.

What we are doing

We are partnering with other Vermont environmental organizations and the University of Vermont at our Mud Pond Forest to look at how different ways to harvest timber affects forest health in light of climate change. We’re working with Audubon Vermont to create songbird habitat in Charlotte and Brattleboro and are experimenting with “assisted migration,” such as planting oak trees in Starksboro, a species that is expected to move north as temperatures warm.

Help Vermont get ready for climate change

Planting trees and restoring wetlands for clean water

Clean water is a pressing issue for some of Vermont’s rivers and lakes. High phosphorus levels are hurting our health, wildlife, and recreation. Removing dams, and restoring wetlands and planting trees can have an outsized impact on clean water in larger rivers. The trees will help filter nutrients from farms, yards, and businesses, before they reach larger rivers.

What we are doing

Historically, farmers used all the land that they could. But there’s a growing awareness that streamside areas are important for healthy watersheds and for flood safety for community downstream. We’re working with farmers, volunteers, and other environmental organizations in Vermont to re-forest land along streams and wetlands. Each year we plant thousands of trees.

Support clean water

Saving native plants and trees from invasive species

After watching Emerald Ash Borer sweep across the country, we weren’t surprised when this destructive, invasive insect arrived here in 2018. It could kill nearly all of Vermont’s ash trees (about five percent of our forests). We have hope that we can help save these beautiful trees.

What we are doing

We are educating landowners about what they can do through workshops and online events. We work with landowners, professional foresters, and other environmental organizations in Vermont to track and slow the spread. And, we are experimenting with injecting insecticides into trees so they can stay alive and make seeds, in the hope that a solution will be found in the future.

Help save Vermont's ash trees