State-by-state connectivity policy guide: Vermont

This digest is the fourth in a series of posts highlighting states that are leading the way in corridor and connectivity policies (see Colorado and Wyoming and Florida).

States that have connectivity policies enacted or introduced. More information can be found in the Corridor Policy Library. Credit: Center for Large Landscape Conservation. (Click to enlarge)

Starting in the 1960s, the population of Vermont began to increase significantly, leading to greater habitat fragmentation as metropolitan areas expanded. In response to this disruptive change in land use, in 1970 policymakers passed Act 250, which states that “a comprehensive state capability and development plan and land use plan are necessary to provide guidelines for utilization of the lands and environment of the state of Vermont and to define the goals to be achieved through land environmental use, planning and control.”

Since that landmark legislation, Vermont has continued to refine the original concept of Act 250 with two additional major acts that focus on habitat fragmentation and ecological connectivity.

In 2016, the state enacted Act 171, which amends Act 250 by mandating consideration of habitat connectivity in land use planning.  Act 171 created a committee to “study potential revisions to [Vermont Planning Statutes] to protect contiguous areas of forestland from fragmentation and promote habitat connectivity between forestlands,” and authorizes the adoption of those suggested revisions.

As a result, each of the state’s 11 Regional Plans, as well as those of municipalities, must identify core blocks of forest habitat and the key linkages that connect those habitats and create plans “for land development in those areas to minimize forest fragmentation and promote the health, viability, and ecological function of forests.”

The following year, Vermont passed Act 47 (2017), creating a new commission to review the vision for Act 250 and ensure that it would remain effective over the next 50 years. This included an examination of the extent to which implementation of Act 250 “supported natural resources, working lands, farms, agricultural soils, and forests in a healthy ecosystem protected from fragmentation and loss of wildlife corridors.”

In simultaneously taking a statewide report approach and creating processes for locally led connectivity planning, Vermont’s land use planning laws provide an example for other states seeking to enhance landscape connectivity and address the growing threat habitat fragmentation poses to native fish and wildlife populations throughout the country.

Please note: This digest is intended to provide up-to-date information on policy development from a neutral, unaffiliated position as it relates to connectivity and corridor science and management.

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