The following letter was sent from the Vermont Sierra Club to Governor Shumlin on January 12th, 2012

Governor Peter Shumlin,

    The Vermont Sierra Club understands that there are some in the General Assembly who are advocating that we eliminate funding for the VT Housing and Conservation Fund for the year, and instead put that money into our Irene recovery efforts.  While the three thousand members of the Vermont Sierra Club clearly recognize the challenges facing our state in the aftermath of Irene, we are unequivocally opposed to this specific proposal. At best it is is short sighted, at worst it is politically motivated.

    As you have said, Irene was an indication of what we can expect as our climate changes, and as our weather becomes more extreme.  Therefore, we should not cut our limited funding for conservation efforts as conservation of our forests helps with carbon sequestration (therefore reducing greenhouse gas emissions) and can help make our game populations more resilient to the negative impacts of climate change (see the Two Countries/One Forest Report).  

    Conserved forests, if in the form of local “community forests” also help with rural economic development, as they can be sustainably logged for local public revenue, can be a source of recreational tourism (snow mobilizing, mountain biking, hiking, etc.), and can provide free or cheap fire wood to low income and elderly Vermonters.  In addition, to cut funding to our statewide affordable housing efforts (which this fund also supports) during these difficult economic times, is simply the wrong road to go down.

    For all of these reasons, we strongly disagree with the suggestion that this fund should be cut.  In fact we contend that the state should expand our conservation resources by creating a new Vermont Community Forest Fund of 3.5 million dollars in order to build a stronger, more resilient environment and to further economic development in our rural towns and counties.  If we are to truly combat climate change and poverty, we must step forward and not back.

Sincerely,

David Van Deusen,

Conservation Organizer,

Vermont Sierra Club

149 State Street

Montpelier, Vermont 05602

(802)229-6399

Cc: VT Senate Pro Tem John Campbell, VT House Speaker Shap Smith, Senator Ginny Lyons, Senator Vice Illuzzi, Senator Anthony Pollina, Senator Jane Kitchel, Rep David Dean, Rep Martha Heath, Rep Tony Klein, Rep Helen Head, Rep Robert Lewis, Rep Jim McCullough, Rep Bill Botzow, Rep Chris Pearson