American Stewards | Vermont Passes First 50×50 Bill

May 5, 2022, the Vermont legislature passed a law to protect 50 percent of the land within the state by 2050.  H.606, the “Community Resilience and Biodiversity Protection Act,” is now awaiting the signature of Governor Phil Scott.  While the immediate goal is to protect 30 percent of the lands and waters by 2030, the ultimate objective of radical environmentalists is clear.

The conservation goal is stated as follows:

“Thirty percent of Vermont’s total land area shall be conserved by 2030, and 50 percent of the State’s total land area shall be conserved by 2050. The Secretary of Natural Resources shall assist the State in achieving these goals. The land conserved shall include State, federal, municipal, and private land.”

The bill’s preamble includes the crisis language adopted by the Biden Administration, such as “nature is facing a catastrophic loss of biodiversity, both globally and locally,” and “human activity has altered almost 75 percent of the Earth’s surface, squeezing wildlife and nature into ever-smaller natural areas of the planet.” In other words, humans are bad for the environment.

A conservation plan is to be developed by the State that will classify areas according to three conservation categories of protected lands: ecological reserve areas, biodiversity reserve areas and natural resource management areas. All of these prohibit converting natural areas to development.  They are defined in the bill as follows:

“Ecological reserve area” means an area having permanent protection from conversion of natural land cover and is managed to maintain a natural state within which natural ecological processes and disturbance events are allowed to proceed with minimal interference.

“Biodiversity conservation area” means an area having permanent protection from conversion of natural land cover for the majority of the area and is managed for the primary goal of sustaining species or habitats. These areas may include regular, active interventions to address the needs of particular species or to maintain or restore habitats.

“Natural resource management area” means an area having permanent protection from conversion of natural land cover for the majority of the area but that is subject to long-term sustainable forest management.

The percentage of land that will be included in each of the target management area’s will be guided by Vermont Conservation Design, which includes maps of the areas to be protected.

Notably absent is any mention of respecting or protecting private property rights. None. There is, however, direction to support “landowner education.”

Editors Note: If you know anyone who believes 30×30 is not a land grab, please ask them to read this bill. And, if you are one who is still deciding whether or not to get in this fight to protect property rights and the liberties they secure, please read this bill.