Vermont
Housing &
Conservation
Board

Press Releases
Articles and Reports
Publications
Training Materials

To request a printed copy of any article or report, e-mail, or call 802 828-5075. Some of the links below are to Adobe Acrobat portable document (.pdf) files. If you don't have the (free) Adobe Acrobat reader on your computer, you may download it here.

2011 Annual Report to the General Assembly, January 2012
2010 Annual Report to the General Assembly, January, 2011
2009 Annual Report to the General Assembly, January 2010
2008 Annual Report to the General Assembly, January 2009
2007 Annual Report to the General Assembly, January 2008

Report of the Commission on Financing and Delivery of Affordable Housing and Conservation ("Mickenberg Commission")
Executive Summary (pdf)
Final Report (pdf 294 kb)
Outside link to Appendices

Between a Rock and a Hard Place:
Housing and Wages in Vermont
2011 Update Released by the Vermont Housing Finance Agency

Conservation Based Affordable Housing:
Improving the Nature of Affordable Housing to Protect Place and People
A report by Kendra Briechle for The Conservation Fund, 2006

Vermont is credited as the “clear leader” in the nation among states developing housing for low- and moderate-income households on sites that also feature conserved land. Four of the 15 case studies profiled in the report are located in Vermont. While the concept of integrating land conservation and housing development is relatively new in many parts of the country, Vermont has a long history of encouraging partnerships between these often competing interests, as evidenced by the case studies describing projects in Hancock, Norwich, Jay, and South Burlington. 

2 for the Price of 1- Combining Conservation Land and Affordable Housing featuring VHCB-funded Taylor Meadow, in Hancock. Planning, American Planning Association, January 2007.

Salvaged Millwork Presents Lead Threat In the News, p. 4, Journal of Light Construction, June 2006
BEWARE: Older doors and windows that have been chemically stripped of paint can retain enough lead to poison children and adults when sanded. An article in the June 2006 issue of the Journal of Light Construction reports on the dangerously high levels of lead that can be present in salvaged architectural components. The article describes the experience of a family from Montgomery, Vermont assisted by VHCB's Lead Paint Hazard Abatement Program. Salvaged Building Components: The Hidden Danger to You and Your Family Staff of the Lead Paint Program have prepared a one-page sheet describing how to test salvaged building components for lead paint and warning about the importance of using lead-safe work practices when using salvaged building materials.

Vermont The Green Mountain State (and So Much More) NeighborWorks Bright Ideas, Spring 2004. Article by Liz Curry of Full Cycle Development Consulting describing VHCB and the role of the NeighborWorks HomeOwnership Centers. Profiles of BCLT, CVCLT, Gilman Housing Trust, and RACLT developments.

Act 250 Off-Site Mitigation Under Criterion 9(B): How Mitigation Funds are Used to Protect Vermont Farmland Forever (In two parts: 12-page pdf file; 4 pages of accompanying charts) A Report prepared by the Vermont Department of Agriculture, Food and Markets and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board. January 31, 2003

The Economic Benefits of Investments by the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board Prepared by the Vermont Housing and Conservation Coalition, October 2003

A Summary of the Northwest Vermont Housing Needs Assessment (2 pages) released August 2000
Executive Summary Housing in Northwestern Vermont: A review of supply and demand in the six county region (12-page pdf file) Prepared Aug. 15, 2000, for the Vermont Housing Council by Economic & Policy Resources Inc. and Thomas E. Kavet Consulting.

Setting the Cornerstones of Community: Housing and Conservation in Vermont John Elder, Middlebury College Professor of English and Environmental Studies, June 2000

Shared Housing Takes Many Forms by Polly Nichol, VHCB Housing Programs Director

Preserving Vermont a commentary by Tom Slayton, Editor of Vermont Life Magazine

The Vermont Housing and Conservation Trust Fund: A Unique Approach to Developing Affordable Housing, by Jim Libby. The formation of a coalition of housing and conservation advocates and the actions that led up to passage of the legislation establishing the Vermont Housing and Conservation Trust Fund. Originally published in Clearinghouse Review

A Meeting of Movements
By Miriam Axel-Lute
Shelterforce Magazine, January/February, 1999

Regional coalitions of housers and environmentalists find cooperation not only possible, but fruitful. Axel-Lute's article traces the formation of the Vermont Housing and Conservation Coalition, which led to the passage of the Vermont Housing and Conservation Trust Fund Act, establishing a source of state funding to develop perpetually affordable housing and to conserve agricultural and recreational land, natural areas, and historic properties.

Publications

Above and Beyond: Visualizing Change in Small Towns and Rural Areas, by Julie Campoli, Elizabeth Humstone and Alex Maclean (Planners Press, American Planning Association, 2002) is a wonderful pictorial statement about what's happening to the Vermont landscape and communities. Using aerial photographs, the book uses examples of developmensts that have been implemented in Vermont communities and argues for a return to traditional development patterns that produce more compact cities and towns.



Property and Values
Alternatives to Public and Private Ownership
Edited by Charles Geisler and Gail Daneker

Island Press, 2000

Innovative approaches to land conservation and perpetually affordable housing developed by the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board and its nonprofit partners are featured in Property and Values: Alternatives to Public and Private Ownership, a project of Equity Trust, Inc.

Vermont Housing and Conservation Board: A Conspiracy of Good Will Among Land Trusts and Housing Trusts by Vermonters Jim Libby and Darby Bradley tells the story of the statewide organizing effort by advocates for affordable housing and land conservation which led to the formation of a unique political coalition. Challenges and new opportunities are outlined.

Special Offer: Property and Values: Alternatives to Public and Private Ownership can be ordered from Equity Trust for $28 (a 20% discount) plus shipping and handling. Bulk orders of 20 or more copies, $26.00 per copy. [Equity Trust, Inc., 539 Beach Pond Road, Voluntown, CT 06384 telephone/fax: (860) 376-6174; e-mail: equitytr@aol.com] Also available from bookstores and Island Press (1-800-828-1302), $35, ISBN: Paper 1-55963-766

From the Field: What Farmers Have to Say About the Vermont Farmland Conservation Program

A report commissioned by the American Farmland Trust, the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, the Vermont Land Trust, and the Vermont Department of Agriculture. June 1999.

Documents the results of a 1999 survey interviewing 130 Vermont farmers who sold their development rights. Provides farmers' reasons for deciding to conserve their farms and describes the 97% satisfaction rate among farmers participating in the program. Describes how Vermont's Farmland Conservation Program protects the state's productive farmland while helping farmers stay in business.

 From the Field found that the majority of program participants used funds from the sale of development rights to improve or expand their farms. "Vermont's Farmland Conservation Program achieves its goal of protecting farmland by providing farmers with a tool to improve their businesses and by reducing costs for new farmers wishing to enter the business," said Jerry Cosgrove, American Farmland Trust's Northeast Regional director. "The result is that farmers can pass their farms on to their children and reinvest in their communities."

Since conserving his own farm in Brandon, Bob Baird has spent much of his off-farm time talking with other farmers in the region. "Most farmers would like to see their land conserved, but there's so much pessimism they don't think it's possible," he said. "This program brings people together-conservationists, natives, hunters, farmers. When fighting sprawl, I've yet to see a better solution than buying development rights."

Bonnie Baird added, "In 100 years this program will have had a tremendous impact. It's helping to shape the future of our state-by educating people that there is another way."

To receive a copy of From the Field, contact the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board at 802-828-3250.

Hands on the Land
A History of the Vermont Landscape
by Jan Albers

  • The natural, environmental and social history of the Vermont landscape, published by The MIT Press for The Orton Family Foundation. Hands on the Land tells the stories of the personalities behind the development of agriculture, forestry, industry, towns, and cities. It details the growth of environmental consciousness with examples of responsible stewardship and relates personal accounts of triumph and tragedy through three centuries. Included are more than 350 color photographs, paintings, vintage maps and images. Hands on the Land is available at bookstores throughout Vermont and beyond, from the MIT Press and from the Orton Family Foundation.