Current News

Lake Champlain Basin Program After a busy fall, we have enjoyed settling into the relative quiet of winter in the Lake Champlain Basin. When the warm weather field season for research and outreach comes to a close, many of us appreciate the opportunity to work with data, assess our reach, and begin planning for the upcoming season. It’s also a busy time with grant reviews and awards and preparation for the next field season. Not all field work and research comes to a stop in the winter, however. As you’ll learn in this newsletter, winter poses a different set of challenges and opportunities to lake scientists and outreach staff working to reach residents and visitors to our watershed. 

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.10 per gallon, up 1 cent per gallon from last week, down 1 cent from last month and down 14 cents/g from last year. The lowest price in the state this week was $2.69/g while the highest was $3.29/g, a difference of 60.0 cents per gallon. Bennington ($2.98/g) and Windham ($2.97/g) counties continue to have the lowest prices in the state. Prices rise as you move north, with Grand Isle ($3.20), Lamoille ($3.19) and Essex ($3.32) counties having the highest average prices, according to AAA. The national average price of gasoline is unchanged in the last week, averaging $3.06/g today. The national average is up 7 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 3 cents per gallon lower than a year ago, according to GasBuddy data

Vermont Business Magazine On 11-22 at 2:00 p.m., Jericho residents Gail and Tim McKenna continued their tradition of generosity by contributing $3,333 to Howard Center from their Catch 22 nonprofit. Catch 22 began managing football for the area and now continues fundraising to provide charitable support to organizations that are important to them. The McKennas have supported Howard Center for ten consecutive years, with their contribution amount and the date they give reflecting significant numbers in their lives. Their ongoing commitment strengthens Howard Center's ability to provide essential services in mental health, substance use, and developmental support for individuals and families.

Vermont Business Magazine Champlain College and nuwave Equity Corporation have announced the Vermont Culture Innovators Project, an impactful initiative designed to reshape workplace culture in Vermont businesses while offering students invaluable hands-on learning experience. This partnership underscores a shared commitment to equipping students with real-world skills such as effective communication, cultural awareness, and community engagement while fostering meaningful connections with employers in Vermont. A four-semester grant from the Vermont Community Foundation will support students and faculty working alongside nuwave leadership to improve workplace culture through technology. These initiatives are designed to create measurable impacts on businesses across diverse sizes, industries, and locations.

Vermont Business Magazine As the new year begins, the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is offering a few tips on what not to flush down toilets and how to better dispose of that waste. Vermonters should only flush human waste, toilet cleaning products, and toilet paper. Anything else needs to be properly managed to prevent pollution. Knowing where and how to best dispose of trash, waste, or unwanted items can cut wastewater treatment costs, protect public health, and keep the environment clean.

by Jon Groveman, VNRC's Policy & Water Program Director As we head into the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers must keep in mind the importance of clean water to Vermonters’ health, economy, and quality of life. With the dual climate and economic crises rapidly escalating, we cannot afford to slow our efforts to clean up and protect Vermont’s waters. This includes continuing to fund clean water projects, reducing pollution to Lake Champlain and other waterways, and staying on track to implement the flood safety programs adopted by the Vermont Legislature last year. The failure to do so will harm our economy, the natural resources we rely on, and the healthy communities that are vital to Vermonters and visitors alike.  

Vermont Business Magazine The annual Yankee Sportsman’s Classic show will be held January 17, 18 and 19 at the Champlain Valley Expo in Essex Junction, and the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department is inviting you to visit their exhibits and attend their seminars at the show. The 2025 hunting, fishing and trapping lawbooks will be available at Fish and Wildlife’s exhibit booth. Hunters, anglers and trappers will also be able to buy their 2025 licenses. Show hours are Noon to 6 p.m. on Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

by Paul Burns, Executive Director, VPIRG Between the devastating floods, the bad air quality, the negative health effects, and the infrastructure damage, climate change is costing Vermonters billions. That much is certain. The only question is, who pays the bill? And there are really only three possible answers: 1) the individual victims, 2) taxpayers, or 3) the fossil fuel companies that caused much of the damage in the first place. As you know, last year Vermont passed a new law to finally hold Big Oil accountable. The Climate Superfund (Act 122) requires payments from the biggest oil companies operating in the state to help cover the costs of, among other priorities, the roads, bridges, and water systems that have been damaged by increased rainfall and floods.

Vermont Business Magazine The final number of deer taken in Vermont’s 2024 hunting seasons will not be available for a few more weeks, but the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department says the final tally will be a little over 17,200 deer.  Those deer will provide approximately 3.4 million servings of local, nutritious venison. The buck harvest will be a little over 9,200, which will be down from 2023 (9,848) and the previous 3-year average of 9,533.  The final antlerless deer harvest will be around 8,000, which will be up from the previous 3-year average of 7,188. 

Vermont Business Magazine ZymoChem, the biotech company creating sustainable materials for everyday products, is now a Certified B Corporation™. With a satellite division based in Burlington, VT, ZymoChem joins the state’s thriving community of B Corps, reinforcing Vermont’s reputation as the state with the highest number of Certified B Corporations per capita. Vermont is not just a hub for B Corps—it’s the origin for the movement. Iconic brands such as Ben & Jerry’s, King Arthur Baking Company, Vermont Creamery, and Seventh Generation helped define the gold standard for social and environmental business practices. ZymoChem is honored to join this community and contribute to Vermont’s legacy of leadership in sustainable and responsible business.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Law and Graduate School's Institute for Energy and the Environment, along with the Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation at the University of Connecticut, have created a new resource to help communities in the northeast better respond to climate change. The 2024 Policy Guide to Local Energy Resilience for Connecticut looks at both federal and Constitution State incentives for distributed renewable energy and storage. Distributed renewables can help towns withstand increased natural disasters— something applicable far beyond Connecticut’s borders. The purpose of the Guide is to help municipalities understand the multitude of incentives existing today to install more solar, storage and microgrids at the local level. 

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s state-wide Free Ice Fishing Day is Saturday, January 25, 2025. Free Ice Fishing Day is held annually on the last Saturday in January.  The day is geared toward giving new ice anglers an opportunity to try ice fishing before purchasing equipment or a fishing license, but any angler may ice fish on any waterbody open to ice fishing statewide without a license on Free Ice Fishing Day. To celebrate Free Ice Fishing Day, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department is holding an Ice Fishing Festival at Silver Lake State Park in Barnard.  The festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event is free and open to all ages as well as families with kids.