This commentary is by Zack Porter, who has worked in public land management and advocacy for more than two decades. He co-founded Standing Trees in 2021.
Did you know that you are a co-owner of more than 370,000 acres of Vermont?
Vermont’s state forests, parks and wildlife management areas, which total 6% of the state, are public lands and should be national examples of democracy in action. Sadly, in 2026, they aren’t living up to this ideal.
The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources is entrusted with caring for the special places we own in common — treasured landscapes that make Vermont the state it is. From Camels Hump to Lake Willoughby, Burton Island to Mt. Ascutney and dozens of places in between, our state lands are compass points in our mental maps of Vermont. They’re where we live life to the fullest, no matter the season, forging memories with friends and family over s’mores, skis and summer hikes.
For my family and me, public lands are personal. They’re where I return, again and again, for joy, peace and inspiration; where I got my first job out of high school; where I became engaged to my wife; where my daughter first slept under the stars at 3 weeks old; and now where my daughter wants to spend her 10th birthday, climbing a favorite summit in the Worcester Range, surrounded by family and friends.
Public lands should be one of our great equalizers, a symbol of freedom and democracy, a setting for the pursuit of the common good. In an era when the cost of everything is skyrocketing, and technology bombards us with distractions, public lands should broadcast an open, affordable and welcoming invitation to all: Come as you are, breathe deeply and be awed by the great outdoors.
But something is amiss at ANR.
First, on April 8, ANR announced its intention to introduce “flexible pricing” — whatever it wants, with no apparent upper limits — to enter a state park or reserve a campsite. Although Vermont state parks offer free passes to certain income-eligible Vermonters, the state sidestepped the obligation imposed on it by the Legislature to conduct an economic impact analysis of its proposed fee changes. ANR’s own filing states that the proposed change “does not impact any current Vermont State Parks rates” — arguing that, because actual fees will be set later, there is nothing to analyze now. That reasoning is disingenuous. By proposing to adopt “demand-based pricing” and defer fee-setting to an unspecified future date outside the rulemaking process, ANR effectively bypassed the economic impact analysis — and the public comment and transparency protections — that the Vermont Administrative Procedure Act exists to ensure. How many Vermonters will be priced out of visiting or camping at a state park? ANR must answer this question so that the public and decision-makers can weigh the impacts of the proposal.
Then, on April 23, after four years of campaigning by Standing Trees, for which I serve as executive director, ANR proposed its first-ever draft rules for state land management planning. For decades, ANR has been deciding behind closed doors where to cut timber and how much to protect streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, endangered species and public recreation. While ANR plans to collect public input on the largest management plans, these plans lack important details about the agency’s proposed actions. Moreover, actual decisions, according to ANR, will be left to state staff to make in private at a later date. Although we wish the draft rules released in April signaled a departure from what we consider an antidemocratic status quo, ANR’s proposal perpetuates these unfair practices.
What does this mean for you? It seems ANR doesn’t think you deserve to know or weigh in if a new logging road threatens your favorite fishing spot, before a timber sale is approved along your favorite trail, or before spraying herbicides near your favorite swimming hole. If you live in a community downstream from a state forest — and many of us do, since 90% of state lands are located in headwaters — good luck. ANR doesn’t plan to notify you or ask for your input about logging that could put your home or neighborhood at greater risk of flooding.
ANR has extended the comment period for its proposed new fee structure until June 11. The deadline to comment on ANR’s proposed rules for state land management is June 18. You can sign up to attend one of the upcoming public hearings in Lyndonville, Waterbury, Burlington or Ludlow or online.
As co-owners of state lands, we all deserve more respect from state land managers. We deserve state lands that aren’t run like a for-profit corporation. And we deserve to know about and give input on ANR’s decisions.
Anything less isn’t democratic.
