Creative minds from all over the country joined forces last week at Marlboro College's Center for Creative Solutions, their work culminating Saturday in an exhibit that showcases dozens of possible uses for the Brattleboro riverfront, where the town hopes to have two old buildings torn down within the next 12 months. The open space created by the demolition next to the train station could be used in a multitude of ways, said project organizers. One of the goals of the exhibit, which will remain on display in the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center until Oct. 24, is to get townspeople excited about the possibilities.

These days, companies are more likely to be cutting employee benefits than adding any perks. But even in this down economy, some businesses are offering an unusual new benefit that doesn't cost a lot, but that some employees are really "digging". It's 3 in the afternoon on a recent work day, and Marie Duprey is at her job at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, where she's a graphic designer. But she isn't anywhere near her desk.

The Vermont Land Trust, a land-conservation nonprofit based in Montpelier, works on about 65 conservation projects a year, said Elise Annes, vice president for community relations. The Kingsbury Farm had been a dairy farm in the Mad River Valley for more than 50 years, with a prominent presence on Vermont 100 and property along the river. When the farm went up for sale, the VLT began receiving phone calls from people in the community seeking the nonprofit’s help in conserving the property, Annes said.

In less than a year, Brattleboro will have a new town plan in place.The town plan, though updated every five years, looks at 20-year blocks of time and not just the next five years, said Rod Francis, the director of the town’s Planning Service Department. "If you want to help set up an inheritance to the community, this would be the mechanism for doing that," he said.

One third of all land in the state of Vermont is currently enrolled in Current Use - that's over two million acres.  About 25% is farmland and 75% is forestland. The House and the Senate are taking different approaches to improve the long term fiscal condition of the program. The House places a one year moratorium on new applicants - the Senate rejected this approach and instead imposes a one time fee of $128 on all participants.

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Developers, exasperated by what they saw as Shelburne's ambivalent review process during the past two years and already having invested considerable time and more than $1 million, abandoned plans in late March for a 250-unit residential community in Shelburne Village. The town might have lost a groundbreaking opportunity to better manage its natural resources.Many Vermont towns, including Shelburne, have adopted town plans and zoning bylaws that foster centripetal (as opposed to centrifugal) development.

An Environmental Court judge has settled six years of legal controversy and ruled against a quarry proposed for central Vermont. The ruling is being hailed as an important decision because it affirms important principles of state environmental law. The large-scale stone quarry was planned for 93 acres on Route 100 B about 2 and a half miles north of Moretown village. It was designed to operate for 33 years.  But the proposal divided many in the Mad River Valley town. While there was some community support, for a while local roads were dotted with signs saying, "Keep Moretown Quarry Free."

The problem is impermeability. The solution -- or at least, part of it -- may well be rain barrels and rain gardens. "As Bennington grows, as all rural areas grow, we replace a lot of the permeable surfaces like forests and meadows with impervious surfaces, like streets and roofs," said Sadie Puglisi, director of programs at the New England Tropical Conservancy. When that happens, Puglisi said, water runs off, carrying all sorts of pollutants with it, into storm drains or directly into streams. That damages the water supply. Puglisi said she and Bennington County Conservation District's Shelly Stiles have been looking for ways to keep water in the place where it lands when it falls from the sky. So they're working to encourage people to aim their gutters and other water flow into rain gardens on their properties. Rain gardens are sunken areas that contain the water until it can be soaked in, and are home to "plants that don't mind wet feet." The plants grow, and the water is managed safely.

Lawmakers are continuing to struggle with legislation that regulates large-scale composting operations, especially the question of when composting is part of a farm and when it is a business. That distinction matters to neighbors of composting operations and to farmers as well, because the proposed new law would apply a different regulatory scheme depending on which category the composting operation falls into. The issue has been front and center in Montpelier, where Vermont Compost's successful business turns huge amounts of food scraps and waste agricultural products into useful compost, but has antagonized residential neighbors, especially because of a large population of crows attracted by food waste.

Marlboro voters learned the Hogback Mountain Conservation Association has raised enough money to buy 593 acres of the old Hogback Mountain Ski Area. Bob Anderson, the president of the Hogback Mountain Conservation Association, said the reaction from town voters was so enthusiastic that the town moderator had to ask them to stop clapping so other matters could be discussed. "This is a great day for Hogback," said Anderson. "It’s been overwhelming to me the number of people who have been touched by this place and who have supported this purchase and its conservation."

The city of South Burlington has won a designation that could help finance a downtown development. The Vermont Downtown Board has approved the city's application as a New Town Center. The designation is a step toward the establishment of a multi-story downtown area on undeveloped lands around Market Street, across from University Mall.

In the late 60's the construction of I-89 and I-91 opened up the previously isolated state of Vermont to rapid development and increased tourism.  After a few disastrous construction projects in Southern Vermont, Governor Deane Davis got worried and formed a state-wide commission to create land-use regulations and government oversight.  When it passed in 1970, Act 250, the Land Use and Development Act, was arguably the most progressive piece of environmental legislation in the United States.  It's been praised and vilified, lauded and criticized. Vermont Public Radio looks back at 40 years of Act 250, examine its successes and failures, and discuss whether it can still effectively tackle our 21^st century problems and concerns.

Tight budgets will likely have lawmakers scrutinizing Vermont's current use law this legislative session, with the hope of squeezing savings from it. Current use is widely seen as having played a powerful role in maintaining and enhancing Vermont's rural and agricultural heritage. A recent report issued by the Council on the Future of Vermont says that between 93 percent and 97 percent of Vermonters stated recently that they value the working landscape and its heritage.

Update on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 10:02AM by VCF Staff

A state program credited with preserving millions of acres of forest and farmland from development became the first prominent example of the fiscal year 2011 budget crisis facing lawmakers, with House members Tuesday giving tentative approval to cuts in the so-called Current Use program.

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A proposal to cut funds for a program credited with preserving millions of acres of forest and farm land from development drew a blistering rebuke from the logging industry Thursday.

Lawmakers have committed to finding $1.6 million in savings in Vermont's Current Use program, a 30-year-old initiative that dramatically lowers taxes on tracts of land used for agriculture and forestry. A proposal drafted by a broad coalition of conservation-oriented organizations – including the Vermont Land Trust, Vermont Farm Bureau, Vermont Natural Resources Council and Vermont Nature Conservancy – would deliver those savings in the fiscal year 2011 budget.

WCAX News reports that "the new federal agriculture census says more farms are cropping up around Vermont." According to the census, "there are nearly 7,000 [farms in the state],up 6 percent from the last census in 2002. While the number of dairy farms dropped to 1,200, organic farms are becoming more popular,while other farmers are becoming more diverse in the products they offer." In addition, "the number of vegetable farms increased 20 percent" and "the average age of a farmer rose from 53 to 56."

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