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Farms and Farmland Conservation
Cheryl and J.D. DeVos conserved their dairy farm in Ferrisburgh in 2004. Photo credit: Craig Line Photographics | ||
| A major focus of VLT is to conserve working farms by acquiring the development rights, transferred through a land deed called a conservation easement. Since its creation in 1977, VLT has conserved over 650 agricultural parcels the vast majority of which are dairy farms, reflecting dairy's predominance on the Vermont agricultural landscape. Vegetable, fruit, berry, hay, and beef farms have also been permanently conserved. In some cases the farm owner donated all or part of the value of the conservation easement, but more often VLT has purchased the development rights on these farms, using grants from various public agencies, private foundations, or individuals. Below is information about how VLT selects farms for conservation, the mechanics of the conservation process, articles about recently conserved farms, farmer attitudes about conserving their land and much more. | ||
The following links provide information for you, if you are interested in conserving land that is not a working farm: Read about completed conservation projects in Vermont: Champlain Valley Region | Southeast Vermont | Southwest Vermont | Northeast Kingdom | Central Vermont |
