Conserving Land, Creating Homes
Lessons from Vermont Housing & Conservation Partnership
Editor’s Note: Gus Seelig has been an inspiring leader in conservation in Vermont for the entire time I have been working here. He works quietly and without fanfare, and he gets a lot done. I particularly remember how he deftly managed the vastly complex conservation deal that resulted from the sale of the Champion Timber Lands in the late 1990s. And more recently, the conservation and housing project at Cambrian Rise, in Burlington, highlights again his ability to negotiate a complex history and conflicting needs for a beautiful outcome. Here, Seelig invokes the wisdom of Mollie Beattie, as we did in our last issue, as well as a number of other conservation leaders who inspired him. He doesn’t take a lot of credit, but he deserves it. – Liz Thompson
Over the span of nearly four decades, housing activists, conservationists, farmers, and historic preservation practitioners have come together to pursue a joint vision for Vermont. That vision protects our most important natural resources while also investing in the building and revitalization of housing that strengthens our downtowns, village centers, and nearby neighborhoods. By working toward housing and conservation goals together, Vermont communities have enhanced town and village centers while avoiding the negative impacts of sprawl on Vermont’s environment.
These investments have had remarkable results—conserving 460,000 acres of land, and building or rehabilitating more than 16,000 homes. These results were achieved through a unique coalition that supported the establishment and ongoing funding for the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB). Vermont’s legislature and successive governors have provided one-time funding, as well as steady annual investments in VHCB totaling more than $500 million. Specifically, 50 percent of the revenue generated from the property transfer tax is allocated to fund VHCB’s base budget, along with other monies appropriated to the fund by the General Assembly. Over the years, community partners have raised $2.4 billion in response to VHCB’s investment in this non-regulatory—but very effective—approach to conserving land and providing affordable housing.
VHCB’s statute makes projects that achieve its dual goals a top priority. Though such projects are rare, many communities have both housing and conservation investments supported by the Board. Allocations of the Board’s base funding must be balanced, and the General Assembly requires a report if one purpose receives more than 70 percent of its base funding.
The creation of the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, realized in 1987, is a story for another article. Suffice it to say that a group of conservationists—including the founding directors of the Vermont Land Trust, the Vermont Nature Conservancy, and the Preservation Trust of Vermont—Rick Carbin, Bob Klein, and Paul Bruhn respectively, along with VLT’s Counsel Darby Bradley and Monty Fischer of the Vermont Natural Resources Council—invited housing advocates to the table and collaborated with Governor Madeline Kunin to begin a funding program, in response to big federal cutbacks during the Reagan Administration and a long period without state investment in conservation or housing.
Readers of From the Ground Up may want to know what the program has done for natural areas and wild places. When I first sat down with Mollie Beattie (then Deputy Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources) to seek direction and advice, she gave me a simple test for evaluating natural area projects. She asked, “Will the public love it?” She quickly shared the phone number of The Nature Conservancy as both a creative and science-based strategic partner.
The Vermont Chapter of The Nature Conservancy has added 16,200 acres to its preserve system since the founding of VHCB. In addition, they and other nonprofits have added over 30,000 acres to Vermont’s Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) and 83,000 acres to Vermont State Forests with VHCB’s support. The Vermont State Park expansions include what Connie Motyka, then Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation, called “gems:” Green River Reservoir State Park and Alburg Dunes State Park. In Vermont’s largest conservation project—begun when the former Champion Lands came on the market in 1998—Governor Dean and the legislature conserved 133,000 acres in three ownerships, including a new 22,000-acre WMA at West Mountain; 26,000 acres of the Nulhegan Basin that is now a part of the Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge—and 88,000 acres of privately owned working forest land that is now under easement.
Wolcott Community Forest. Photo © Chris Bennett, courtesy of the Trust for Public Land
Town Forests have also received a great boost, most recently by the Trust for Public Land in Wolcott, Barre Town, and Huntington. Local action has conserved over 1,000 acres in Pownal. Volunteers, led by Nancy Jones, have worked with the Upper Valley Land Trust to conserve 568 acres at Wrights Mountain, providing access to a great walk to the summit. As we focus more on biodiversity, recent investments include Otter Creek WMA (Wallingford), Lily Pond Highlands (Athens), and the Hinesburg Town Forest, conserving over 2,000 acres of special habitat and strengthening blocks of conserved land.
A few other examples are illustrated here:
The town of St. Johnsbury—after replacing its entire Selectboard and establishing its number one priority of hosting a community visit with the Vermont Council on Rural Development—was able to achieve a complete turnaround of a 40-unit apartment complex that had 9,500 square feet of commercial space vacant for most of 30 years. As the project was developed, Tracy Zschau (now president of the Vermont Land Trust) led VLT to conserve Observatory Knob, a 120-acre natural area just a short walk from downtown, and transfer ownership to the town as a community resource.
New Avenue Apartment Complex. Photo © Sally McKay
Observatory Knob. Photo courtesy of Vermont Land Trust
In Burlington, after Burlington College went out of business, a private developer, Eric Farrell, worked with the city and the Vermont Land Trust to protect 12 acres of the 32-acre site for a park along Lake Champlain. This changed most of the opposition to development of the property, and now, a 1,000-unit neighborhood with a broad mix of market-rate homes and permanently affordable homes is in the midst of development with a planned accessible walking path to the lake, benefiting all residents of the Old North End neighborhood. VHCB contributed $500,000 to the conservation project and financially supported the construction of over 200 permanently affordable condos and apartments, creating one of the most mixed income neighborhoods in the state.
Housing on former Burlington College site. Photo © Liz Thompson
In 1989, Governor Kunin sought to buy 2,500 acres in Vermont’s remote Northeast Kingdom, pictured below. At the last minute, the owner of the land sold to a New Jersey couple. Twenty-five years later, these owners worked with The Nature Conservancy and the Vermont Land Trust to sell a working forest easement that includes numerous hiking trails across five peaks, and significant natural area and water quality protections.
Willoughby Peaks. Photo courtesy of The Nature Conservancy
As Vermont looks to its future, we’ve seen a great transformation in the real estate market. Since 2019, the cost of housing has risen dramatically. The median price of a newly constructed home is now more than $600,000. The trajectory of need for affordable homes and for land conservation continues to trend upward, in part because market forces are not designed to value affordability for our workforce, or for elderly or disabled citizens. Nor do those market forces value the natural systems and services Vermont relies on from our forests, farms, wetlands, and waterways.
“By working toward housing and conservation goals together, Vermont communities have enhanced town and village centers while avoiding the negative impacts of sprawl on Vermont’s environment.”
Vermont has responded to these pressures with Act 59 of 2023, which asks us to plan for conservation. The Legislature established the Land Access and Opportunity Board to bring underrepresented voices to our work of conservation and housing. They have enhanced funding for the Forest and Farm Viability Program. They have passed housing and land use reform legislation that focuses on applying a place-based jurisdictional approach to environmental and land use regulations with the intent of protecting critical natural areas while incentivizing growth in communities. This year, the Legislature made an investment to support infrastructure development that is fundamental to housing. The combination of focusing development in smart growth areas and the availability of infrastructure will enhance the ability of Vermont communities to appropriately plan, invest, and conserve.
A few lessons ring true 38 years later:
Conservation and housing interests working together has yielded more results for both than either could have achieved if they competed for funding.
Focusing housing investment in more built-up areas has reduced the pressures of sprawl and the subsequent destruction of natural resources or loss of farmland while supporting the revitalization and vitality of numerous downtowns and village centers, breathing new life into historic buildings.
Farmers have contributed greatly to the conservation of natural resources. On average, 40% of the land owned by farmers is made up of forests and wetlands.
Engaging private landowners will continue to be essential to meeting Vermont’s conservation goals, especially as the federal government pulls back resources for conservation.
The Board’s investment in building capacity with our nonprofit partners has been critical to the success of the mission.
Our efforts to meet Vermont’s climate goals and responsibilities, combined with our desire to improve our impaired waterways and food systems and to strengthen our agricultural economy, all while supporting community vitality, have greatly benefited from a joint approach to meeting Vermont’s housing and conservation needs.
“Conservation and housing interests working together has yielded more results for both than either could have achieved if they competed for funding.”
Vermont will face new challenges both in its budget capacity and through the federal government’s response to climate, health care, nutrition, and the needs of our most vulnerable citizens. In this atmosphere, just as in the age of the Reagan-era cutbacks, working together across expertise, issues, and differences will be more essential than ever.
As I contemplate the legacy that Mollie Beattie, Rick Carbin, Bob Klein, Darby Bradley, and Paul Bruhn gave us, it is best epitomized as the creation of a conspiracy of goodwill. Utilizing a nonregulatory approach in which conservation, housing, historic preservation, and community revitalization interests work together in collaboration has strengthened Vermont and will continue to guide us as we live through these uncertain times.
Gus Seelig is the founding Executive Director of Vermont Housing & Conservation Board. He worked with Senator Leahy to implement the Farms for the Future program as a pilot project, which led to the national Farm Protection Program. As a direct result of Gus’ leadership, Vermont now has some 460,000 acres of conserved land, including over 800 conserved farms; 16,000 permanently affordable homes; conserved town forests and new state parks, and multiple additions to state forest and Wildlife Management Areas. Much of this work has been implemented by supporting a nonprofit network to achieve Vermont’s land use/community development vision of compact settlement surrounded by a working landscape.