Vermont Land Trust Press Release - Alice Wright Conserves Family Land

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 19, 2007

Alice Wright Conserves Family Land

Middlebury, VT – In a cooperative effort with Vermont Land Trust and Middlebury Area Land Trust, Alice Wright conserved 87 acres along Cady Road in Middlebury, the Vermont Land Trust announced today.

The land has been in Alice’s family since the 1960s and is currently farmed by the Foster Brothers dairy farm. It has 77 acres of tillable soil and is next to the former Elmer farm, which was conserved last year. Alice will continue to own and rent the land; however, the conservation easement prohibits any further subdivision or residential and commercial development.

“I’m glad this finally happened,” said Alice. “It’s a good feeling knowing this land will remain available for agriculture. It is important to protect good farmland. It’s a vanishing resource and this area is developing very fast.” Alice also supports affordable housing and is working with a local housing group to possibly build a couple of affordable homes on a small parcel on Route 116 that is not conserved.

Funding for the purchase of the conservation easement was provided by the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board and the Town of Middlebury Conservation Fund. “This project is an excellent fit for our conservation fund,” said Fred Dunnington, Middlebury Town Planner. “Our small contribution of $5,000 helped leverage the VHCB grant, and conserving this stretch of good farmland coincides well with our Town Plan.”

Alice also granted the Middlebury Area Land Trust a right of first refusal for a separate three acre parcel that overlooks the property. If Alice decides to sell the land, MALT will have first option to buy it. If they’re able to buy it, MALT plans to create a town park and possibly a connector trail to the Trail Around Middlebury.

“Although there’s no public access as part of this project, we‘re always planning for the future and working with willing landowners to expand the trail network,” said Robin Scheu, MALT’s interim Executive Director. “Gioia Kuss, our previous executive director, worked with Alice for many years to conserve her land. We are very appreciative of Gioia’s determination and good rapport with landowners; she laid the groundwork for many future conservation projects.”

“These large meadows are easy to farm and important for dairy farms like the Foster Brothers,” said Allen Karnatz of the Vermont Land Trust. “Conserving abutting properties and creating blocks of protected farmland is also important; it helps maintain a critical mass of unfragmented land that dairy farmers depend on.”

The Vermont Land Trust is a statewide, member-supported, nonprofit land conservation organization. Since 1977, the Vermont Land Trust has permanently conserved more than 1,400 parcels of land covering 470,000 acres, or about eight percent of the private, undeveloped land in the state. The conserved land includes more than 630 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 or to become a member, contact: Vermont Land Trust, 8 Bailey Avenue, Montpelier, VT 05602, (802) 223-5234.

For more information contact: Allen Karnatz, Champlain Valley Co-Director, Vermont Land Trust at (802) 434-3079; or Elise Annes, Vice President for Community Relations, Vermont Land Trust at (802 223-5234).