Vermont Natural Resources Council

Vermont Natural Resources Council

Vermont Natural Resources Council Inc.
Abbreviation	VNRC
Formation	1963 (1963)
Type	Nonprofit
Tax ID no.	03-0223731
Legal status	501(c)(3)
Headquarters	Montpelier, Vermont
Location	United States
Board Chair	Will Lintilhac
Executive Director	Brian Shupe
Board of directors	Will Lintilhac; Maisie Anrod; Steph Baer; Kathy Beyer; Megan Camp; Jameson C. Davis; Judy Dow; Elizabeth Gibson; Charlie Hancock; Nolan Holmes; Mark Nelson; Bindu Panikkar; Diane Snelling; Peter Sterling
Website	https://vnrc.org/

The Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) is a non-profit environmental advocacy group headquartered at Montpelier in the U.S. state of Vermont. Founded in 1963, the organization works to protect Vermont's natural resources and environment through research, education, and advocacy.

Program work

VNRC focuses on four major program areas: energy, forests and biodiversity, sustainable communities, and water.

Recent successes include:

• Passage of Vermont's groundwater law that designates groundwater a public trust;
• Passage of a new wetlands protection law
• Protection and strengthening of the Fair Use Appraisal Value property tax program, also known as 'Current Use,' which eases the pressure on farm and forest owners to sell their working land for property development
• Monitoring Vermont's 'Growth Center' law for proper application as municipalities around the state apply for growth center designation;
• Passage of an energy bill that allows "Clean Energy Assessment Districts" to be established by municipalities; municipalities can then use their bonding authority to make loans to homeowners for energy-efficiency or renewable energy projects to be paid back gradually through years of property taxes.

Publications

VNRC publishes several publications, including the Vermont Environmental Report and the Legislative Bulletin. VNRC also produces videos concerning environmental issues and legislative happenings.

Partnerships

VNRC is the Vermont affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation.

VNRC is one of the partners in the Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network (VECAN)

Staff and board

VNRC's staff consists of 11 people: Executive Director, four Program Directors, Director of Development, Membership Director, Outreach Director, Staff Scientist, Communications Director, and Office Manager. VNRC's Board of Directors includes 13 members.

External links

• http://www.vnrc.org