Vermont environment coverage
VTDigger reports on environmental issues across Vermont, including climate change, energy policy, agriculture, conservation and water quality.
Here you’ll find coverage of environmental policy, scientific developments and the local impacts of decisions that shape the state’s natural resources.
Fall foliage varies from year to year, for leaf-peepers and trees
A punishing drought muted Vermont’s colors last fall. This year, foresters say, the show is back.
Thousands of acres conserved in Woodbury, where family plans to sustainably log for generations
The final phase of a conservation easement project sees more than 18,000 acres of northern hardwood forest permanently set aside from development.
Letting the river roam: Surveying the scars left by Irene 15 years later
To river scientists and conservationists, a collapsing slope in southern Vermont is a case study in what happens when decades of flood‑control instincts collide with more recent extreme weather.
Tar spot fungus likely won’t mute fall colors
“The spores overwinter in the leaf litter, so they’re always around,” said Charlotte town tree warden Cliff Mix. But they come out in years when the living is easy — if you’re a plant pathogen.
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“The information I find here is not available elsewhere.”
Urban trees are often planted just to die. Montpelier wants to change that.
About 80% of Montpelier’s downtown trees are in decline thanks to poor site conditions and pests.
Federal change to Endangered Species Act could affect Vermont’s vulnerable wildlife
As the Trump administration rescinds the definition of “harm,” environmental experts explain what the change could mean for Vermont.
Vermont proposes changes to primitive camping in the state for the first time in 33 years
Campers would be required to adhere to stricter policies surrounding campfires, where camps are set up in relation to bodies of water and following carry-in, carry-out practices.
Phil Scott administration pushes through wetlands changes, despite lawmakers’ objections
By paring back its original proposal to loosen wetland protections, the administration won support from an environmental group that had threatened a lawsuit.
After years of neighbor opposition, a private airstrip for Beta’s CEO nears approval
The latest stages of state and federal approval have been conducted without public hearings. Some neighbors say their safety concerns haven’t fully been considered.
‘The worst possible catch-22’: Fish and Wildlife struggles to combat bear rumors
“What happens when you call us, 99% of the time, is that we give you advice on how to coexist with the bear,” said the department’s public information officer. “That’s what we want to be doing and that is what mostly happens.”
Killing trees to save the forest: The deadly experiment to rescue the American elm
Researchers in Vermont infected 5,300 of the trees with a lethal dose of Dutch elm disease in hopes that the survivors can eventually help build a genetically diverse and disease-resistant population. So far, the results are promising.
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