High gas prices fuel bus ridership

The Times Argus reports that the "Chittenden County Transportation Authority (CCTA) has seen a 29 percent increase in riders on the Montpelier—Burlington Link since last July." According to Meredith Birkett, Senior Transit Planner with the CCTA, "We can't tell exactly why more people are on the bus" but "the increased ridership is helping us make a case for more funding for more routes." Some have attributed the increase in ridership to the price of fuel and the frequency and severity of snowstorms.

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10 states to initiate CO2 auction

The Burlington Free Press reports that ten northeastern states -- Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont -- have "announced plans for a carbon dioxide allowance auction" to be held on September 10, 2008." The states will participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and "want to sell allowances as part of a cap-and-trade program to take effect [on] January 1, 2009." Under the Initiative, "governments would cap the amount of carbon dioxide that factories and plants are allowed to discharge annually and then the companies would have to buy enough allowances to cover their emissions, with excess allowances sold at a profit on the secondary market." The cap on carbon dioxide is set at about 188 million tons, or "the amount of carbon dioxide power plants expect to discharge in 2009."

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State keeps eye on deer herd

The Burlington Free Press reports that the State will host five meetings across Vermont to identify the best ways to keep Vermont's deer population healthy. According to Fish and Wildlife spokesman John Hall, "The feedback, along with results from biological studies of deer mortality and general herd health considerations, will be used to help manage the herd this year, including deciding on the number of antlerless permits to be issued for this fall's season."

Shawn Haskell, chairman of the deer team of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, said that, "Before last fall's hunting season, about 158,000 deer were in Vermont, the most since 2000." Haskell added that "the herd went into the winter healthy, but deep snow through December, January and February makes it hard for the animals to move, and it hides their food."

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Update on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 04:57PM by VCF Staff

Vermont Public Radio reports that state wildlife officials have announced that "Vermont's deer herd weathered [the] winter okay" even though "deep snow across much of Vermont hid deer food and made it hard for [deer] to walk, forcing them to deplete fat reserves." According to Shawn Haskell, "Barring another major storm, the deer should be fine. " Haskell added that a "three-foot snowfall could spell doom for the weakest members of the herd should it come at this point in the season."

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Sunday Herald and Times Argus global-warming series wins award

The Times Argus reports that the "Sunday Rutland Herald and [the] Barre-Montpelier Times Argus won a New England Newspaper Association award Friday for [their] series on global warming" entitled "Vermont's Changing Seasons." The papers were recognized with a "Publick Occurrences award, given to honor outstanding reporting done in the spirit of courage and independence of Publick Occurrences, the nation's first newspaper." Eight papers were recognized with the award this year.

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NOAA: Winter was warm Vermont's notwithstanding

The Times Argus reports that "the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says the global temperature for meteorological winter — December, January and February — averaged 54.38 degrees Fahrenheit, 0.58 degrees warmer than normal for the last century." According to NOAA, "this winter was warmer than average worldwide, even if it was the snowiest on record in Burlington." Indeed, "Burlington had record snow — 103.2 inches, which was 6.3 inches above the previous record set during the winter of 1970-71." Elsewhere "in the Northeast, New York had its wettest winter, while Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Vermont and Colorado had their second-wettest."

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Shelburne church focuses on environment

The Burlington Free Press reports that All Souls Interfaith Gathering is a church in Shelburne that is committed to environmental stewardship. Indeed, "this year the environment is the theme guiding all of the church's youth and adult programs, including a forthcoming speakers series" called "Voices for the Environment." The church has also recently partnered with "Shelburne Farms [to] pilot [an] interfaith residential program called 'Spirit and Nature' that explores the intersection between the natural and spiritual worlds." Notably, the church "has garnered a great deal of national media attention since it opened its new green church building" which has "bamboo flooring, compact fluorescent lighting, [a] pellet furnace and [is built from] locally harvested wood." For example, "CBS Sunday Morning is planning a feature on the church and USAToday called [the church] 'one of the greenest churches in one of the greenest states.'"

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The effect of climate change on maple sugaring

The Brattleboro Reformer reports that some research suggests that climate change has already begun to have an effect on the maple sugaring industry. According to Catherine Stevens, a marketing director for the maple syrup industry, "the sugaring season over the past four years has actually decreased by three days" and now begins earlier and ends earlier. Stevens also said that "sugaring in 50-100 years would probably go away" if nothing is done to curb climate change.

Sap gathering is very sensitive to temperature changes. Indeed, "optimum sap gathering requires freezing nights and warmer, above freezing days." Stevens noted that "when it's all freezing, the sap won't run or freezes, and when it's all warm, the tree begins to bud and the sap no longer tastes good." Temperatures also "influence the kind of syrup produced." For example during warmer years, "the sap tends to have more bacteria in it, which eats the sugar and creates a darker, richer syrup."

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State to host meeting to set formal carbon emissions tracking standard

The Brattleboro Reformer reports that the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) will host a meeting on Tuesday, March 25, 2008, to "encourage schools, municipalities and business owners to join a statewide effort to begin to report and track greenhouse gas emissions in a single, standard way" through the Climate Registry. The Climate Registry is "a collaboration of 39 states, seven Canadian provinces, two Mexican states and three Indian tribes" that is "attempting to standardize greenhouse gas reporting and act as a repository for [emissions] data." The Registry has recently finalized a reporting protocol and will soon issue software that will help members record carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, petrofluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride emissions. Program participants  must "pay an annual fee and will be asked to calculate both direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions." According to Jeff Merrell, an environmental analyst at the ANR's Department of Environmental Conservation, "We are trying to track greenhouse gas emissions as a state, county and region to reach a determination on how to reduce those emissions."

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Group says stormwater permits not enforced

The Burlington Free Press reports that the Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) has concluded that the "state has failed to enforce stormwater permits for construction projects, allowing tons of polluting sediment to spill into the state's waterways." Indeed the VNRC visited "29 randomly selected construction sites around the state last summer and found [that] virtually all were not taking what are often simple measures to prevent erosion and control sediment." According to the VNRC, "75 percent of Vermont's water quality problems are related to sediment, which leads to algae blooms and fills culverts." Kim Greenwood, the VNRC's staff scientist who conducted the study, also noted that "the state [has] declined to punish violators, fining only two developers in the past eight years."

In response, officials with the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) have said that, "Changes made in 2006 called for a period of education rather than enforcement." Peter LaFlamme, the director of the Department of Environmental Conservation's Division of Water Quality, added that, "Last year the state increased its inspections of construction sites and once the rules are more well known the state will likely have tougher enforcement." LaFlamme also mentioned that the ANR is "establishing a new compliance and enforcement center that will establish standards for when to go after violators."

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Group says stormwater permits not enforced

The Burlington Free Press reports that the Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) has concluded that the "state has failed to enforce stormwater permits for construction projects, allowing tons of polluting sediment to spill into the state's waterways." Indeed the VNRC visited "29 randomly selected construction sites around the state last summer and found [that] virtually all were not taking what are often simple measures to prevent erosion and control sediment." According to the VNRC, "75 percent of Vermont's water quality problems are related to sediment, which leads to algae blooms and fills culverts." Kim Greenwood, the VNRC's staff scientist who conducted the study, also noted that "the state [has] declined to punish violators, fining only two developers in the past eight years."

In response, officials with the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) have said that, "Changes made in 2006 called for a period of education rather than enforcement." Peter LaFlamme, the director of the Department of Environmental Conservation's Division of Water Quality, added that, "Last year the state increased its inspections of construction sites and once the rules are more well known the state will likely have tougher enforcement." LaFlamme also mentioned that the ANR is "establishing a new compliance and enforcement center that will establish standards for when to go after violators."

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Update on Monday, March 24, 2008 at 09:54AM by VCF Staff

Bill focuses on environmental enforcement
The Burlington Free Press reports that the House Fish, Wildlife and Water Resources Committee is working on a bill that will push the Agency of Natural Resources to enforce environmental laws. According to Representative David Deen, the Committee wants to send a message to "the Agency that the Legislature is paying close attention to their enforcement efforts" because the Committee "continue[s] to hear anecdotal evidence that [the Agency] is not" enforcing violations. Notably, the bill will "increase penalties for violations"; "require the Agency to come up with a plan for establishing a database of enforcement actions taken"; and "require the Agency to report back to the Legislature on the use of stormwater general permits and the results of enforcement actions involving those permits."

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FEMA recognizes Brattleboro for interim flood regulations

The Brattleboro Reformer reports that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has recognized the town of Brattleboro with the title "Community of the Month in Region One" for passing an interim zoning ordinance that limits development in certain areas along the Whetstone Brook. The zoning regulations, which were extended for another 18 months in January, are "intended to reduce the threat of flooding along [the] river corridor." The ordinance will give "the state and the Windham County Conservation District time to finish a geomorphic study of the river corridor." The study "will define flood hazard areas and flood plains in the Whetstone Brook corridor" and, once finished, "will guide the town in crafting permanent ordinances along the brook."

According to Barry Cahoon, rivers program manager for the state's Department of Environmental Conservation, Brattleboro's "pattern of development has contributed to a very elevated flood hazard and an expenditure of public and private funds responding and recovering from floods."

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Charlotte Land Trust protects 40-acre lot

The Burlington Free Press reports that "the Charlotte Land Trust recently purchased development rights and now holds a conservation easement on a 40-acre parcel west of Mount Philo near State Park Road." The Land Trust "had two primary reasons for wanting to conserve the 40 acres:

1. The land's agricultural value and
2. Its place in westward views from the top of Mount Philo."

According to Charlotte Land Trust President Frances Foster, the land will "be protected from future development and will remain in hay production, preserving the expansive view across the property toward Lake Champlain."

"The development rights were purchased from landowners Peter Ross and Mecca Culbert with $70,000 from the Charlotte Conservation Fund and $80,000 in donations." Notably, "Charlotte residents add to the conservation fund each year through 2 cents of the tax rate." This tax was "authorized by voters in 1996 and again in 2006, each time for a 10-year period."

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Lowe's seeks to fill wetlands; opponents object

The Burlington Free Press reports that "Lowe's Home Centers is seeking state permission to fill in two wetlands and a wetland buffer to build a four-acre home improvement warehouse and garden center in St. Albans Town." State maps identify both wetlands as "significant," and in their application for permission to fill the wetlands, Lowe's has described the impact to both areas as "unavoidable." In order to mitigate its destruction of the two wetlands, Lowe's has proposed "to build a replacement wetland and permanently protect 20 acres of the nearby white cedar swamp." Opponents of the project fear the development will pollute the "Stevens Brook, an already polluted stream that empties into St. Albans Bay." Notably the "bay has perhaps the poorest water quality of any part of Lake Champlain, with regular algae blooms each summer."

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Windsor schools lose battle for $500K over property contaminated by DOC facility

The Rutland Herald reports that "the Vermont Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Windsor School District will not be able to recoup about $500,000 in legal expenses following a long legal battle with the state Department of Corrections (DOC)." Notably, "the Windsor School District has been engaged in lawsuits with the DOC over a piece of land the DOC had given the town [in 1976] that later turned out to be contaminated." Indeed, a wood treatment facility that was operated on the property by the DOC from 1954 and 1958 used "a combination of kerosene and a wood preservative called pentachlorophenol" which contaminated the site.

According to the Court, "nobody was aware of the contamination until the DOC contacted the district superintendent in 1995." Windsor subsequently "hired two consulting firms to investigate the property for contamination and in November 1995 the town contacted the DOC telling them of the findings and asked the DOC to assume the full cost of site clean-up." The site, which is now used for a football field and track, was cleaned up by contractors and subcontractors hired by the the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.

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Earthen dam for proposed Mount Snow snowmaking project causes concern

The Brattleboro Reformer reports that residents of Wilmington gathered for a public information session on a proposed dam to be built around West Lake. The dam will "hold water for snowmaking at the Mount Snow ski resort" and would be built from earthen materials. Robert Finucane, a chief of dam safety and hydrology for the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, has called the project a "high hazard." Finucane noted that this "term isn't as end-of-the-world as it may sound" and gets "slung around" frequently. He explained that his main concern has to do with the dam's location, which is upstream of houses.

Residents at the session voiced their concerns about the lake overflowing, but Project managers explained that they "plan to install sensors in the dam itself." Annual checks of the dam would also ensure that debris or burrowing animals that might clog the flow be removed. Finally, the permitting process "requires engineers [to] submit a thorough plan for an emergency situation."

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