Join the growing list of citizen co-sponsors for the Vermont Climate Resilience and State Wildlands Act (H.276) and we will keep you up-to-date on news and action opportunities for this important legislation! Introduced by Rep Amy Sheldon of Middlebury, VT, Chair of the House Committee on the Environment, the State Wildlands Act is a visionary bill that will recover natural, old-growth forests on two-thirds of Vermont state-managed public lands. For more information on the bill, check out this fact sheet and the bill itself. By endorsing, you are adding your name to the following letter:

Dear Members of the Vermont Legislature,

We, the undersigned, strongly support the Vermont Climate Resilience and State Wildlands Act. By designating core state lands as wildlands, this important legislation will protect Vermont’s cherished landscapes, strengthen climate resilience, and safeguard wildlife habitat, all while reducing the devastating impacts of flooding and other climate extremes.

In 2023, the Vermont legislature passed Act 59, which calls for conserving 30% of Vermont’s land area by 2030, 50% of its land area by 2050, and recovering old forests — which excel at reducing flooding, providing critical habitat, and storing carbon — across approximately 10% of the state. The Vermont Climate Resilience and State Wildlands Act adds a tool to Vermont’s conservation toolbox by creating a new statutory definition of “ecological reserves,” which was identified by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources and Vermont Housing and Conservation Board as a necessary step towards achieving our Act 59 goals. Currently, only about 4% of Vermont is protected as any kind of ecological reserve. By protecting existing public lands that already constitute much of the best wildland habitat in the state, this bill would bump that figure up to about 7% .

The Vermont Climate Resilience and State Wildlands Act safeguards iconic natural areas for future generations and supports recreation, tourism, and community well-being. During a time of great environmental uncertainty, protecting Vermont’s wildlands is a low-cost opportunity to support the health and safety of our communities, our economy, and our natural heritage. We urge you to support the passage of this bill, and thank you for your leadership and commitment to Vermont.