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An overwhelming majority of Vermonters cite the state’s natural environment and rural characteristics as the top reason for making it a unique place to live, according to a survey conducted by the University of Vermont’s Center for Rural Studies for the Vermont Land Trust. It is clear from the survey that Vermonters felt that if we were to stop land conservation today there would be serious consequences for our way of life. Approximately 75 percent of respondents to the statewide Vermont Land Trust Conservation Survey, conducted in the spring of 2006, cited some aspect of the state’s natural environment or rural characteristics when responding to the open-ended question of “what makes Vermont a unique and special place to live?” The desire to preserve these characteristics was equally important as 87 percent of respondents said that Vermont’s natural/wildlife areas would be susceptible to somewhat or very negative impacts without land conservation. Approximately 80 percent said that an end to land conservation would have a similarly negative impact on Vermont’s tourism and recreational areas. The importance of farms to the state is clear by the 94 percent who responded that it is very important to extremely important to have working farms. Recreational areas for non-motorized activities and producing locally grown food also drew above 90 percent. In addition to establishing the importance of land conservation, the survey asked participants how they thought it should be funded. About 67 percent favored public funding through either a special property tax on “luxury homes” or property taxes on all home purchases while 31 percent preferred conservation to be paid privately through donations by individuals or foundations. The survey of 441 randomly selected households was drawn through random digit dialing and has a 95 percent confidence level.
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