Vermont Land Trust Press Release - Conservation of 71-Acre East Montpelier Farm Preserves Agricultural Resources, Expands Recreational Opportunities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 14, 2006
Elise Annes, Vice President for Community Relations at 802-223-5234

Conservation of 71-Acre East Montpelier Farm Preserves Agricultural Resources, Expands Recreational Opportunities

EAST MONTPELIER – It likely took years to cut down the trees and clear the stumps to create the farmland owned by “TC” and Helen Clark in East Montpelier. This nineteenth century land clearing created the fertile fields that, today, yield corn and hay for one of East Montpelier’s dairy farms. History has now repeated itself, but with an interesting twist. This month witnessed the end of another multi-year process – the Clark’s decision to sell the development rights on their 71-acre farm to the Vermont Land Trust (VLT).

“Conserving the farm fulfills a dream of many members of my family,” commented TC. “My grandmother worked various jobs to help pay off the farm, my mother was equally committed to making sure the farm would not be developed, and Helen and I have shared this same perspective. We’ve thought about this for a long time and we’re very happy knowing the land won’t be developed.

The farm has been in the Clark family for over sixty years. One of TC’s responsibilities as a teenager was to tend a stove that warmed the cow’s winter water, an important step to aid in winter milk production. As the years passed, the cows were sold and the family’s farming came to end. Since then the farmland has been leased to other area farms, including Seth and Michelle Gardner who grow forage for their East Montpelier dairy farm.

The Clark land is located at the end of Codling Road, a short dead-end road off Route 2. Visible from Route 2, the land is a combination of hay meadow and pasture. The property also includes over three-quarters of a mile of frontage along the Winooski River.

In addition to selling a conservation easement, the Clarks also transferred a trail easement to allow for future extension of East Montpelier’s trail system. The Clarks are currently working with VLT to conserve an abutting 150 acres of forest that, when crossed by the trail, will link the town’s trail system to U-32 high school and the future Cross Vermont Trail. When completed, this statewide trail will run through Montpelier and East Montpelier, mostly on the old Montpelier-Wells River railroad bed.

With the conservation of the Clarks’ 71 acres, VLT has now assisted in the conservation of nearly 3,000 acres in East Montpelier spread over sixteen properties. Of these, thirteen are farms whose fields are still in active production.

“Future generations need to be sure there is farmland available to use,” stated TC Clark. “By working with the Land Trust we conserved something that is important to us now, and will likely be important for food production into the future.”

The Vermont Land Trust helped the Clarks conserve their land through the use of a conservation easement. An easement helps landowners voluntarily limit development on productive farmland and forestland, and other meaningful natural and community places. Landowners continue to own, manage, and pay taxes on the land and can sell their land; however, the conservation easement permanently remains on the property.

The Vermont Land Trust is a nonprofit organization that works with individuals, organizations, and communities to conserve land for the future of Vermont. In the past 29 years, VLT has helped conserve more than 1,300 parcels of land covering over 454,000 acres, or about 8% of the private, undeveloped land in the state. The conserved land includes more than 600 working farms, hundreds of thousands of acres of productive forestland, and numerous parcels of community lands. This conservation work changes the lives of families, invigorates farms, launches new businesses, maintains scenic vistas, encourages recreational opportunity, and fosters a renewed sense of community. For more information, call 802/223-5234 or visit VLT on the web at www.vlt.org.