Vermont Wilderness Association Lauds Introduction of 2006 Vermont Wilderness Bill
Contacts:
Jamey Fidel 223-0286
Dick Andrews 885-3201
Montpelier-In 2001, the Vermont Wilderness Association (VWA) offered Vermonters a vision for creating an additional 78,000 acres of Wilderness in the Green Mountain National Forest (GMNF). Since that time, thousands of Vermonters have supported the need for more Wilderness throughout the GMNF management planning process.
The member groups of the Vermont Wilderness Association appreciate that Senators Leahy, Jeffords and Congressman Sanders have responded to the overwhelming majority of Vermonters who have spoken out publicly in support of protecting these special places.
The VWA believes that this historic act of bestowing the special recognition as Wilderness to almost 50,000 acres of the Green Mountain National Forest will be seen as an important part of the Delegation's legacy by future generations of Vermonters. Important high elevation ridgelines like Glastenbury Mountain and Romance Mountain will receive lasting protection as will key additional lands surrounding the Breadloaf and Lye Brook Wilderness Areas. The bill also provides special recognition of the recreational value of the Moosalamoo Region to Vermont and the GMNF. This bill closely tracks the wilderness management recommended by the Forest Service in the recently released Green Mountain National Forest management plan, which calls for new wilderness or wilderness type management on 57,872 acres.
The VWA believes that while bill is an important first step, it does leave out several critical areas that deserve Wilderness designation, ones that are imperative for future wildlife, habitat and recreational needs like the Lamb Brook basin. The VWA looks forward to working with the Delegation throughout the legislative process to offer improvements to the bill.
The Vermont Wilderness Association is a coalition of 13 groups representing tens of thousands of Vermonters and is dedicated solely to increasing the amount of federally designated wilderness on the GMNF.
