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Trainings

Community Wildlife Program

Webinars and Trainings

Register for Webinars and Trainings

Click on the "REGISTER" text next to each posted session below. A new tab will open in your browser with a Microsoft TEAMS registration page. Fill out the registration information and click "Register Now". You will receive an email from Microsoft TEAMS with the URL for the event and an option to save it to your calendar. Please use Chrome or Edge as your internet browser, as these events are not fully supported on Firefox, Safari, or other internet browser types. 

Webinars

All sessions of our webinars are live online events that last approximately one hour and offer participants a chance to learn and ask questions to natural resources experts. Webinars are recorded and added to our online resource library.

FALL 2023 WEBINARS

Exurban_sprawlBetter Zoning to Prevent Forest Fragmentation

Vermont’s increasing demand for housing and love of our forests is an opportunity to rethink the relationship between development and conservation. Providing housing for those who need it most while maintaining a connected, intact, and diverse ecosystem requires strategic land use planning at the town and regional level. Zoning can steer development into downtown, village, and growth centers and prevent forest fragmentation in rural areas. Towns that have redrawn their zoning lines and adapted development standards have successfully conserved large forest blocks and maintained wildlife connectivity across boundaries. Regional Planning Commissions offer technical assistance and funding opportunities to all member municipalities interested in protecting their valued natural resources. The VT Fish & Wildlife’s Community Wildlife Program has partnered with the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission’s Senior Planner, Darren Schibler, for a deeper understanding of zoning in our state’s fastest growing county.

Presenters: 

  • Darren Schibler, Senior Planner, Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission
  • Jens Hilke, Conservation Planner, VT Fish and Wildlife Department 

Repeat sessions of this webinar will be offered on the following two dates: 

  • Session 1: Tuesday, October 3, 2023, 2:00p.m. - 3:00p.m.   REGISTER
  • Session 2: Thursday, November 9, 2023, 10:00a.m. - 11:00a.m.   REGISTER

Shagbark Hickory Roost TreeBats & Land Use Planning

Six of Vermont's nine bat species are now listed as threatened or endangered. Increasing development pressure, climate change, and diseases such as White-nose syndrome call for close species monitoring, education, and statewide outreach. Bat habitat and roost sites such as caves, forests, and houses must be considered when planning land use year-round. Last year’s discovery that an unusually large Indiana Bat colony was still using conserved land in Hinesburg gives hope for the resiliency of this species in the Northeast and highlights Vermont’s unique role in conserving bats within and outside our state boundaries. Join the VT Fish & Wildlife Small Mammal Biologist, Alyssa Bennett, and the Community Wildlife Program to learn about the unique ecological role that bats play and what towns are doing to protect these threatened and endangered species. 

Presenters:

  • Alyssa Bennett, Small Mammal Biologist, VT Fish and Wildlife Department
  • Jens Hilke, Conservation Planner, VT Fish and Wildlife Department 

Repeat sessions of this webinar will be offered on the following two dates: 

  • Session 1: Thursday, October 19, 2023, 10:00a.m. - 11:00p.m.   REGISTER
  • Session 2: Wednesday, November 29, 2023, 1:00p.m. - 2:00p.m.   REGISTER

Resilient Right of WaysResilient Right of Ways

Some of Vermont’s most visible community trees and forests are those within the 27,000 acres of municipal right-of-way vegetation lining our scenic backroads. Beyond their often pleasing aesthetics, these plants, trees, and forests play an essential role in storm water management, invasive species monitoring, forest connectivity, and wildlife movement. To better inform the management of roadside vegetation, the Vermont Urban & Community Forestry Program conducted a roadside assessment along 200 miles of rural roads in 10 case study municipalities. In 2020, the findings of this project were published in, “Resilient Right-of-Ways: A guide to community stewardship of Vermont backroads”, providing town planners, tree boards, conservation commissions and highway crews with best management practices to maximize the ecological and economic benefits of their roadside vegetation. The VT Fish & Wildlife Department Community Wildlife Program is excited to partner with Joanne Garton of the VT Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation and VT Urban & Community Forestry for a deeper look at the opportunities and challenges of roadside tree and forest stewardship.

Presenters:

  • Joanne Garton, Technical Assistance Coordinator, Urban & Community Forestry Program, Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation
  • Jens Hilke, Conservation Planner, VT Fish and Wildlife Department 

Repeat sessions of this webinar will be offered on the following two dates: 

  • Session 1: Tuesday, October 24, 2023, 1:00p.m. - 2:00p.m.   REGISTER
  • Session 2: Tuesday, November 14 2023, 10:00a.m. - 11:00a.m.    REGISTER

Pic of presentationBecoming an Environmental Leader in your Town

In order to make real change in your town it is not enough to just understand the science behind land use planning. Real and substantial change occurs when community members rise as leaders and set visionary goals in order to adapt for a changing future. Leaders are people who guide communities to complete tasks that no one individual could have achieved alone. Join the Community Wildlife Program and (partner) to explore what it means to be an environmental leader in your town. We will dive into a variety of leadership styles, phases of group development, and ways to effectively collaborate with diverse groups of stakeholders. In the words of the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, "When the best leader's work is done the people say, We did it ourselves."

 

Presenters:

Jens Hilke, Conservation Planner, VT Fish and Wildlife Department 

Repeat sessions of this webinar will be offered on the following two dates: 

  • Session 1: Friday, September 22, 2023 10:00am-11:00am.   REGISTER
  • Session 2: Tuesday, October 31, 2023, 1:00p.m. - 2:00p.m.   REGISTER

Trainings

Our trainings are in-depth, collaborative online courses. Participants must attend all three sessions as well as complete additional brief online coursework. These courses are designed for Vermonters serving on municipal boards or who work as conservation volunteers and want to learn more about the science, concepts, and leadership involved in VT land use planning and land management.

pic of hiker on mountainEnvironmental Leadership Training
Unit 1: From Science to Planning

This training will introduce participants to important scientific concepts involved in planning for natural resources and focus on skills leaders need to operate effectively. Participants will explore the full suite of issues at play in natural resources planning, from forests and wildlife to floodplains and climate change. Presentations on context, ecological scale, and planning for whole Communities are interspersed with interactive hands-on activities that make this an intensive and exciting training.

Instructors: 

  • Jens Hilke, Conservation Planner, VT Fish and Wildlife Department 

Note: This is a 3-session training course. You must sign up for all three sessions if you wish to take this class and receive the certificate.

 

  • Session 1: Tuesday, October 10, 2023, 6:30p.m. - 9:00 p.m.  (Online)
  • Session 2: Tuesday, October 17, 2023, 6:30p.m. - 9:00 p.m. (Online)
  • Session 3: Tuesday, October 24, 2023, 6:30p.m. - 9:00 p.m. (Online)

Register for ELT Unit 1 Email Jens.hilke@vermont.gov

pic of groupEnvironmental Leadership Training
Unit 2: From Planning to Action

This training will help you choose locally appropriate land use planning strategies for conserving natural resources and explore how leaders can best work with groups to move ideas forward in a municipal context. It uses case studies and exercises to show how taking action can work in real life. The overall goal is to build an understanding of what you can do, how to work with different people in your community, how to choose strategies to protect natural resources, and how to make it all happen. Completion of Unit 1 is a pre-requisite for this training (or permission from instructors).

Instructors: 

  • Jens Hilke, Conservation Planner, VT Fish and Wildlife Department 

Note: This is a 3-session training course. You must sign up for all three sessions if you wish to take this class and receive the certificate.

  • Session 1: Tuesday, December 5, 2023, 6:30p.m. - 9:00 p.m.  (Online)
  • Session 2: Tuesday, December 12, 2023, 6:30p.m. - 9:00 p.m.  (Online)
  • Session 3: Tuesday, December 19, 2023, 6:30p.m. - 9:00 p.m.  (Online)

Register for ELT Unit 2 Email Jens.hilke@vermont.gov

About Our Staff

Jens Hilke is a Conservation Planning Biologist at Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department. He leads the Community Wildlife Program, which provides technical assistance to Vermont municipalities on land use planning.  He helps towns, regional planning commissions and non-governmental organizations with their conservation planning efforts. This includes help with GIS natural resource mapping, advice on prioritizing significant natural features and help with implementing town conservation goals. Jens completed his undergraduate work at Connecticut College in Environmental Sociology and then got a Masters in Botany from the University of Vermont as a Field Naturalist.  Jens has taught high school science in Vermont, New Hampshire, and New Jersey and for a study-away program in Thailand, Southeast Asia.
 Contact Jens at Jens.Hilke@Vermont.gov

 

Community Wildlife Program

The Community Wildlife Program of the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department provides technical assistance to towns, Regional Planning Commissions, and conservation organizations. We keep tabs on the latest in conservation science and help integrate that information into efforts to protect wildlife, habitat, and the most important lands and waters in Vermont. Whether you are drafting a new town plan, seeking a project partner, or looking to level up your conservation planning, we are here to help.

To schedule a consultation with our staff of Conservation Planners, email Jens.Hilke@Vermont.gov. Consultations and follow-up services are free of charge and sponsored by the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department.