Does the Vermont Land Trust buy development rights?
Sometimes we do especially when help is available from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board. VHCB was set up by the Vermont Legislature in 1987 to create affordable housing for Vermonters and to conserve and protect Vermont s farmland, historic properties, important natural areas, and recreational lands. The Vermont Land Trust works with landowners to apply for grants from VHCB. These grants are used to buy development rights in the form of conservation easements from the landowners, who are usually farmers. Local fundraising and donations of conservation easements on nearby properties commonly accompany these applications, to stretch even farther the public dollars spent on conservation. Does the Vermont Land Trust itself acquire land? Sometimes we receive title to land through bequests or gifts. On rare occasions we will purchase a property outright, usually when there is strong support and commitment from the local community. In all these cases, we place a conservation easemen
