Vermont Business Magazine In 2021 Vermont River Conservancy (VRC) received Clean Water Funding from the Agency of Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Conservation to develop a river corridor and wetland conservation easement in Manchester along the Battenkill River. The purpose of a river corridor conservation easement is to allow our rivers space to move and shift and access their floodplains during flood events.
VRC initiated conversations in and negotiated a purchase and sale agreement with the Trustees of Cecelia Johnson Agricultural Land Trust to protect and enhance over 42 acres of riparian and wetland areas within the Battenkill River Watershed.
On July 20, 2023, a week after flooding devastated half of Vermont for the second time in less than 12 years, the Trustees, Tim Beers, the family’s property manager, relative, and facilitator of the easement, and VRC staff sat down at the kitchen table in Manchester to close on the Cecelia Johnson Trust River Corridor and Wetland Conservation Easement!
In 2020, the Johnson Family saw the value in protecting riverlands and enhancing wetlands along the Battenkill River. After watching the July 2023 flood waters spread into the old pastureland and associated wetlands the family concluded the conservation easement was the “right thing to do”. VRC looks forward to seeing the riparian corridor widen with wetland vegetation, and fish and wildlife continue to enjoy this beautiful riverscape.
About Vermont River Conservancy
Vermont River Conservancy protects special lands along rivers. We engage communities to protect and restore Vermont rivers for kids, communities, and wildlife. Our work started more than 28 years ago when Vermont River Conservancy protected its first swimming hole, a place that had hosted generations of swimmers cooling off, anglers casting for trout, and paddlers launching kayaks. Today, our work includes projects to conserve floodplains, protect headwater forests, and remove dams. To learn more, visit vermontriverconservancy.org.
Source: Montpelier, VT – August 29, 2023. Vermont River Conservancy vermontriverconservancy.org
