Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont logging contractors who have not previously participated in the Master Logger Certification Program (MLCP) have access to a significant new cost-share opportunity designed to reduce financial barriers to certification. Under the newly established cost-reduction program, eligible Vermont logging contractors can receive a 75 percent cost share on the initial certification fee.  This work is supported by Growing Vermont’s Forest Resilience: A Collaborative Strategy, Award no. 24-CA-11132544-104 from the USDA Forest Service. The initiative is intended to support forest resilience, water quality protection, workforce professionalism, and long-term sustainability across Vermont’s working forest landscape by ensuring harvesting operations are conducted by highly skilled contractors held accountable to an independent certification standard.

Vermont Land Trust The southern Vermont community-based nonprofit Bull Creek Common Lands (BCCL) has placed 341 acres of remote land in Athens and Townshend under the permanent protection of a conservation easement with VLT. The conserved land is the headwaters of Bull Creek, a special place that many in the local community know and appreciate. The newly conserved land contains many wetlands and different forest types that are home to beavers, moose, deer, bear, fox, ducks, and songbirds, as well as rare and endangered plant species. There are also several cellar holes and evidence of past farming. Public access for non-motorized recreation is currently available from Sam Farr Road in Athens with a pull-off parking area. The primary existing trail on the property is a section of the Legal Town Trail along Bull Creek. 

Vermont Business Magazine Applications for the 2026 Eric Rozendaal Memorial Award are open until March 1, the Vermont Land Trust (VLT) has announced. The $5,000 award recognizes land stewardship, innovation, and service to community. Farmers who are actively working on or managing a commercial farm operation in the state, are residents of Vermont, and have not received this award in the past are encouraged to apply. Applicants do not have to own a farm. A selection committee consisting of leaders in the Vermont agricultural community will review and score the applications and select a winner. The award will be announced at the Vermont Land Trust’s annual meeting in the fall.

Vermont Business Magazine Grants are now available to support projects focused on education and research concerning the cultural and ecological history and heritage of Southern Lake Champlain through the South Lake Champlain Fund at the Vermont Community Foundation. The fund supports projects located on the southern portion of Lake Champlain (the area of Lake Champlain south of Crown Point in both Vermont and New York), with a preference for projects directly on the lake or in close proximity. School-based projects are encouraged. The fund also aims to support projects that involve experts and others living in the southern Lake Champlain region. Matching funds are encouraged but not required.

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, alongside U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY-21) on Wednesday introduced the Lake Champlain Basin Program Enhancements Act, bipartisan, bicameral legislation that would reauthorize the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) for five years at $35 million to support interstate conservation and the health of the Lake Champlain Basin. The lawmakers’ bill would also improve LCBP’s administrative efficiency by requiring the periodic evaluation of the program’s fiscal agent, with significant input from local stakeholders and the Lake Champlain Steering Committee.   

Vermont Business Magazine Nominations are now open for the 2026 Vermont Agricultural Hall of Fame! Nominations can be made electronically through www.VTAgHallOfFame.org. Nominations will be accepted in three categories: Emerging Leaders, Ag Innovators, and The Lifetime Achievement Award. Nominations will be accepted through Friday, March 20th, 2026, at 5 pm. With over 100 Vermonter’s recognized in the last 24 years, the Vermont Agricultural Hall of Fame is ready to accept your thoughtful, high quality nominations for 2026. All are welcome to submit a nomination of Vermont’s farmers, producers and people dedicated to supporting the landscape we share. Please note that prior year nominations do not carry over; if your nomination was not selected in past years, please resubmit your nomination.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark wants to hear young Vermonters’ thoughts on the environment. For the sixth year in a row, the Attorney General’s Office is holding an Earth Day Essay Challenge for Vermont students. “I look forward to this essay challenge every year. These essays provide hope for the future and make me especially proud of our state,” Attorney General Clark said. “It’s inspiring to see the ideas, passion, creativity, and research that the students provide in their essays. I also really appreciate the teachers who inspire and support these students in their work.” The Earth Day Essay Challenge is open to any fourth-, fifth-, or sixth-grade student in Vermont, including home-schooled students. The challenge will run from now until April 17, 2026. Students can submit other types of writing instead of an essay if they would like—for example, a story, poem, or biographical piece about someone.

Vermont Business Magazine Morrisville Water & Light (MWL), the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR), Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC), American Whitewater, and the Vermont Council of Trout Unlimited today announced a comprehensive settlement agreement that resolves MWL’s request to decommission the Green River Reservoir hydroelectric facility at this time and establishes a clear compliance schedule for the Green River, Morrisville, and Cady’s Falls hydroelectric developments as the project moves toward a new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license.

Vermont Business Magazine Representative Becca Balint (D-Vermont-AL), Vice Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, Tuesday released the following statement after reviewing unredacted Epstein files at the Department of Justice. Attorney General Bondi will testify before the House Judiciary Committee today starting at 10 AM. “What I saw in the Epstein files over the last two days was sickening and enraging. It is absolutely clear that we have a two-tiered system of justice in this country. One for the rich and powerful where the law is optional, and one for the rest of us."

by Jon Schaefer, CEO Bear Den Partners I am excited to share that Smugglers’ Notch Resort has officially joined the Bear Den Partners family. This summer when the Burke snowmakers were knee deep in welding, when the hotel was frantically reorganizing, before there were new websites, or logos, or new software systems, and just after the chefs were whipping up new treats, we were invited by another northern Vermont family ownership group to consider a control investment in one of the most important resorts on the east coast: Smugglers’ Notch.

Vermont Business Magazine Smugglers’ Notch Resort in Jeffersonville and Bear Den Partners, owners of Burke Mountain, today announced a collaborative ownership transition that shifts the Vermont-based independent resort operator into partnership with Smugglers’ Notch, one of North America’s most celebrated family-focused mountain destinations. Smugglers’ Notch has been owned and operated for the past 29 years by William Stritzler, whose values-driven leadership has shaped the resort’s enduring reputation for family connection, community, and an authentic mountain experience. The Stritzler family will continue to have an ownership stake and Bill’s daughter Lisa will serve as an advisor on the future of the mountain. The partnership with Bear Den Partners reflects a shared commitment to preserving these principles while supporting the resort’s long-term vitality. Financial terms were not disclosed. The purchase of Smuggs by Bear Den Partners will be finalized in the coming weeks. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Vermont Business Magazine The Center for an Agricultural Economy (CAE) received congressionally directed spending (CDS) from the Senate Committee on Appropriations LHHS-Innovation and Improvement account in the amount of $100,000. CAE received the award through Senator Peter Welch’s office. “Senator Welch and his staff have always been very supportive of local agriculture and our community; we are very thankful for this support,” said Jon Ramsay, Executive Director of CAE. The award will help fund two of CAE’s programs that work with area schools: Place-Based Education and Just Cut. CAE’s Place Based Education Program supports work in all Orleans Southwest Supervisory Union’s (OSSU) schools to increase opportunities for experiential learning focused on local food and agriculture.