Summary

Public forests across northern New England face increasing pressures from agency-sponsored logging projects. The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) recently finalized a management plan for the Worcester Range which authorizes timber harvesting that would impact mature stands, hydrology and other critical natural features. One of the most ecologically significant forests in northern New England, the Range consists of nearly 19,000 acres located east of Stowe and north of Montpelier, including high-functioning, intact, old forest ecosystems.

The Li-Costa Family Foundation is proud to partner with the Environmental Advocacy Clinic (EAC) at Vermont Law and Graduate School (VLGS) to advocate for the protection of Vermont’s scenic Worcester Range, as well as for a new direction for public management of Vermont public lands. Our $250,000 commitment will allow the EAC to build on its partnership with its client Standing Trees, a grassroots membership organization that works to preserve and restore New England’s forests for the benefit of the climate, clean water, and biodiversity. In February 2023, the EAC on Standing Trees’ behalf filed extensive comments opposing ANR’s plan to open nearly half of those acres to logging.

“It is with pride that we have found a partner in the Li-Costa Family Foundation, which shares our commitment to developing the finest environmental lawyers and advocates.”

- VLGS President, Rod Smolla.

With the benefit of this funding, we aim to support advocacy focused on preserving these precious public lands and reorienting agency management of those lands away from ecologically harmful practices.

You can learn more about our ongoing partnership and support of the EAC and Standing Trees through our most recent press release with theVermont Law and Graduate School here.

Details

An initial grant of $100,000 followed by a $150,000 sustained funding commitment through August 2027.