Act 171 amended Vermont Planning Statutes to encourage and allow municipalities to address protection of forest blocks and habitat connectors while supporting the local forest products industry. Learn more about how to identify regionally and locally significant forest blocks and habitat connectors by reviewing the resources linked below.
Guidance Documents
- Planning: A Key Step Towards Protectng Forest and Wildlife Resources. Outlines a suggested process to help towns implement the requirements of Act 171. Released by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources in March 2018.
- The Municipal Plan: State Planning Manual Module 1. Guides towns to create plans that present clear and concise visions for their communities. Released by the Agency of Commerce and Community Development in April 2017.
- Municipal Plans: Tools for Improving the Planning Process. A five-step outline of how towns can make effective plans that matter. Released by the Agency of Commerce and Community Development.
- Community Strategies for Vermont's Forests and Wildlife: A Guide for Local Action. Proactive solutions to reduce forest fragmentation and parcelization in Vermont. Released by the Vermont Natural Resources Council in September 2013.
- Mapping Vermont's Natural Heritage: A Mapping and Conservation Guide for Municipal and Regional Planners in Vermont. Released by the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department in 2019.
Websites
- BioFinder. ANR's database and mapping tool used to identify Vermont's lands and waters that support important ecosystems, natural communities, habitats, and species.
- VT Parcelization Website. Interactive data and research from the Vermont Natural Resources Council about recent decreasing trends in the acreage of large forest blocks in Vermont.
Webinars
- Implementing Act 171: Land Use Planning to Address Forest Fragmentation. Presented by Jens Hilke (VT Fish & Wildlife), Clare Rock (Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission, and Jamey Fidel (Vermont Natural Resources Council) in March 2018.